I roll my eyes. Rowan probably is the one tied up, literally.
“Call Finn. I think we need some extra sadistic qualities tonight. Charlotte didn’t get anything from Madame Eve on the first go,” I tell him.
Dr. Finn Quinn is probably the closest man I’ve met to a true psychopath. His methods are unhinged; it’s fascinating how he hunts down men with his wife, too. He was once an award-winning heart surgeon; now he’s a family man with his new baby girl.
Yet, he will never turn down a fight or a chance to spill blood.
“Yeah. I didn’t think the son card was going to work on her,” Reggie says.
I sigh. Whoever is leading this cult really does know how to brainwash their ‘soldiers’.
“We can keep trying. Maybe her corpse will send a better message to the Preacher than anything she could tell us anyway.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Lily
When I wake up, the panic hits first.
The ceiling is wrong. The light is wrong. The air feels unfamiliar in my lungs. For a split second, I don’t know where I am or why my chest feels tight, then I remember last night.
I need a coffee, and I need air, so I force myself upright, swing my legs over the bed to untangle from the sheets, open the door, and hold my breath as I head down the stairs, straight to the kitchen. I don’t look toward the living room. I don’t want to see him there. I’m not ready.
But I can smell him.
That familiar mix of smoke and something sharp and masculine that drags me backward through time, whether I want it to or not. My pulse skids.
I busy myself with the cupboards, my hands moving on autopilot as I find a mug and pour from the freshly brewed coffee pot. My fingers tremble just enough that the liquid sloshes close to the rim.
Then he clears his throat, and I freeze.
“Lily.”
The world goes quiet. Not silent. Like everything slows just enough for the pain to catch up.
I turn slowly, and a sob breaks free before I can stop it.
He looks so different from the man I remember. Still powerful, still commanding, but worn down by years, choices, and regret. The edges are softer, and the cost is visible.
And suddenly, I’m not an adult woman standing in a kitchen. I’m a little girl again. Crying. Begging. Terrified of being left behind. But I’m finally connecting with that lost part of myself.
“Dad.” The word barely makes it past my lips.
The mug slips from my hand and shatters on the floor, coffee splashing across the white marble. I don’t even flinch.
He’s there instantly, arms around me, crushing me to his chest like he’s afraid I’ll disappear if he lets go.
This is what I’ve needed for five years.
“It’s okay, solnyshko. I’ve got you.”
My body betrays me, melting for one heartbeat before reality slams back in. I shake my head and push myself out of his hold, hands trembling. “You think you can just stand here and tell me it’s okay now? That throwing me money over the years gets you a pass for abandoning me?” my voice cracks under the weight of it.
He wipes his eyes with the back of his hand.
He’s crying. “I thought I was saving you.” The words are quiet.
“I thought you would be happier here, safer. That my evil life would ruin yours, too. It fucking killed me, Lily. Every single day since.”
