I take her hand, and we move toward the exit. Delan catches my eye, and I see the moment he realizes we’re leaving. See the suspicion flash across his face. But we’re already halfway to the door. When we reach the door, I push it open for Chloe and glance back one last time. Delan’s still watching us across the crowded ballroom.
Things are about to get very, very complicated.
“Get to the car. Now,” I order Chloe, my hand on her lower back, steering her toward the awaiting vehicle.
“What is it?”
“Just get in.”
We’re in the car and pulling away from the curb before Delan has a chance to follow. Before any of his men have time to stop us.
“Basili,” Chloe says quietly beside me, “tell me what you’re thinking.”
I run a hand through my hair, then wipe both hands down my face in frustration. “I think the Triad orchestrated my son’skidnapping. They used his disappearance as leverage to create an opportunity for an alliance. To get me to agree to marry Shufen.” I stare out the window at the city lights passing by. “I think I was played. And that the woman I almost married has a father who tortured my son for pure political gain.”
Chloe falls quiet beside me, her hands wringing together in her lap.
“And what’s worse is I think,” I continue, turning to look at her, “that you knew that all along. Or at least suspected it. That’s why you bolted the moment you saw them tonight. You already knew who they were.”
“Basili —”
“For once, Chloe, tell me the truth,” I demand, anger seeping into my voice. “What do you know of the Tao family? Why do you and Shufen share the same eyes? How did you know who they were when you’re not from my world?”
“Everything,” she whispers. “I know everything about them. Delan Tao is my father.
The world stops. I’d suspected Shufen, and she was related, but not that, never that.
“What?”
“Delan Tao has two daughters. Shufen is my older sister. I’m the other daughter, the one he threw away. The one he never wanted.” Silent tears stream down her face. “The one he’s been looking for since the day I ran away.”
Suddenly, it all makes sense. Her last name, her fear, the combat training. Her base knowledge of my world. The way she’d reacted when I mentioned the Tao alliance. She’s been lying to me this entire time.
I’ve fallen in love with the daughter of the man responsible for traumatizing my son.
Chapter Sixteen
Chloe
The silence that falls between us is deafening. Basili doesn’t say another word until we reach the gates of the mansion. He just sits there, staring out the window, his jaw tight, and his hands clenched into fists on his thighs.
I can feel the tension radiating off him in waves, and it sets me on edge like waiting for a bomb to go off.
“Basili —”
“No.” His voice is cold, controlled. “Marcello, pull into the garage, then leave us. We have some things to discuss,” he turns to look at me before finishing, “in private.”
“Sir?” Marcello asks with an element of confusion.
“You heard me. Garage, then get out; you’re off for the rest of the night.” He turns back to look at the man through the rear-view mirror. “And Marcello? You’re not to repeat a single word of anything you heard tonight to anyone. Understood?”
“Yes, sir.”
The car turns in the drive, passing through the iron gates before ascending the winding pathway to the private garage attached to the mansion instead of the main entrance. When we pull inside, the door closes behind us, Matteo kills the engine, and gets out without another word, disappearing.
As soon as we’re alone, Basili turns to face me fully. “Tell me everything. From the beginning.”
I take a deep, shaky breath. “I’m his illegitimate daughter; Shufen is my half-sister. My mother was American, and I looked too much like her to fit in. I was never the perfect porcelain doll like my sister, always too smart, too loud, too American. My father never hid his utter disgust at having me for a daughter. A disgrace.”
