“Did you know?” Haidyn demands my attention.
I feel like this is a trick question and am not sure how to answer. I swallow nervously. My gaze shoots to his wife before returning to him. I’ve got to tread carefully because I don’t know what he’s been told. I’m guessing Kashton has filled them in on Evan. That I’m keeping secrets about how I know so much about Dollhouse.
“Haidyn—”
“Did you know that you’re my sister?” he snaps at me, interrupting Charlotte.
“What?” She gasps now, looking between the two of us, and I get a glimpse of Ashtyn opening her bedroom door to see what the commotion is about.
Great. Just what I need. An audience. How the fuck did he find out? I haven’t told a soul. Especially Kashton. I’d never make him keep secrets from his brothers. I have so many that I will take to my grave. Hell, I will die to keep most of them, but I say, “Yes.”
“Were you ever going to tell me?” he demands.
I look up at my half brother through my lashes. Our father hated him almost as much as he hated me. I knew Haidyn was too good of a person to let him know who I was. It would have only gotten him in trouble with our father. I know he’s dead now, but telling him would open another door that I need to keep shut. For both of our sakes. “No.”
His face falls and the man that is six seven looks like a little wounded child. The anger fades, replaced with sadness and regret. “Why not?” he asks, his brows draw together. “I could have protected you.”
That’s why I never said anything. “Protect me?” I shake my head. “We were all on our own, Haidyn.” Everyone was. The guys had each other, but they still went through hell. They were separated and tortured all becauseAshtyn ran and fucked everything up. Our father kept me away from Haidyn because he knew we’d get close and Haidyn would choose me. That was one less thing he wanted to fight Haidyn on. “And he’s been dead for years.” After the Spade fathers were killed, there was no reason to confront any of them. I was free to move on with my life. I didn’t want to come back to this. Kashton changed all that.
“I’m sorry.” He runs a hand over his head before it drops to his side. “I’m sorry that Dad sent you to Dollhouse. I should have asked about you…the girl I picked to save.”
My head snaps up and I glare at him.Dollhouse?“How do you know that?” I demand. Stepping closer to him, I shout, “How do you fucking know about that?”
“Eve.” It’s Kashton who says my name, and I look over at him. He walks slowly toward me, but I see the sadness in his eyes as well. And Saint. He can’t even look at me. His hands are shoved into his pockets, his eyes on the floor.
What the fuck?“Where the fuck have you been?” I ask instead. I zero in on something in Kashton’s hand. It’s an envelope of some kind, and it makes panic rise. What could be in there?
“We’ve been at Dollhouse,” Haidyn answers. “We watched your tape.”
My stomach drops at his words, and I take a step back, feeling like someone has just punched me in the gut.No. That was too long ago. The videos have been destroyed. Evan promised me that they were no longer there. That they’re all ruined after a doll is sold.
“I don’t believe you,” I whisper, even though I do. How else would they know what goes on there? That everything is taped?
“Eve.” Haidyn steps closer to me. “Bill showed it to us.”
I shake my head. My dad? The man who said he’d protect me, give me a better life, betrayed me? Why? Have I done something wrong? Is he mad at me? One of my biggest fears is that I’ll let him down. It took a lot of time and effort to get me out of that hell. I promised him I would make it worth it.
“Angel—”
I push around Kashton, shove open the door to the stairwell, and run down them, ignoring Kash calling out behind me. I rush out of the front double doors and down the steps to my car. I don’t even look in my rearview mirror to see if he’s following me as I race home.
I enter my house. How fucking dare they do that? Angry tears roll down my face, and I wipe them away aggressively. I don’t cry—not anymore—but I’m pissed. Embarrassed. This is why I didn’t want to get close with Kashton. I knew better but allowed it to happen anyway.
Entering my bedroom, something gets my attention. An envelope sits onthe end of my bed. It looks identical to the one Kash was holding. With shaking hands, I open it up and pull out the contents. The first thing is a picture of me lying in the hospital bed when Bill saved me. I look like shit. Unrecognizable.
It was after I ran into Kashton on theIsabella. Evan punished me for that night. Bill found me six weeks later. I didn’t think I was going to survive much longer. If I didn’t commit suicide, Evan was going to kill me.
I toss it to the floor and look over the report of what had been done to me. Everything my body survived at Dollhouse. Is this what they read? They know everything. Things that I can’t even remember. The drugs cloud your mind. I guess that’s one thing to be thankful for. Months are missing from my life.
“Hey, sis,” a voice says softly from behind me.
My chest tightens. It’s like a fucking nightmare.
I turn around to see Evan standing in the doorway of my bedroom. “Did you do this?” I hold up the envelope. “Did you fucking do this?” I scream.
“I told you Kashton would be a problem. He’d get too close. I had to show them, sis. They needed to see who you really are.”
“Show?”The video?“You…you told me you deleted them.” I’m shaking uncontrollably.
