The countdown ends, and the dresser slowly pushes away with the door until it’s wide enough for the men to start filing in. Within seconds, there are three men in the room with their guns raised and aimed at us.
“Clear!” one of them yells, and I peek out around Elias’s side to watch Robert step through the doorway. He stops to take in the scene, me clinging to Elias’s back, his men aiming their guns at us, and Carlos dead on the floor.
He slowly moves around the dresser until he’s standingbetween two of his men, assessing us. I have no idea what he’s thinking; his face is devoid of any emotion.
Finally, he glances at Carlos and lets out a sigh, like a man who’s been inconvenienced, not someone who just lost a close friend. I’m not sure he’s capable of having feelings for anyone.
“You’ve been a pain in my ass since the day you were born,” he says in disappointment as his eyes meet mine.
His words throw me for a moment, and I don’t know how to respond. I thought I had been a relatively good child. I’d mostly done what I was told. He never had to tell me twice to do anything. Did he really expect more from me? What more could I have possibly done?
“Don’t listen to him,” Elias says, cutting through my rampant thoughts. “You’ve always been an angel. He’s trying to confuse you.”
My fingers dig in a little to his back, to let him know I heard him, as I watch Robert silently. I’m not sure what to say yet, so I stay quiet.
Robert shows the first sign of emotion when his eyes snap with anger toward Elias. “You’re just as bad as them. If you weren’t more valuable alive, I’d kill you, too.”
The words hit me hard. The image of Elias lying dead because of Robert flashes through my mind so fast that it makes my stomach clench. My hands fist into Elias’s shirt without me even thinking about it, as if I can anchor him to me in this moment, as if holding on tightly enough will keep Robert’s threats from ever becoming real. Fear claws up my spine, but I realize too late that I’m clinging to the wrong part of what Robert said.
Elias tilts his head, studying Robert with a calm thatmakes me feel braver just by standing with him. “Who isthem?”
A smirk pulls at Robert’s lips. His eyes swing back to mine, looking almost gleeful. “Our parents, of course.”
The world drops out from under me. A sharp gasp escapes before I can stop it. My heartbeat stumbles, then races. I feel like the floor tilts, like the room is suddenly too small. My mind tries to make sense of the words, to shove them somewhere they can’t touch me, but they cling like thorns.
“You killed your own parents?” Elias asks in disbelief. His voice is steady, but I feel him tense. He’s asking the question that I can’t get past the panic to ask myself.
Robert’s smirk widens. He’s watching me unravel, and he enjoys it. “They were squandering their money. They could have grown an empire for themselves, but all they wanted to do was spend time with theirdarling daughter.”
He spits out the last two words, and in that moment, everything inside me sharpens. My fear shifts, twists, and finds its mark.
He was jealous.
I step up beside Elias, my shoulder brushing his as my panic burns into anger. My voice shakes in the beginning, but disgust threads through every word. “You killed our parents because you were jealous?” A flicker of surprise crosses his face before he scowls. “You murdered them because you believed they loved me more than you?”
“They did!” he yells. The sound ricochets through my chest, making him sound like an overgrown toddler throwing a tantrum. “They kept saying how perfect you were, that you were such a good baby, never crying, always happy. I’d bring home perfect grades from school, and thatwouldn’t matter because you had taken your first steps or learned to stand, as ifthatwas worthy of all their attention.”
I feel sick. I had sort of come to terms with the fact that he had never cared for me, but this? This goes so much deeper than I expected.
Elias sneers at him in disgust. “You were jealous of a baby? That’s pathetic, even for you.”
Robert lifts his arms and gestures around the room with wild pride. “They could have been so much more. Look at everything I’ve accomplished. Multiple homes, a fleet of men willing to do my bidding. Control over multiple cities. More money than I even know what to do with. It could have been theirs, but they refused to listen to me, so I took it for myself.”
His pride coils in the air like something rotten.
And all I can think is that he destroyed our family and so many others… because a five-year-old got too many bedtime stories.
“Why didn’t you get rid of Wren as a child? Why raise a child you hate? You could have sold her back then.”
Robert’s anger recedes as his tone returns to its usual calm. “I’ve had my sights on Ivan’s empire since I was fifteen. I knew a man like him would value one thing over everything else. The perfect wife.” His eyes meet mine, but I don’t react.
I don’t want to remind him that I’m no longer that girl; he may kill me on the spot. But knowing that he killed our parents and the reason why is fueling my anger. I clench my hands at my sides as he watches me with amusement, as if he knows what I'm thinking right now. That I wish I could kill him.
“Alright, it’s time to go.” He gestures for me to come tohim, but we both stand firm. “Wren, come here if you don’t want Elias harmed,” he says in warning.
I glance at Elias, and he shakes his head. “They won’t harm me.”
“I can’t take that risk,” I tell him as I place my hand on his shoulder, hoping he’ll understand. His worried eyes try to read me as I step in front of him, my back to Robert and his men. I place my hand on my chest as I tell him, “I love you.” His jaw clenches as I add, “In here.” I tap my chest, and as soon as his eyes drop to my hand, I sign,‘get ready.’
