She darts forward, slapping me across the face. “Don’t fucking interrupt me when I’m speaking.”
You know, I do believe my sister is insane. I have always known she is cruel and mean and jealous and vindictive, but she is so much more than that. She is a complete whack job.
“We only found out recently that one of Daddy’s soldiers killed Ben’s half-brother to halt our plans.” She cackles, and the sound raises goose bumps on my arms. “Daddy repaid him for that, and I burned his house to the ground,” she gleefully admits.
She can only be talking about Terry Scott. This is why he was living in fear. God, Ben will be so shocked when he discovers this truth. But why is she referring to him as one of Daddy’s soldiers? And why would Ben ever concede to my father as the main boss? I thought my father washed cash for The Outfit, but it’s clear now he is so much more than that.
All the tiny hairs lift on my neck as I try to slot the last puzzle pieces into place.
“Of course, we timed it to perfection.” She prattles on. “Knowing it would bring Ben back to Chicago. Bumping into him on the street with Rowan was unplanned, but I thought it would work to my advantage until you had to go and ruin everything!” she screeches, digging her nails into her thighs.
My blood boils, like it does anytime Saskia mentions my son. She has never shown him the slightest interest.
“Not that it’s darling Rowan’s fault, of course,” she adds, wearing a fake adoring smile that snaps the tenuous control on my emotions.
I lunge at her, shoving her off the chair. “I told you not to mention his name!” I yell, crouching down to punch her in the face with my uninjured hand. My fist slams into her cheekbone, and she screams bloody murder just as Z bursts into the room.
He grabs me off my sister, shoving me forcefully against the wall, and I scream in pain as he yanks my hands up over my head, forcing them into the manacles. My injured hand throbs, and the torn flesh on my wrists, barely healed, rips open again. Tears leak from my eyes of their own volition as pain ricochets up and down my arm.
“Are you okay?” Z asks, hovering over Saskia and extending his arm to help her up. His eyes fly to her thighs, bare underneath her skirt that has ridden up her legs.
“Don’t look at me like that, you pervert,” she snaps, grabbing his arm and pulling herself upright. Once she is standing, she pushes him away. “Leave. And next time, wait to be called. I had it handled, idiot.”
A muscle ticks in Z’s jaw, and he looks like he could hit her. Silently, I egg him on, but he’s got no balls, and he won’t follow through. He storms out of the room, muttering under his breath, and I think his rose-tinted glasses have dropped off.
Saskia prods at her cheek, wincing, and I hope I left a nice big bruise. Her eyes narrow with pure hatred as she strides toward me, punching me repeatedly in the gut. “You fucking bitch! How dare you hit me!” She lands another punch to my stomach, and it’s starting to hurt. What she lacks in brute strength she makes up for in enthusiasm. “You better pray this doesn’t bruise, baby sister. Daddy may have promised Ben he’d keep you alive, but I have no qualms about killing you.”
She realizes she’s given me vital intel a second too late.
I can’t contain my grin, knowing Benisworking to save me.
Emitting a frustrated scream, she hits my solar plexus again, with more force this time, and I bite back a whimper as stabbing pain spreads across my stomach.
“I don’t know why you look so smug. You’re the one chained to a wall like a filthy dog while I’m the one wearing Ben’s ring.” She thrusts out her hand, waving a monstrous diamond ring in my face.
“Ben would never pick such a hideous ring,” I say, risking another punch. “And he would never agree to marry you.”
Grabbing her purse, she removes a folded-up piece of paper, thrusting it in front of my face. It’s a cutout fromThe New York Times, announcing her engagement to Ben.
What the actual fuck is going on?
All the blood drains from my face, and she laughs. “I told you, you would never marry him,” she gloats. “Ben has always been mine. We were always fated to be. He loves me, and he was only with you out of obligation to Rowan.” She tucks the newspaper clipping back in her purse. “The whole of New York society will be out in force for our engagement party this weekend and then our wedding two weeks later. But don’t worry, I will take really good care of him. Rowan too.”
I thrash about in the manacles, barely feeling any pain as I scream and shout at her. “You leave my son alone! He’s my baby. Mine!” I don’t know what the hell is going on, but I know Ben wouldn’t marry her freely, and there is no way he would want her anywhere near our son, so I can only guess this is all part of some plan.
“Not anymore.” She smiles. “Daddy is already drawing up the adoption paperwork. They will both forget all about you, as if you never even existed.”
“Neither of them will ever be yours,” I roar. “Tell yourself whatever bullshit you want, but they are mine!” I thrash about as angry tears prick my eyes. She is lucky Z chained me to this wall because in this moment I want to kill her. I want to grab her surgically altered face and slam it into the wall until she’s a bloody pulp with no pulse.
Her entire body shakes with rage as she screams in my face. “Do you know how long I have been trying to have a child!? I had seven miscarriages! Seven. Do you know what that does to a woman?” She paces the cell, running her hands through her hair repeatedly, messing up the careful styling. “I was heartbroken every month when I failed to conceive. Every time when I lost my baby, another part of me died, and then you,you slut, you get pregnant without even trying.” She slaps me again, much harder this time, and stars swim behind my vision. “I hate you! You tried to steal my life, but I stole it back because you are too stupid to play the game.” She taps her temple, reining in her anger. “I haven’t always just been more beautiful than you. I’m smarter too.”
Add delusional and insane, I snipe in my head. Though I don’t articulate it because my sister is unhinged and it’s not smart to antagonize her anymore. I don’t trust she wouldn’t kill me and say I provoked her into doing it.
“How does it feel to know no one trusts you enough to tell you the truth? That you are so insignificant you don’t matter to anyone. Even Mom and Serena kept the truth from you when you called them.”
I frown before I can stop myself. How does she even know about that?
“They are still lying to you,” she sneers. “They chose protecting Daddy’s big secret over you.”
