Page 57 of Sins
Simon silenced a call that came through. “Correct, but Grim got to Castillo first, and long story short, he’s dead and Griple’sin prison for life and pissed.” He paused and reached for the water behind him. “Not to mention that Cameron got Griple’s nephew Sasha killed.”
“Oh, shit.” A chill raced over me. I wasn’t going to share that Sasha had also been one of Grim’s kills.
“Kenna, this part is the worst part.” Simon’s face grew even paler. “Griple gave Cameron a choice after Sasha’s death. To pick one of his own to be killed. You or Calli.”
“What?” My entire body felt like it had been tossed across the room and slammed into a wall.
“Cameron chose you to die,” he blurted. I slowly sank back into the couch cushions and pulled in my chin as I tried to take in his words. “Then, because he chose you, it showed Griple that Calli was more important to him than you were. So, he retaliated and killed Calli instead. Maybe he got the idea from Cameron’s messed-up hit on Grim when he got Leo instead.”
“Why?” My throat was so dry I could barely get the word out.
“I don’t know.” Simon dropped to his knees in front of me and took my hands. “Kenna, I know this is a lot to take in, so hear me when I say this part. I don’t know if we can ever speak for this long alone again. I don’t know what’s going to happen now. But I do know the hit on you in Italy wasn’t Griple. Someone else is making a move on you, and I need you to keep your head down and eyes open. I need you to be careful while I try to figure out who ordered that hit.”
“Who ordered that hit,” I parroted as his words bounced around my head and I tried to make sense of it all. “Dad put a hit on me, and they took out my baby sister instead?”
“Yes.” He nodded, and tears raced down his cheeks. “I’m sorry, Kenna. I—” He closed his eyes, and more tears fell. “I loved her, too.”
This was all too much, so I grabbed my purse. “I need to go.”
“Kenna, wait.”
“I need to think.”
I flew down the hallway, and once the elevator doors closed behind me, I stared at the buttons as my body flooded with confusion, hate, and deep-rooted sadness. I covered my mouth and released a silent sob and held on to the rail to steady myself as I tried to purge the pain. My temples throbbed as a sharp pain drove through my core.
How could I not have seen what was going on? How could my father be this horrible of a human? My lungs begged for air and reminded me I was no longer alone in this world.
“Sorry, little one.” I rubbed my tummy and forced myself to swallow back the sobs that wanted release. “I’m trying. I really am.” Then something hit me and brought a whole new wave of devastation. Did she know? Could she have? Surely, she did.
I dried my cheeks as anger surged and strengthened me. I stood straight and ran my hands down my dress with a deep inhale.I’m ready. Let’s go.
I rushed down the hallway, burst through the door, and found my mother. She sat and stared at the wall with a book on her lap.
“Mom!” I called, but she didn’t respond. Fresh anger ripped through me, and I marched across the floor and knocked the book to the floor.
She jumped and blinked a few times. “Kenna?”
“You don’t get to check out on me! Not after what’s happened.” I let myself open a box I’d always kept tightly closed inside me. It hurt too much. “Why did you stay married to Dad? All those years, why?”
“What’s gotten into you?” She stood, swiped the book from the floor, and turned her back as she slowly placed a marker in her spot and closed it. She carefully placed it on the arm of the chair with measured movements.
“I used to travel with you everywhere, remember, but then as soon as Dad got in trouble with a client, you left me there.” Tears poured down my cheeks. “Left me and Calli in a house full of strange men.”
“Kenna, dear. You know I started to travel to more remote places. I didn’t think it was safe for you.” She looked away rather than at me. “It would have been nearly impossible to have taken you to some of those places.”
I shook my head. What was she not getting? “But it was safe to leave me there, with them? You chose to leave us. You weren’t there to protect us.”
She sank back down into her chair and covered her forehead with the back of her hand. “You had your father there to protect you.”
“Dad?” I laughed like a crazy person. “Dad waswellaware of the type of men who were in our home. Lots of times, I was approached, and let me tell you, Mom, he never once protected me. You know what he’s like. In fact, when I did break away and tried to have a better life, he sucked me back. Back to this town – back to his life.”
“I didn’t know.”
I tossed my hand in the air. “Because you didn’t want to know. Because you weren’t there!” I yelled. “Calli was completely brainwashed, and look where she ended up!”
“Oh, Kenna.” She finally looked up at me, and her mournful expression told me for the first time since I was a teen, she was really listening. I softened my voice. “Mom, you need to hear this. Sasha Landry was the nephew of Dad’s client. He was killed recently, and that client gave dad an ultimatum, to have me or Calli be killed.”
“What?” Her eyes went wide as she looked up at me with an open mouth.