Total pages in book: 147
Estimated words: 141556 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 708(@200wpm)___ 566(@250wpm)___ 472(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 141556 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 708(@200wpm)___ 566(@250wpm)___ 472(@300wpm)
“Stop,” Elena snaps from the end of the table.
It’s the first time she’s spoken all night. The first time I’ve heard her voice do anything but whisper in years. We all turn to look at her. She’s sitting rigid in her chair, hands folded in her lap, her face the color of snow. But her eyes are full of something I rarely see there. Anger.
“Stop talking,” she says again, her voice stronger now. “You’ve said enough.”
Roman turns to her, eyebrows raised. “You have something to add, dear?”
“Emma Porter is a good woman. A kind woman. You destroyed her life because she dared to say no to you, because she had the strength to resist you when I didn’t.” Elena’s hands tremble, but she keeps her gaze locked on Roman. “You’ve tortured her for twenty-six years, letting her see her son but never hold him. Never tell him the truth. That’s evil, Roman. Even for you.”
“Watch yourself.”
“Or what? You’ll hit me again?” Elena stands, her chair scraping back. “You’ll lock me in a room? Threaten me with violence? I’ve lived with your violence for thirty years. There’s nothing you can do to me now that you haven’t already done.”
Roman’s face darkens. “Sit down.”
“No.” Elena looks at Kade, and there are tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry. I should have told you years ago. Should have found a way to let you know the truth, but I couldn’t. I was afraid. Afraid of what he’d do. Afraid of—”
“I said sit down!” Roman’s voice is a roar. He surges to his feet, knocking his chair backward with a crash. Elena flinches but doesn’t move. Doesn’t run. Just stands there, facing him down for maybe the first time in her life. I realize this is it. This is the moment everything breaks open.
I start to push back from the table, ready to move, ready to put myself between them. But Saint’s hand stops me. She’s looking at me with those dark blue eyes, and I can see the fear there. The plea.
Don’t. Not yet.
She’s right. If I move now, Roman’s attention will shift back to me. Back to Saint. Better to let him focus on Elena. Better to let this play out.
Kade is still sitting frozen, his face a mask of shock and pain and betrayal. The news about his mother has gutted him. I can see it in every line of his body, in the way he’s holding himself like he might shatter if he moves.
Roman moves toward Elena, and she takes a step back.
“You want to defend Emma Porter?” Roman’s words are slurred now, his movements loose with alcohol. “You want to stand up for the woman who tried to steal from me? Who thought she was better than me?”
“She was better than you,” Elena says quietly. “She still is.”
The slap comes fast. Elena’s head snaps to the side, the sound echoing through the dining room. She stumbles, then catches herself on the edge of the table. Blood trickles from the corner of her mouth where Roman’s ring catches her lip.
“Don’t talk about things you don’t understand,” Roman says.
“I understand perfectly.” Elena touches her mouth, looks at the blood on her fingers. “You’re a monster. You’ve always been a monster. And you raised our sons to be monsters too.”
“Mom,” Sawyer says, his voice strained.
Elena doesn’t look at him. Doesn’t look at any of us. She keeps her eyes on Roman, and there’s something defiant in her gaze now. Something that’s been buried for so long I’d forgotten it existed.
“Kade is Emma’s son,” she continues. “And you stole him from her. You’ve tormented him his whole life, making him work for approval that you knew you’d never give. Making him hate his own heritage. Now you’re telling him the truth, only so you can hurt him further. You’re using him like a tool.”
“He is a tool.” Roman’s voice is cold. Flat. “You’re all tools. Weapons I’ve forged to do what needs to be done, and when tools break, when they betray me…” He looks at me. “They get discarded.”
Kade makes a sound. Something between a sob and a laugh. “Emma Porter is my mother.”
“Yes.”
“And you took me from her. Raised me to hate her. To hate her family. To—” He stops, runs his hands through his hair. “Jesus Christ. Allie. Allie’s my sister.”
“Half sister,” Roman corrects. “Different parents. Though Emma did adopt her, so I suppose technically—”
“Shut up.” Kade’s voice is low. Dangerous. “Just shut the fuck up.”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me.” Kade stands, his chair crashing to the floor behind him. His face is flushed, his hands shaking. “My entire life has been a lie. Everything you told me. Everything you made me believe about myself. About my place in this family. It’s all bullshit.”
“Kade,” Roman says, his tone a warning.
“What? You going to hit me too? Going to remind me that I’m not a real Bishop? That I’m just Emma Porter’s bastard that you stole because you could?” Kade laughs, and it’s the most broken sound I’ve ever heard. “Go ahead. Do it. Add it to the list of ways you’ve destroyed me.”