“What?” I stare at her, shell-shocked.
Tears well in her eyes. “Your Aunt Genevieve carried you and Drew to full term.”
“Oh, my God.” Intense pressure settles on my chest. “Why didn’t she tell me?”
“I can’t answer that, love.”
She glances at her watch. “I’m sorry to cut this short, but I need to head home before he sends someone out to search for me.”
I struggle to snap out of it, remembering the other stuff I need to know. “Just a couple of other questions, please.”
She eyes her purse longingly, and my heart aches for her. How bad must it be that you need to spend every day high or drunk? I used to think she was weak, but she’s broken and destroyed because of things the elite have done to her. I wish I’d made more of an effort to speak with her when I was engaged to Trent and over at their house every second Sunday for dinner.
“You said Christian confirmed he murdered your two friends. Do you know if there’s evidence we can use to pin my mother’s death on my father?”
“I don’t think so. Your mom died in a car accident. The brakes failed. I’m sure your father or my husband paid someone to tamper with them and keep their mouth shut. They also paid off whoever inspected the scene. They bribed the authorities to omit it in official reports. They think of everything, Abby. They always tie all loose ends. This is their job. If someone crosses them, they eliminate them without a second thought.” She clicks her fingers. “They never leave a trail.”
“But they did with Emma’s murder,” I say. “Do you know where my mother stashed the evidence proving my father killed her?”
A strange look appears on her face.
I frown. “What’s that look for?”
“You mean proof that Michael got the pills found in Emma’s stomach contents?”
“Yes.” My frown deepens. “What else could I mean?”
“Your mother told me, but she wouldn’t say where she’d hidden it. She believed it was safest if I didn’t know, and she was right. After she died, Christian tried to beat it out of me, and when he realized I might be telling the truth, he put me through a polygraph.” She squeezes my hand. “Your mother never stopped protecting me.”
“And?” I encourage her to go on.
Air whooshes out of her mouth. “I’m not sure this makes much difference now, but she also told me she’d discovered that Atticus played a role in Emma’s death.”
All the blood drains from my face.
“Your mother had been having an affair with him on and off for a few years, after both of them were married. I didn’t know until Emma discovered it and broke her friendship with Olivia. It was horrible, and I was caught in the middle. After Emma died, Olivia told me her and Atticus were planning to flee to Europe with all you kids. But a week before she died, she came to see me. She’d broken things off with Atticus after he’d let it slip.”
“What happened?” I blurt.
“Your father drugged Emma and left her there to die, staging it so it looked like a suicide. When Kaiden found her, his screams brought Atticus to the scene.”
“I know that.” Kaiden admitted it to me a few months ago.
“Emma wasn’t dead, Abby. When Kaiden found her, she was still breathing. Her pulse was weak, but she was still alive.”
“Oh, my God.” My heart is racing out of control. “What did Atticus do?”
“I knew the truth, because Christian taunted me with it. I’d been in agony for months trying to decide what to do with that knowledge, so when your mother showed up that day, full of the half-truths Atticus had told her, I filled her in on what had really gone down.”
I bite on the inside of my cheek as I wait for her to tell me.
“Christian dropped by the Anderson house that day on Michael’s instruction. Michael wanted to ensure Emma was dead, so he got Christian to go over to discuss something with Atticus. The door was open, and he could hear screaming, so he slipped inside the house. Atticus doesn’t know he was there. He doesn’t know he saw, or that he told me, and you can’t breathe a word about this, Abby. You can’t tell Kaiden. If this gets out, Christian will kill me. And if he finds out you know, he’ll kill you too.”
I’m visibly conflicted, because Kai and I have agreed no more secrets, and this could be the worst one of all. But even if I walk away now, I’ll have to tell Kai his dad is involved in his mother’s murder. That truth will destroy him. Plus, she’s already said enough to place me in danger, so I might as well get all the facts.
“I won’t tell anyone. I promise,” I lie, because I can’t make a call like that on the spot. I will need time to assess it before deciding what to do.
She scrutinizes my face, and seeming happy with what she finds, she tells me. “Kaiden found his mother alive. For all intents and purposes, he saved her life. But Atticus was still in love with your mother, and he saw an opportunity. He got the kids out of the way, and he returned to Emma and put a pillow over her face, suffocating her until she stopped breathing.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
“Abby.” Drew snaps his fingers in my face. “You still with us?” He peers into my eyes with concern and sympathy.
“Yeah, sorry. I just zoned out there for a bit.”
I said goodbye to Sylvia after she dropped her last bomb, and we came straight to Xavier’s warehouse, so I could update everyone at once without having to repeat myself. I blurted out the truth about Emma’s murder to Drew because I needed to tell someone. He was as shocked as I was, but he agreed we need to wait and find the right time to tell Kai.
Kai deserves to know the truth even if it’ll devastate him. But we can’t tell him yet because he’ll go after his father, and we need Atticus gunning for our father, to help keep him distracted, while we figure out a way to take him down once and for all.
Also, this knowledge is dangerous, and telling others puts everyone in danger.
“Babe.” Kai forces my gaze to his. “If there’s more, you need to tell us.”
“There’s not,” I lie, hoping he’ll forgive me.
“You’ve been in a bit of daze the whole time you’ve been speaking.” He rubs his hands up and down my arms. “You’re worrying me.”
Eh, yeah. That’s because I’m going to have to break your heart with news of how your mother really died. Plus, I’ve realized we are out of options vis-à-vis my father. Even if we find out where Mom stashed that evidence, it’s of no use now. We can’t pin this murder on my father when he wasn’t the one who ultimately killed her.
Sure, he’s an accessory and there was intent to kill, but that’s not enough to put the bastard behind bars for life.
But I can’t figure out why he didn’t he say anything back in the ballroom when Atticus threw out that allegation.
I have another light bulb moment.
Christian never told my father.
Holy fuck.
I slump back in my chair, and my brain hurts trying to figure it all out. Why can’t they just be your common garden variety villains? Why do they have to be criminal masterminds playing so many angles it makes my head spin?