“Your OBGYN has been giving classified documentation to your father for years about your lack of sex life.”
They both smiled slowly. “That was until you met our boy Ivan in the mountains. He didn’t know you had given it up then and was signing papers as you were hitting the slopes.”
“And our grandson.”
Oh my gosh. This… “How did you know about that?”
“We knew you were at the Lodge when we were visiting Ivan. We hoped it was you; it wasn’t until we combed the security footage that we saw you two leave together.”
They… they combed the security footage? A part of me was regretting almost calling them. I’d wanted to. I’d stood outside of the Cristof’s building and stared down at my phone, but no matter how long I stared at one of the granny’s number… I couldn’t do it. But instead, they called just as I was about to enter the building. They wanted to meet with me about something, but it could only be done in person. Emeline’s men wouldn’t let me leave without one of them and talking to their boss, of course. So I currently have two very scary older women staring me down with a shadow hanging out against the wall.
Nothing made sense. “How do you know these things?”
They looked at each other and made faces. “About the security or?”
“My father.” It was all I cared about—all I wanted to know about right now.
Grandmother let out a deep sigh and somewhat sagged in her chair. “My son got caught up in sex trafficking.” She coughed. “Caught up, like it was an accident. He was the leader, and he did some horrific things. We started doing some digging after all of this was uncovered and found others involved. Others were making their own branches. Your father worked closely with my son, but your brothers and others had been making moves for a while. Girls have been going missing in the city. It’s no longer girls from other countries. It’s closer to home.”
I’d always known my father was a bad man. I’d seen the callousness in his eyes, but this… this was actuallyknowing.Ivan was right; there was no going back.
I took a deep breath. “Did you know my mother wasn’t really my mother?”
They nodded in unison. “We found out a lot about your family when we began digging.”
It was all so trippy. Being in a strip club for men while discovering all of this… I let out a breath and shook my head. How did I move forward?
“Did Ivan kill my brothers?”
They shook their heads again. “No, that was low-level business.”
“I still have to marry Donovan.”
“We know,” Nana leaned forward and pinched her lips together. “We are making a plan for you to get out.”
“Why?” That was probably the biggest question of it all. Why did they care about me? Why did they care about Jane? Why not my mother and Jade?
“You’re innocent in all of this.” Nana’s eyes softened, and she reached across the table to pat my hand. “So is Jane. Neither one of you deserves the hands you’ve been dealt. Though your parents were callous and cruel, you both ended up kind and compassionate. That rarely happens.”
I’d managed to stay as far away from my parents for as long as I could.
“Kindness,” Grandmother said, swirling her untouched martini, “isn’t something you inherit. It’s something you choose. And you, dear, have chosen it again and again. Even when the world kept trying to harden you.”
“Shame you’re going to have to un-choose it now,” Nanaadded with a bright, almost cheerful smile. “Murder changes a woman.”
I inhaled sharply. “I never said I was murdering anyone.”
“Sweetheart,” Grandmother said gently, “you walked into this club wearing that—after your own engagement party—and a soul full of vengeance. You’re murdering someone.”
The oiled-up man returned with a basket of chips and knelt beside the table to refresh the salsa, his thong glittering under the neon lights. I stared at his bronzed thigh because looking either granny in the eye right now was impossible.
“Donovan has already shown you what he is,” Nana continued. “He won’t stop after marriage. He won’t stop after Jane turns eighteen. He won’t stop until he owns everything. Including your future children.”
My throat closed. “I know.”
“And Ivan?” Grandmother pressed, tilting her head. “He is the one thing Donovan will never allow you to keep. That man nearly beat our boy to death because he couldn’t stand the thought of you choosing someone else.”
Her voice cracked a fraction onboy. It gutted me.
