ChapterFifty
Ashley
When I come to the next time, I’m in the place that haunts my dreams.
The crypt.
“Ah, finally.” A man walks toward me through my blurry vision, leaning down to stare into my face. I’m disorientated from the drugs, so I don’t place him at first. “How are you feeling, darling?” he asks, brushing knotty pink hair back from my face.
“Do you have to fuss over her?” Julia says from somewhere in the background. “I don’t see the point when she’s—”
“Quiet,” the man barks, lifting a straw to my mouth. He holds it there while I take a few sips, and gradually my vision becomes clearer.
I take note of my surroundings as I drink the ice-cold water. I’m in a leather recliner that fully supports my sore, bandaged head. A blanket is draped over my lap, and it covers my legs. I don’t appear to be restrained, but why would I be when I’m pretty sure I could barely stand if I tried. “Why am I here?” I ask, hating how raspy my throat sounds.
“I am sorry for the ambush, but it was necessary.” He dangles the cup with the straw in front of my face. “Would you like some more?”
“No.” The pain in my head is more of a fuzzy, dull ache now, thanks to the meds, but I’m still groggy. I glance to my right, and my blood pressure skyrockets. Mom, Bree, and Jase are all tied to wooden chairs. Their hands and feet are restrained with zip ties, and their mouths are covered with industrial duct tape. Jase looks at me with obvious concern flickering in his eyes. Mom’s head is lolling forward, and she’s moaning behind her mouth covering. Blood coats her pretty face, and splatters of it have dripped down onto the front of her white blouse.
“What is going on?” Blood pounds in my ears, and adrenaline surges through my veins. “Why is my mom all bloody and bruised?”
“Your mother has had that coming for a long time,” the man says, his jaw tensing. “And that is only the start of her punishment if she refuses to cooperate.”
There’s a sadistic sheen behind his eyes as he talks about her, and fear ricochets up my spine. The events back on the road return, and I’m struggling to breathe. Tears prick my eyes. “Dad!” I cry out, praying the memory replaying in my brain was just a bad nightmare, but he’s not here. Ignoring the pain, I angle my head and look around. I don’t see Ares or Chad either. Did I imagine that, or was it real?
“Yes, darling?” The man in front of me looks pleased as he stares into my eyes.
Why is he looking at me like that? Now I can see his features more clearly, I recognize him. I know who he is, and it does nothing to ease my anxiety. “You’re Rhett Carter,” I whisper, working hard to curtail my panic. “The Greed & Gluttony Luminary.”
“I am.” He beams at me before leaning in and kissing my brow.
He’s staring at me so strangely, and it’s creeping me out. I squirm in my chair, wondering if I’m suffering from hallucinations. My limbs are heavy, my head is foggy, and I’m struggling to separate reality from fiction. “Where are my dad, Ares, and Chad?”
He doesn’t like my question, his lips pulling tight as he straightens up. “If you mean Douglas Shaw, he’s dead, but he’s not your father. I am.”
“What?” I blurt through my tears, hurting and confused.
“Douglas Shaw’s blood doesn’t flow through your veins. Mine does.”
My gaze automatically seeks Jase’s, and I’m sure the shock mirrored on his face is replicated on mine.
“You’re lying.”
“No, my sweet child. I’m not.” Opening up a laptop, he places it on my lap over the blanket. Pulling up a report, he enlarges the screen and taps at the details. “This is a blood test result from the blood taken the night before your initiation ceremony.” Walking over to Mom, he grips her chin and arches her head back. “Your mother was still trying to deny me the truth, swapping out the vials when she thought I wouldn’t notice. But I have suspected for some time that she tricked me when you were born, and I was right.” He fixes her with a venomous look. “I have actually known the truth for a while, but it was nice to get it officially verified.”
One of Mom’s eyes is swollen and sealed shut, congealed with blood, and it looks nasty. Her other eye is fine, and she glares at Rhett Carter like he’s the devil incarnate.
He may very well be.
Mom tries to speak over the tape covering her mouth, but it comes out muffled.
“I don’t understand.” I lift a heavy arm to brush the tears from my cheeks as he sets the laptop down on a small table.
“Your tramp of a mother has lied to everyone for years,” Julia says, coming up behind Rhett Carter and wrapping her arms around his middle. “She was supposed to marry Rhett, but instead she and my father concocted a plan to pass her unborn child off as Doug Shaw’s child. All to avoid fulfilling her duties. She made my love a laughingstock, and now it’s time you all pay the price.”
Bree shouts something behind the tape. We can’t hear her, but the hostility she feels for Julia is clear.
Rhett looks aggravated as he removes Julia’s arms from around his torso and levels her with a glare. “Did I give you permission to speak? This is not your story to share.” He slaps her across the face. “Don’t interrupt me again.”
