Sinner stands, lifting the carving knife and pinning me with an evil grin. He starts to cut slices of beef as he talks. “Don’t act naïve, Lo.” His eyes zoom in on my neck, landing on the faded fingermarks and bruises Galen left behind. “Is it so hard to imagine your mother enjoys rough sex too?”
“Her face is beaten to a pulp, and she’s walking with a limp!” I snap, as Giana stands, her chair scraping in the process. Her fists are clenched at her sides as she glares at me, as if I’m the one who inflicted her injuries. “My sex life is none of your business, Harlow, and I’m getting sick of telling you to butt out of things that don’t concern you.” She walks up behind Sinner, draping herself around him. “I love Neo, and I’m happy. Why can’t you be happy for me?”
I jump up, knocking my chair to the floor. “Maybe because you look fucking miserable all the time.” I swallow over the lump in my throat. “I can’t do this.” I storm off to my bedroom, stride into my closet, open my lungs, and let loose the scream that’s trapped inside me. I pound my fists into the wall as I scream, venting all the frustration that’s been building for weeks.
Strong arms wrap around me from behind a couple minutes later. “Let it out, baby,” Theo says, and I scream and scream and scream until my throat feels scraped raw.
I drop to the ground, sitting cross-legged on the floor, my shoulders slumping. Theo sits down across from me, mirroring my position. “What is she doing with him, Theo? Is she that stupid, or is she playing him?”
He runs his fingers through his gorgeous hair. He’s been wearing it down a lot more lately, because he knows how much I love threading my hands through it. “Giana is smart, Lo.”
“You think she is playing him?”
He scoots forward, taking my hands in his. “I think she’s protecting you the only way she knows how.”
“I need to talk to her.” I hop up.
Theo climbs to his feet, reeling me gently into his arms. “You need to put your emotions aside and think about this logically. If she is playing some angle, she clearly doesn’t want you involved, and we’ve got to assume that’s the safest way of handling the situation.”
“I think Theo is right,” Saint says, leaning against the door to my closet. “It’s better if you don’t know. Trust her to manage it.”
“She’s not managing it!” I cry. “He’s beating the crap out of her!” A sob escapes my throat. “I’m a shitty daughter. All this time, I’ve been hating on her and she’s been trying to protect me.”
“You’re not.” Theo brushes his lips against my cheek. “You’re trying to protect her too. Taking Sinner down is the only way to save your mom at this point.”
“You’ve got to focus on the endgame,” Saint agrees. “No matter how hard that is.”
“Maybe, if I talked to her, and she knows all the stuff I know, we can work together? Surely, it makes sense to team up? Alisha confirmed she knows a lot more than either Dad or I realized.”
Saint’s expression softens as he walks toward me. “You can’t trust Galen’s mom, Lo. She’s fucked in the head from years of drug abuse. She might’ve dreamed up half of it.”
“We know she had an affair with my dad because Galen saw them together and he overheard his parents arguing about it when she got knocked up,” I say.
“But we don’t know if Giana knows, because we only have Alisha’s word for that,” Saint protests.
“And if you talk to your mom, if you tell her everything,” Theo says, “you might find out she doesn’t know the half of it.”
Saint pulls me out of Theo’s arms and into his. “If she doesn’t know about the affair and the baby, do you really want her to know? Is that the memory she should be left with of your dad?”
“No,” I quietly admit. “Because it’s shaken me to the core and has me questioning my belief in my father.” The bags under my eyes attest to that. I’ve had trouble sleeping ever since I found out the man I’ve always held on a pedestal wasn’t so perfect after all. I get he was coerced into it, but I can’t help wondering how the hell he let Sinner trap him in the first place, and now, I’ll never find out.
“If she’s working something, this could distract her and cause her to lose focus,” Theo says.
“And if she’s working this hard to protect you, we can’t undermine that in any way.” Saint wipes the moisture from my cheeks, and I hadn’t even realized I was crying. Fuck. I’m turning into a basket case, and I’ve always prided myself on my ability to shut my emotions down.
“How do I sit back and watch this happening?” I squeeze my eyes shut, leaning my head on Saint’s chest. “How do I turn my back on her?”
“You do it because it’s what she wants and you have to trust her.” Theo smooths a hand up and down my back.
“I’ve just hired a guy to do some work around the house,” Saint adds. “It’s an excuse to have someone watching over her. I’d trust this guy with my life, and while he’s around, Dad will be more careful.”
I cup his beautiful face. “I appreciate that, but let’s not pretend like he won’t just beat her behind closed doors.”
“This guy will find a way to intervene,” Saint says, and I want to believe it, but we all know no one can stop Sinner when he’s hell-bent on something.
It all kicks off a few hours later when we’re down in the basement attempting to watch a movie. We’ve been on edge all night waiting for it to go down.
Footsteps thud on the stairs and we share knowing glances.
We all swing our gaze in Sinner’s direction when he storms into the room like a raging tornado. His body is wired tight, his eyes almost demonic in their madness. His hands are in balls at his side, and he looks two seconds away from ripping someone apart. “You two!” he snaps, pointing at Galen and Saint. “You’re with me.”
“What’s going on?” Saint asks, standing.
“The Arrows are fucking dead!” Sinner shouts. “That’s what’s going on, and we’re about to send them that message.”
“How?” Galen asks, also standing.
“Don’t fucking question me, boy.” Sinner grabs him by the shoulders, shoving him in the direction of the stairs. “If I say I need you, that’s all you need to know.”
“We’re with you, Dad,” Saint says, his voice calm, cautioning Galen with his eyes. “Let’s go.”
“You three!” Sinner points at Caz, me, and Theo. “Protect Giana, and keep a watch outside. I can’t guarantee The Arrows haven’t planned other shit for tonight.”
“We’ve got it,” Caz says.
Saint casts a wary glance over his shoulder before they follow Sinner upstairs.
“Sweet.” Caz grins. “Dar came through.”
“Speak of the devil,” I murmur, pulling my cell out of my pocket as it vibrates with an incoming call. Dar’s name flashes on the screen. I swipe my finger to accept the call, opening my mouth to speak, but before I can utter a word, he is shouting obscenities at me, threatening to stick a gun in my mouth, a knife in my pussy, and a bat up my ass.