Knight’s gaze rests on me. He must have gotten his piercing blue eyes from his mother because he doesn’t share the brown eyes I inherited from our father. His probing gaze is intelligent and compassionate as he stares at me. I return his stare with confidence, wondering how long he has known about me. “I don’t know why I didn’t see the resemblance before,” he says eventually, breaking the fraught silence. “You look so much like my youngest sister, Paisley.” He clears his throat. “Oursister.”
“He told you then.” I school my features into a neutral line as I hold his gaze, trying to guess where he is going with this and what he wants.
Knight shakes his head, stepping away from the fireplace and coming closer. His posture loosens, and his facial expression floods with warmth. “He hasn’t told me anything. I figured it out for myself.”
“Figured what out exactly?” Jase asks, sliding a protective arm around my shoulders the same time Ares steps in closer to my side.
“All of it.” He stops a few feet away, his eyes still drawn to my face. Dragging a hand through his hair, he messes up his careful styling. “Well, I think all of it.”
“Let’s cut the bull and lay our cards on the table,” Baz says as his head whips around the room. “Unless it’s not safe to talk in here?”
The room is small with a velvet-backed couch and two chairs positioned in front of the old-fashioned fireplace. To the left, propped against the wall, is a desk and chair. The large window on the right faces the side of the gardens. I glance over my shoulder, noting the floor-to-ceiling fitted shelving on the back wall. Every row is filled with books arranged in alphabetical order.
“There is no surveillance in here. It’s why I chose this place,” Knight says. “We have privacy to talk openly.”
“Excuse me if I check.” Baz pulls out a small rectangular device, and we are all quiet as we watch him activate it and scan the room. When he’s satisfied it’s safe, he nods.
“What do you know?” Jase asks. “And what is this about?”
“Why don’t we sit?” Knight gestures toward the seats in front of the fire.
Bree and I sit on the couch. Baz takes one of the chairs, and Knight takes the other. Ares and Jase stand behind the couch like sentinels primed and ready to strike at the first sign of trouble.
“I have suspected something since your initiation.” Knight leans forward and clasps his hands on his knees. “Father only shares what he wants to share with me, and it’s always in a controlled manner, so I did some snooping, but I had to be careful.”
“That doesn’t surprise me,” I admit.
“I spied on him during meetings and when he was making important phone calls, and I started to piece things together. Then I overheard him and my mother arguing about you.” He clenches his hands into fists, and pain flares in his eyes. “I didn’t know. I swear I did not know about her dungeon or the twisted shit she’s into.”
“I find that hard to believe,” Ares interjects. “She’s doing it from a building at the back of your house. Surely you must have spotted something over the years?”
“The estate is huge. What you refer to as “the back of our house” is a structure that is over a mile away. We never have reason to go back there. As far as we know, it’s where she stores donations for her charity auctions. There are underground tunnels running underneath the entire property. She uses them to get in and out, so we don’t know how often she goes there.”
“Who iswe?” I ask, cursing myself for not asking Jase or Bree more about my father’s family. It wasn’t a conscious decision to not think about them but a subconscious one. I’m not yet prepared to accept what the revelation of my paternity means, and we have enough on our plate. I have been trying to compartmentalize.
“We have three siblings. Daria is sixteen, Kylo is fourteen, and Paisley is twelve.”
I already know Knight is only eighteen, which makes me Rhett’s oldest child. That we know of. Who knows how many other women he raped who gave birth to his kids? There could be a whole colony of Carter bastards in the world.
“Please tell me you haven’t shared any of this intel with Daria or Kylo?” Jase asks, landing his hands on my shoulders. I reach up and grip his fingers.
Knight watches my every interaction with avid interest. “I’m not an idiot.” He pins Jase with a narrow gaze over my shoulders.
“Why are we here?” I ask, wanting to cut to the chase. We’ll need to make tracks soon.
“I want to help,” Knight says, and I see no lie on his face. “I’m sickened at what my mother has done to countless men while I was sleeping soundly in my bed only a mile away. I spoke with Chad a couple of times at parties, and I know how much he means to you.” His troubled blue eyes pin mine in place.
“You know she has him?”
He nods. “I snuck into the basement yesterday for the first time. I saw him.”
“Is he okay?” I blurt, leaning toward my half-brother. “How does he look? Is he hurt? Did you tell him we’d get him out of there?”
“He was asleep…in his cage.” He hangs his head, blowing air out of his mouth. When he lifts his head again, a few seconds later, apology is etched across his face. “I am so sorry, Ashley.”
“No!” I vigorously shake my head. “You don’t apologize for her actions unless you knew about it and did nothing.”
“I swear to you I didn’t. I only found out about it two days ago when I overheard my parents arguing over you, your mom, and Chad.” He looks behind me at Jase. “I texted you immediately to ensure you were coming to the party.” He stands. “I’m going to help you get Chad out. Tonight. Now.”
