Too perfectly. Only I and everyone in Lola’s house knew it was nothing but an act. She was a pure psychopath who didn’t care about anyone other than herself.
We were waiting for something, for a call. Sylvester was out of the house. He’d taken Viper and Mike with him as backup. He was meeting with Tessa’s doctor. Either with money, blackmail, or threats, he’d find out whether this pregnancy was real or not.
I was done playing around. Done waiting. Regardless of what the answer was, we had to do something, and we had to do it soon. Like hell would I let her play the grieving widow at my dad’s funeral. The bitch didn’t deserve to step foot in a place, at a time that was meant to be in memory of him.
Hell, I wasn’t sure I deserved to be there, either, with how much I used to claim to hate and not trust him. Felt pretty damn stupid about it now.
And then, who knew how long later, Lola’s phone rang. She was sitting next to me, but when she picked her phone up and saw it was Sylvester calling, she got to her feet and answered it, putting him on speaker. The first thing she said was: “You’re on speaker. Tell me you got it.”
In my chest, my heart pounded like crazy. I kept telling myself that I’d take care of Tessa one way or another, that it didn’t truly matter whether she was pregnant or not, but with how desperate my dad was to be a father again… how much he was willing to sacrifice and forgive, a part of me still held hesitation.
“I got it.” Sylvester paused, and it felt like he paused for an eternity, when in reality it was more like three seconds. “She’s not pregnant. She paid off the doctor to go along with it and falsify the paternity test.”
Everyone in the room looked at me, waiting to see how I would take the news. Honestly, I was relieved I wouldn’t have to worry about dealing with an innocent baby in her belly, but at the same time… I didn’t know. Was it weird to be a little sad?
Yeah, it was definitely weird.
“Hopefully you gave that not-so-good doctor a good speaking to,” Lola said, a devilish smile tugging at her lips.
“Don’t worry. I have the feeling he’ll be leaving his practice soon.”
“Good. I’ll see you in a bit.” She ended the call and spun to face me, tapping her phone against her palm. “So, now that we know… what’s the plan, girlie?”
I sat there for a while, thinking. Having all eyes on me didn’t necessarily help, but it did reinforce the fact that I had the biggest crime family at my disposal. They had ins everywhere, even the police station. It wouldn’t be too hard to find out where Tessa was hunkering down in the city, switch out the police guarding her with some of their men.
I’d tried talking to her. I’d tried to play nice, and with her recent actions, she’d made it clear she wasn’t going to back down.
Well, neither was I. She thought she had this in the bag. She thought she’d skate by and get everything she wanted. Probably feign grief and then, a few weeks later, come out and say she’d miscarried. She’d have the sympathy card, the exact same card she used to help my dad win the mayor’s seat after I was kidnapped two and a half years ago.
And that sympathy card? It could take you places. It could make you an online superstar, an influencer or even a politician of your own right. It wouldn’t matter that she didn’t have experience herself. She could run on a hard anti-crime stance, and everyone would know who she was, even out of state.
No, she wouldn’t stay here, not after the funeral. I’d bet any money she planned on moving far enough away she thought I’d never be able to get to her. That I’d never find her again.
She wasn’t going to get that far. Not this time.
The plan that formulated in my head this time was on another level than the one I’d thought of before. It was dark,maybe even evil, but I didn’t care. I wouldn’t shy away from it. The time for that had passed.
“I’m going to need help,” I said, glancing all around the room. “From all of you.” Lola and Maddox, then at my guys, Kieran and Fang. Jason was the only one who would remain hands-off when it came to Tessa, which I understood completely and wouldn’t hold against him. He might’ve disowned his daughter, but he would not help in her downfall.
As long as he didn’t try to stop me, we’d be good.
“You have it,” Lola, the woman who radiated confidence, said as she sat down beside me. The half-smile she sent my way was icy, the kind of smile only a serial killer would have. That girl crush I had? Still had it, but now I was starting to realize this woman was my new best friend. She’d walk through hell with me, all I had to do was ask.
Kieran rubbed his hands together. He sat on the far end of the sectional couch, near Fang. Jason was pacing the area in front of the TV. Maddox looked bored, but I was pretty sure that was his typical expression when he wasn’t balls-deep in Lola.
“What’s the plan, then? Don’t keep us in suspense,” Kieran said.
As I started to explain my plan, what I’d need each of them to do, a devious, devilish smile spread across Kieran’s face. He was clearly looking forward to this almost as much as me. Tessa had tried to have him killed, so he’d play a bigger role this time than he had before. He wouldn’t be a simple recorder.
Oh, no. All my guys would have a starring role this time. Lola and her guys would help make the ol’ switcheroo when it came to Tessa’s police detail, and fortunately for me, they had quite a few places where they kept their enemies and tortured the living shit out of them when they needed information.
This was a plan I could not pull off on my own. There were a lot of working parts, and we all needed to work together, but I was beyond confident we would succeed.
Tessa was going down. She wouldn’t know what hit her.
Chapter Twenty-Five – Kieran
The people who always said it was the small things in life that made you the happiest, the smallest things that made you realize just how great it was to be alive, were right. When we found out Tessa was faking, everything fell into place. Not going to lie, I was looking forward to seeing my dear sister again.
