She sighs and shakes her head. “Loyal to the very end.”
I ball my hands into fists as I glare at her. “How are you able to make all these men do your bidding?”
She huffs. “All the men except the one I wanted, you mean?”
Chapter 37
McKenzie
My heart is breaking. It feels like a fissure has started at the top and slowly worked its way down my sternum. My father truly loved my mom. All this time, I thought it was a lie. That he forced her to marry him, but now I’m not sure. As Alice tells her story, revealing the motive she’s had all these years, I’m remembering things.
My mom was sick for a couple of months, and instead of taking care of her, my dad started attending auctions. At the time, I didn’t realize they were auctions. He always said they were parties, but he would never tell me why he had to attend them. A flash of me sitting on the kitchen floor holding my mom’s head in my lap screaming races through my mind. I squeeze my eyes shut.Did I find her dead? Why don’t I remember that?
“How did you kill her?” I ask.
Alice’s mouth lifts into a serpentine smile. “Jimson weed.”
I clutch Nix’s hand. I think I’m going to be sick. I remember my dad tearing the kitchen apart, throwing everything away.
“Did you drink any of your mom’s tea?” He shakes my shoulders, tears streaming down my face.
“No, daddy! I swear.”
“You put it in her tea.”
“Ding. Ding. Ding.”
We never touched my mom’s tea. That would explain why she was the only one that was sick. My dad brought a doctor in to look at her, but they couldn’t figure out what was wrong with her.
The dean snorts and I turn my glare on him, as do Nix and Rex. “And he trusted me, all the while I was working with her. We had a plan, thenyouhad to ruin it,” he snarls at Phoenix.
Nix doesn’t react, he just tilts his head at Rex, who takes his gun out of his holster and hits Dick over the head, knocking him out and effectively shutting him up.
Alice’s only reaction is a shrug. Her attention focuses back on Phoenix, and she lowers her chin, looking at him through her eyelashes. “I was never meant to be a mother, but your father wouldn’t listen. He wanted a son, or a little mafia princess. He was always the better parent. When I found out I was pregnant, I cried the whole nine months.”
I grip Nix’s arm, trying to bring him comfort. This has to be hard to hear. The woman he adored for years turns out to be a narcissistic bitch. But he stands there stone faced, listening. “Nix,” I whisper. His gaze finds mine and softens. “Don’t listen to this anymore.”
He turns and cups my face with his hands. “I need to hear it. I need every seed of hatred to kill her.”
Alice scoffs. “You won’t be able to go through with it.”
I turn and face her, walking toward her, letting every bit of hatred, anger, and loathing course through my veins. “I’ll do it. I’ll do it for the little girl whose mom you killed, for the man whose wife you killed, for the little boy who wanted a mother, and for the husband and other men you manipulated.”
Alice raises her hand, her eyes flashing with anger. I flinch, but Phoenix grabs it before she’s able to slap me. “Do. Not. Touch. My. Wife.” She tries to rip her hand out of his grip, but he holds fast.
“You’re choosing her over me.” Her eyes begin to shine with tears and my mouth drops open at how manipulative she is. “Your own mother.” She sniffs and I scoff. He pushes her hand away, and she sways slightly. Her eyes slide to mine. “I should have killed you when I had the chance, but that damn doctor. He talked me into drugging you up so you’d forget.”
“That doctor is dead now,” Nix says. Alice’s eyes widen in surprise, but she tries to hide it quickly. “Another one of the men you manipulated to do your bidding.”
There’s a bang at the door. “Nix, your father has brought other men here. They’re trying to get in that room,” Victor says. My heart jumps in my throat and my pulse skyrockets.
What will he do? Will he try to save her? How could he after everything she’s done to them?
Alice throws her head back and laughs. “Things aren’t going quite as planned, are they, son?”
There’s shouting outside the door. I glance at Rex, then Phoenix. “Nix, open this fucking door!”
Nix runs his hand through his hair. “Tell him he can come in, but only him. His men have to stay outside.”
