Scarlett rolled her good eye. “I’d hardly call it a spree.”
“What?” His lips turned up into a grin. “That is absurd. Elijah as in…” He shook his head insistently at who they were referring to. “No, Eli works in one of your sister’s offices in Santa Fe. I made sure he was nowhere near…”
“Me?” Autumn cocked her head to the side. “Why is that? Did you know about his psychopathic tendencies? Did you know he was just like Fox?”
David Taylor raised a finger. “That was not supposed to happen—”
Autumn blinked, then spoke slowly. “What wasn’t supposed to happen?”
“Oops, looks like the cat is out of the bag, Daddy.” Scarlett bit her lip as a smug expression slithered over her face.
“Shut up, Scarlett,” their father growled.
Autumn looked between the two of them. There was something off here.
Were they keeping something from her?
“What is she talking about, Dad?”
“We might as well rip the band aid off. You’re not my sister, Autumn.” Scarlett looked at the tips of her nails, then back at Autumn, “We’re cousins.”
“I don’t—”
Scarlett rolled her good eye and flinched, “Did you never once suspect something was off? My mother never wanted you in our house. Why do you think she always gave you the cold shoulder, hmm? Never allowed you out to go with friends or even have a birthday party?” She looked over at their father, whose face turned red. “It was all Daddy’s doing. And grandfather, it was their scheme to keep you away from Aunt Lilli and her husband.” She shrugged her shoulder. “And there was also the money issue, but that’s neither here nor there…”
Autumn was having a hard time tracking everything Scarlett was saying. She knew Grace Taylor treated her differently. And no, she looked nothing like the woman. Autumn assumed it was to do with taking more after David and Scarlett, taking after their mother…
But Scarlett said a name.
Lilli?
As in Lilliana? Braeden’s wife?
Autumn shook her head, their father was an only child, Scarlett was wrong.
Braeden’s wife was beautiful. It was weird how she had the same hair type with that gold and red mixing among the brown.
“Autumn, it’s…” Lilliana stopped and started again. Her blue eyes were watery, and she took Autumn’s hands in hers. “Braeden has told me so much about you.” She smiled and wiped the corner of her eyes. “Oh, allergies this year are horrible. Come in, let me show you around…”
Autumn shook her head, “You’re lying.”
Scarlett laughed, but it was cut short with a cough and a grimace of pain.
“When you left, it wasn’t good enough for Daddy. Plus, you were eighteen. He couldn’t touch your money. He had Auntie Lilli’s funds, but she escaped that mental institution he forced her into. He took drastic measures to make sure she wouldn’t find you or your father. So, he resorted to Plan B and had Fox kidnap you.”
“She doesn’t know what she’s talking about. It’s the drugs,” Autumn’s father, no,uncle, rasped out.
Autumn kept her eyes on Scarlett and whispered, “Fox was obsessed with me.”
Scarlett’s mouth stretched into a gleaming smile. “He was. We knew it all along. I just didn’t know he was a psycho and liked to take women’s eyes from their skull.”
Autumn swallowed tight. “How does Elijah fit into this?”
Scarlett shrugged and looked at the wall next to her. “Oh… he told me how he was interested in taxidermy, and Fox taught him how to take the eyes of dead animals on their hunting trips when Elijah was young.” She shuddered, her shoulder moving back. “I didn’t want to know all the gory details, but he told me he wanted revenge after his father’s death. And I may have told him a way to get it.”
“Like a cat-and-mouse game.” Autumn felt sick to her stomach. “Why, Scarlett? What did I ever do to you?”
“You exist,” she sneered. “You made my life hell.” She lifted her chin. “And my business was failing. Your money was all I gave a damn about.”
