She scrubs at her eyes, sniffing. “Anyway, with your dad, Sinner had him over a barrel. No one takes anything from Neo Lennox and lives to tell the tale. If he was insane before he lost your mom, he was completely psychotic after she married Trey. He threatened Trey from the very start. Told him he’d kill Giana. Forced your father to work for The Sainthood and then used that to threaten his career and his family. Trey tried to walk away, and they kidnapped you as a warning.”
I gulp my lukewarm coffee, waiting for her to continue.
“But Sinner wasn’t done punishing Trey. He told him to start an affair with me or he’d kill you next time.”
“Why?”
“Because he wanted to prove to Giana that she’d chosen the wrong man, and he wanted to hurt Nix.”
“Why would you agree to that?” She looks down at the table, and I swallow back bile. “For money,” I surmise.
“For drugs,” she whispers.
I shake my head, utterly disgusted. “And your husband knew?”
“Not at first, but I had to tell him when I got pregnant. That shouldn’t have happened because Trey always used condoms.”
I slam my coffee down and count to ten in my head. I do not want to hear this.
This fucking woman.
“What happened next?” I clip out, barely keeping it together.
“I got money from your dad, and Sinner trotted off to Giana to break up her marriage.”
I sit up straighter, jerking my head up. “Wait? My mom knew?”
“Of course, she did. That was the whole point of Neo’s plan. He thought she’d leave Trey and run straight back into his arms, but your mom is smart, Harlow. She knew Sinner was blackmailing your father.”
“Does she know Sinner kidnapped me?”
“I don’t know, sweetie. You’d have to ask her.”
“Why did my father have pictures of you high, fucking different men?”
Her face pales, and her lower lip wobbles. “I don’t know.” She brings the glass to her lips, but her hands are shaking so bad she can’t even swallow the water, and it trickles down her chin, down her pajamas, and on the table.
I move over beside her, holding the glass to her mouth, encouraging her to drink.
“You must think I’m terrible.”
She really doesn’t want to know what I think. “What I think doesn’t matter.”
“Sinner makes me do it!” she cries. “Drugs me up and pimps me out. It’s been going on for years although he hasn’t called on me lately.”
No surprise there. I’m betting the market for strung-out washed-up junkies is nonexistent.
Perhaps, that’s why she does it—dopes herself up to the eyeballs so she forgets. Damn, if I don’t feel guilty for my earlier uncharitable thoughts. This is way more messed up than I could ever have imagined.
Fucking hell. Sinner is the devil hiding in human form.
And my mom is fucking engaged to be married to him.
Acid crawls up my throat at the thought of what he has planned for her, and I can’t stand by and let it happen. I need to have an honest conversation with Mom.
I wrap my arm around Alisha’s back as she quietly sobs, and pity flows through me. What a mess she has made of her life. And Sinner has fed off her every weakness, snatched every opportunity to dig the hole deeper and wider.
How many families has Sinner fucked up? I’m even more determined to stop him now.
“I want it to stop, Harlow, but I don’t have any choice. If I don’t do what he says, he’ll kill Galen. He already took his father from me. I can’t lose my son too.”
Blood turns to ice in my veins. “What does that mean, Alisha?”
Her skeletal frame heaves as she cries. “I was the one who found Nix, and I always believed it was an accidental overdose until Neo told me he staged it to look like that. It seems Nix was stealing from him, saving money to take us overseas so we could finally get away from his poisonous brother, but Neo found out, because Neo always finds out, and he killed him for it.” Her tearstained eyes meet mine. “Neo killed his own brother, and he had no qualms about doing it. So, everything I do, I do for my son because hell will freeze before I let that bastard take my son’s life too.”
CHAPTER 28
Harlow
A LOUD CRASH from the hallway has us jumping from our seats and racing out of the kitchen to investigate. An ornate mahogany lamp table, most likely one of the few family heirlooms left, lies in pieces on the floor behind Galen. He’s slamming his fists into the wall, over and over, screaming obscenities.
“Oh no!” Alisha rushes to her son’s side. “How much did you hear?”
He ignores her, continuing to beat his fists into the wall, his knuckles already torn and bleeding.
“Galen, please stop. Talk to me!” Alisha pleads.
“Now, you want to talk?!” he roars, spinning around, and the expression on his face is one of lethal rage. “That fucking psycho bastard murdered my father, and you didn’t think I should know that?!” His nostrils flare, and his entire body trembles and shakes as fury oozes from every pore.
“This is why,” Alisha sobs, clutching his arm. “You can’t go after him, Galen. He’ll kill you!”
“Not if I fucking kill him first,” he shouts. “Aaaggh.” He races to the spot where the broken table lies, lifting his leg and slamming it up and down on the jagged wooden pile, breaking it into smaller pieces, as he takes his aggression out on the ancient wood.
“Galen, please.” Alisha cries, wrapping her arms around herself.
“Go away, Mom. I can’t be around you right now.”
She hesitates, and I step up to her, urging her with my eyes. Her eyes beg me to help, and I reassure her as best I can because I’m not sure I can tame the storm inside her son. This has been an emotional day, and he’s reached his breaking point.
Alisha walks off, her shoulders slumped, her cries bouncing off the creepy dark-green walls.
“Galen.” I cautiously step up to him. “Stop.”
“Don’t fucking tell me what to do, Lo.” He slams his foot down on the splintered wooden pile, and I grab the back of his shirt, pulling him back.
He stumbles a little on his feet, and I use it to my advantage, pushing him across the hallway and up against the wall. Rage burns in his eyes, and I do the only thing I can think of—I slam my lips down firmly on his. He reacts immediately, slanting his mouth harshly over mine, tugging my lip into his mouth and biting down hard, drawing blood.
Our lips and tongues battle for supremacy while our bodies thrust against one another, against the wall. I sink my teeth into his neck, breaking skin, and a guttural growl escapes his mouth. “I’ll bleed for you now, Galen. We can bleed together.” I shove his sweatpants down his legs without waiting for a response. He’s not wearing boxers, and his cock springs up. He’s long and thick, and his angry head leaks precum. He kicks his sweats away, spreading his thighs, as he glares at me, channeling all his anger in my direction.
I slide to my knees, looking up at him as my hand wraps around his erection, pumping his shaft in quick strokes. “Give it all to me. Unleash the storm. I can handle it.” I don’t wait for him to reply, lowering my mouth to his cock and sucking him deep.