“I could break your neck the moment you look away.” Cardinal informs me, with his permanent scowl.
Goldie actually blinks for a moment, before he steps out toward Merle and hits him over the head with the butt of the gun, never breaking eye contact with Cardinal.
I flinched as he hit the floor and others gasp, my body instinctively moving into Wren’s chest and he places a large palm over my head, cradling me. We're side by side now, but the gun still wavers heavily over me.
Lily giggles and the noise is unhinged. “Right, enough of that. He could bleed to death if you hit him hard enough. Want to play Detective Robbie? It was always my favorite game, remember. I’ll let you have some guesses, no questions, not yet.”
She’s baiting me into something and it’s the one puzzle piece I can’t connect.
“What if I only have questions?”
She tutted. “You’re better than that. Try guessing, it’ll be so much more fun.”
“Corbin found out you’re with this guy,” I shake my hand at Starling and it may have been a mistake because he cocked his gun higher at me. “Threatened to cut you off, seeing as he controls all the money your family has, so you killed him?”
“Wow, she is pretty clever, Babe.”
“You technically asked a question, but I’ll praise you for getting it right. Corbin found out about one of my little businesses and it led him to find Jimmy. He gave me an ultimatum and you know how much I hate being told what to do.”
“Your business being drugs?” Wren catches her off guard because her stance falters and Starling's eyebrows raise. “He made me cover up the girl you nearly killed, by dealing her drugs.” He keeps one arm around me as he points between the two of them.
“Fucking hell,” Phin shouts, looking down at Merle, berating his sister. “What the hell have you done, Lil? You've gone too far.” He looks up at her with wide eyes, brimming with tears, but he also looks high as a kite. He needs to go to the hospital, for not only the giant gash in his hair line, but also to flush out whatever drug she's given him. Walking over to where he’s propped up in the chair, she runs her hands through his mess of blonde hair and knocks his head off her palm. “Oh Brother, now isn't the time to try and take any moral high ground. Any more theories, Rob?”
“Why were you framing me for murder?”
“I said no questions yet.”
“Why?” I bite back the rage in my voice, not recognising the shout in me. I don't feel like myself anymore.
She smirks, happy to see me lose control. “I wanted to take everything from you, like you took everything from me.”
I frown, gripping onto Wren’s arm with both hands. “What do I mean? I haven’t taken shit from you.”
“Oh, you have, right from the beginning.” She takes the gun from Starling and holds it out like she's focused on my eyeballs. “I let you cling on to my family for so long, but that’s before I knew what you did. Before I found out I had a snake in the fucking nest.” She spits, the gun shaking a little. I wanted to reason with her, to get her to put the gun down, ask more questions, get everything to make more sense, but she started to rattle on. “You had to take everything, didn't you? You got everyone’s attention over me, my Father practically moved you both in before Mum was even dead in the ground. I thought itstarted with Phin first, my own brother enjoying your company more than mine. Everyone would joke about you both being twins, but I wasn't laughing. You're not his sister, I am. You both rely on each other—he should rely on me. You tried to move him away with you to York, so I obviously had to follow before you really got your claws into him. Didn’t stop there though, you had to go for my other brother too, that’s the joke. That’s when I did laugh because he fucked you up good. I made sure of it. Did you know that even my Father left you money for when he dies in prison? You’re not even his daughter!”
The gun jostles in my face again.
Gulping, I cleared my throat, “What started it all?”
The smile on her face is sinister, full of pure hatred. “Clever girl.”
Chapter twenty-nine
Lily
Iwanted to snuff out the little rat when she was in the crib. Mum was always having her best friend up at the new house, with her new baby and honestly, they just weren't the right fit. It’d be so loud, full of people cooing over Phoenix andher.
I saw blinding, white rage for the first time when Daddy had told me over breakfast they were moving in to help, like I didn’t know what was really going on. So close to losing Mum, I just couldn't have that.
She saved herself, really. Our Rob. Growing up, she never gravitated toward any of my interests, didn't steal my belongings or friends—so she stayed in her boring lane and I had free rein of mine. Things were peaceful for a time, the only issue being how close she was with Phoenix, but it wasn't a problem I couldn’t fix when I decided it was time. I left her to her dim life for quite some time, until she somehow got her claws into Corbin.
I poisoned his mind so thoroughly that by the time their relationship ended, he was a shadow of a man that he had the potential to be.
I made him cruel.
He became paranoid and tried to take us all down with him. Shame really, he'd made my life so blissful, sweeping up my messes for me and providing my inheritance in a timely manner.
I started to plant little lies in their relationship early on, so spank my bottom and call me surprised when they lasted as long as they did. I really thought all it would take was one fake cheating story I whispered to him over dinner, and he'd forget all about her. Dismiss her like he had with all of us growing up. My only tie with my older brother was my money he controlled and well, I didn't take kindly to his threats of cutting me off if I didn't find a sturdier path.
