Did he do this? Has Diesel been working for Sinner this entire time?
CHAPTER 45
PAIN STABS MEthrough the heart and my lungs, working its way through every vital organ until I can barely breathe. If Diesel has betrayed us, then that means there is no rescue in sight.
No!
I don’t believe it.
Diesel hates Sinner, and he’s proven his loyalty to me time and time again. He last checked in with Mom a couple of days ago, and she was fine.
Someone must have betrayed him.
That’s the only explanation that makes sense.
My heart rate steadies, and my panic dials down, because I know, deep down inside, that Diesel hasn’t lied. That he’s on our side.
A strangled sob rips through the air, pulling me out of my head. Tears pour down Mom’s face as she’s flung into a chair, sobbing.
Dressed in a low-cut red and black ballgown that trails the ground with her hair and makeup professionally done, she looks beautiful on the surface—until you see the anguish in her eyes, the tears coating her face, and the fresh bruises mushrooming under the skin of her arms and around her neck.
One of Sinner’s goons secures her to the chair, and we stare at one another, silently conveying so much.
“Get your hands off me.” My head whips up in time to see Alisha slap one of the men manhandling her into the room. Unlike Mom, she’snotparty ready. They have stripped her to her underwear, and her small boobs and skeletal frame are on display, making her seem even more vulnerable. Matted hair frames her makeup-free face, but there’s no disguising her sunken cheekbones and gaunt eyes. My gaze darts to Galen’s, and my heart breaks at the devastated look on his face.
Sinner sits down beside Mom, hauling me onto his lap. Lifting her head, Mom pierces me with a look loaded with regret and guilt.
“Shut your face, whore.” The man holding Alisha’s skinny frame grabs her by the hair, pushing her toward the table. She screams, arms and legs flailing as the man throws her forward, slamming her head down on the table with force.
Galen shouts and curses, screaming at the asshole to leave his mom alone. His body contorts when he tries to move his chair, pain spreading across his face. One of Sinner’s men punches him in the face, and it’s killing me to stand idly by while this happens. Rage flows through my veins, and I’m seconds away from saying fuck the mission.
Alisha is dumped unceremoniously in the chair on the other side of Sinner, and she’s not looking so hot. Her eyes are rolling back in her head as she curls into a ball, bending her knees against her chest. Blood trickles from her nostrils, dripping down over her chin, and a nasty lump is already swelling on her forehead.
I purposely ignore looking at the guys, focusing on doing what needs to be done.
“Now that everyone’s here,” Sinner says. “We can move things along.” When he shifts underneath me, his disgusting erection digs into my ass, and I almost lose it. Acid licks a path up my throat, but I keep it together, forcing a full-body shudder to retreat.
“As I was saying, I know you and your mother are working with the FBI in an attempt to take me down.” Sinner clucks his tongue. “Such stupid, stupid girls.” Reaching out, he grabs the armrest of Mom’s chair, pulling her in close. “You were my everything, princess,” he says to Mom, gripping her chin.
His gun is still pressed to my head, but the arm around my waist is gone now, and I could make a move, but my gut tells me to hold firm.
“Why’d you have to ruin everything by leaving me for that prick Trey? Everything would be different if you’d just stayed.”
Dry tear tracks streak Mom’s cheeks, and her eyes are clear and targeted. Her chin juts up as she eyeballs her ex-fiancé. “You’re a thug, Neo. A criminal. A serial murderer. A rapist.”
He slaps her cheek, and her head whips back.
My fingers inch up my stomach.
Mom smiles at him, her cheek bearing the imprint of his hand. “Falling in love with Trey Westbrook was as easy as breathing, proving what we shared wasnothing.” She points between her and Sinner. “You meannothingto me.”
Sinner slaps her again, yanking her head back, and I warn Mom to tone it down with my eyes. If she continues pushing him, he’ll kill her.
I’ve already lost one parent. I amnotlosing another on my watch.
“Your love was a death sentence!” Sinner roars. “He’d still be alive if you hadn’t left me. That’s on your conscience.”
“No,” I speak up, needing to deflect him from Mom. “It’s on yours. You murdered my father so you could clear a path to my mom, because you knew there was no way she’d ever look at you as long as Trey Westbrook was alive.”
