Liam stares down at me almost tenderly. The last time I saw him, he was pointing a gun at me. Prickly chills skitter down my spine; the unpleasant sensation reminds me of the time I accidentally stepped in a fire ant mound and hundreds of the tiny, evil creatures swarmed up my legs, stinging and biting me. My calves were covered in painful, pus-filled whelps for two weeks.
Any hope I had of escaping dies. I’m truly trapped. I wrench myself away from Liam and back the hell up when another man steps forward.
I’ve only seen Declan Levine once in my life, and that was from afar at the gala benefit that I was promptly whisked away from. But I’ve never met him in person. I thought he was still in federal prison. Clearly, not anymore. Levine looks different than I expected. I had assumed he would dress like my father—expensive, showy pieces that display his wealth and power for all to see.
However, Declan doesn’t look like that. He’s in a casual pair of black pleated dress slacks and a blue, collared dress shirt. His wavy, blond hair is cropped close, and his jaw is covered with a short, dark blond beard. And he’s tall, as tall as Liam. But those aren’t the features I’m gawping at. Because staring at me are two very familiar eyes. Violet-colored eyes like mine.
And then he says the one thing that shatters my entire fucking world apart.
“Hello, daughter.”
As soon as the words come out of his mouth, an eruption of hysterical laughter bursts out of me until tears stream down my cheeks.
Clearly, this is a joke. If so, it’s not funny. There’s no fucking way that I’m his kid. It can’t be…
I collapse to the floor as the truth of it slams into me, knocking me on my ass. Declan Levine’s goddamn violet-colored eyes speaking a truth that I don’t want to hear.
Maximillian Rossi, the man who tortured, abused, and raped me most of my life, is not my biological father. Kellan isn’t my brother. Sarah isn’t my niece. I look up at Liam and memories of Geneva curdle my already nauseous stomach. Did I havesexwith my brother?
Without warning, I vomit all over the floor.
Chapter 3
Wiping puke from my mouth with the back of my hand, I glare up at the man who just dropped a nuclear bomb on me. Tessa crouches down next to me, concerned.
“Alex, come on. Let’s get you cleaned up.”
I shove her away. I don’t give a shit that I’m covered in vomit.
Getting to my feet, I demand, “I want to talk to Rafe.”
Liam takes a step toward me, and I stop him with a slice of my eyes. I feel cornered by the three of them. My entire world is unraveling. I can’t trust anyone. Everyone lies.
“I want to talk to Rafe!” I scream, my body vibrating so badly, it feels like my bones will rattle out of my skin.
Declan stares at me, and I meet his stare with one of my own. I wish I hadn’t because it’s like looking into a mirror. From his hair color to the shape of his ears, to the cupid’s bow upper lip. All of them, so very similar. I touch my hair, part of me thankful that I dyed it and it’s no longer blonde.
“How?” I whisper, but that’s not the question I want to ask.
I want to know why. Did he not want me? Did he not love me? Was I a mistake he traded to my father when I was an infant, much like my father was selling me to Alejandro Ortiz? But Max Rossi isn’t my real father, is he?
“Do you know what he did to me?” My voice comes out harsh, desolate, guttural.
All the years of abuse, the pain, the cage, the whippings, the miscarriage. I yank on my hair and spin around, needing to escape from my memories and desperate to flee from this new reality.
Declan’s face hardens, and his expression is so deadly that it stops my frantic movements and I back away from him, creating distance between us.
I don’t know this man. I don’t know what he wants with me or what he plans to do with me. He blew up the cabin I was in. He has tried to kidnap me twice—no, three times now. I’m being held here against my will. His family and the Rossis have been enemies fighting the same turf war for decades.
“If I’d known,” he begins but doesn’t continue.
I hold my hand up in front of me when Tessa tries to reach for my arm. Was she ever my friend? Or was she using me like everyone else in my life?
“I promise to answer all of your questions,” Declan tells me, and I scoff.
“At least answer one for me, right now. Is he my brother?” I ask, looking at Liam. I had a brother: Kellan. At least, I thought I did.
Did Kellan know? Is that the secret he wanted to confess to me to unburden his guilty conscience before he died? Is that what Matteo was referring to about Kellan telling them to be ready for my return?
