“But it was my mum.” I hold her head in my hands. “I’m so sorry, baby.”
“You are not apologizing for that psycho!” Her eyes flare with anger. “You are not going to assume one ounce of guilt over this, J, because this is all on your mother. It’s not on you. Look at all the damage she’s caused.”
“Heather is going to take this so hard.” My sister is close with Mum.
“She’ll be horrified.” She rests her brow against mine. “God, Jared. Your mother murdered our baby, and she murdered your father and tried to have me killed. I can’t wrap my head around it.”
“I know. The guys won’t believe it when I tell them.”
“Neither will Cay. She’s been firmly anti-Herman for years.”
“Your father isn’t blameless either even if his heart was in the right place and his motivations were protective.”
“I know. I don’t know if I can forgive him, but he’s dying.”
Shouts emanate from the living room, and it’s time to face the music. “Let’s pick this up at home. We have lots to think about, but right now, getting that evil bitch behind bars is priority number one.”
We walk back into the room hand in hand. Sawyer and Xavier walk toward us. “What have you decided?”
I glance over their shoulders at my mother. “We should kill you. A slow and torturous death, but that would only make us as bad as you. You deserve to suffer.”
“I hope your life behind bars is the worst hell on earth. It’s the least you deserve,” Sydney says.
“Are you very sure?” Sawyer asks, eyeballing both of us. “You don’t have to be the one to do it,” he says in a lower tone. “We can handle it and keep you out of it.”
“We’re not killers,” Sydney says as a shout rings out, and then a shot is fired.
We all drop to the floor on instinct as the smell of gunpowder swirls in the air.
“Welp, that’s one way of handling it,” Xavier quips, climbing to his feet alongside Sawyer as I help Sydney to stand.
We stare at the fresh hole in my mother’s skull. Her head is tipped back, and her empty eyes stare at the ceiling.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Hunt,” one of the guards says. “He unclipped my gun before I realized what was happening.”
“It had to happen like this,” Herman says, handing the gun back to the man. He walks toward us, and I swear it’s as if a huge weight has visibly lifted off his shoulders. “She couldn’t live, son.” He clamps a hand on my shoulder. “She might have found a way to get to you or Sydney from jail, and I couldn’t take that risk. This way, an old man can die in peace knowing his little princess is safe.” He squeezes my shoulder with more force than I considered him capable of. “I’m entrusting Sydney to your care, Jared. Worship her. Love her. Cherish her. Support her. Protect her.”
“With everything I have.”
“Give her lots of babies because my sweet pea was born to be a mother.”
“I plan to give her all the babies she wants,” I say, tucking a teary-eyed Sydney under my arm as he drops his arm and releases me.
“Love big and live hard, sweet pea.” He plants a kiss on Sydney’s brow. “I’m proud of you, princess. You’re a survivor, and you didn’t let what happened to you erase the most important parts of who you are. I’m just sorry there isn’t enough time to make it all up to you.”
“Oh man.” Xavier slaps a hand dramatically to his brow. “The emotion in this room is stifling. I need to cry, fuck, or have a drink.” He shrugs. “Maybe all three at once.”
“I vote for alcohol,” Sawyer says, ignoring the instant pout on his husband’s face.
“I’m down with that plan,” Sydney says.
“You go with Xavier, and I’ll meet you in a while. I’ll just wrap things up here.”
“Thank you,” I say. “While today has not gone how we thought it would, we came here for answers and got them.”
“I’m sorry they weren’t the ones you were hoping for, but at least you can draw a line under it now,” Sawyer says.
“When we walk out of here,” Syd says, looking into my eyes. “we’re leaving the past firmly in the past.”
