Page 101 of If You Love Me

“I did. She must have had a copy.”

“What the fuck, Tyrion! That bitch is crazy!”

“She is… literally.” I sighed heavily as I guided her over to the chaise. “I have some shit to tell you, but you aren’t going to like it.”

She swallowed hard. “What is it?”

I started from the beginning, telling her everything Mrs. Cambridge had told me. Evenie sat with her mouth open and her eyes wide, taking in all the new information. When I got to the part about Leon, I paused.

“What?” she asked. “Is there something else?”

“There is.” I grabbed her hands and held them tight. “Leon Kane.”

She snatched her hands away at the sound of his name.

“Mrs. Cambridge told me he was her husband’s estranged brother.”

Evenie sprang from the bed. “What!”

“They shared the same father, just different mothers. She just found out last week that he was dead and his connection to you.”

She began pacing back and forth, holding her head, chanting, “No, no, no, no, no… this can’t be happening, this can’t be ri—”

She covered her mouth and ran into the bathroom. I sprinted after her. She’d barely made it to the toilet before she was throwing up. I held her hair back out of her face so it wouldn’t get caught in the mess. After a good minute or so of voiding the contents of her stomach, she began dry heaving. I grabbed a washcloth and wet it to clean her face.

“You’re okay,” I said softly. “I’m right here with you.”

“She… she’s his niece. How the fuck is that even possible!”

“It’s a small world.”

“She was around my child! Do you think she knew?”

I shook my head. “No. Her mom said her husband kept them away from that side of the family. He didn’t want them feeding off each other.”

I took a seat next to her on the floor and wrapped my arms around her.

“What are we gonna do, Tyrion?” she whispered.

“The first thing we need to do is call the police. I picked Summer Rose up from school earlier. She’s with my parents.”

Evenie shook her head. “No, no. She knows where your parents stay.”

“She knows where yours stay too.”

“Fuck! Tyrion, I’m scared. Not of her, but of what I will do to her if she comes after us.”

“I know, baby. I feel the same way.”

I’d hate to have to hurt Iona, physically, but I would die protecting my family. If it came down to them or her, I would always choose them.

32

Evenie

I’d barely gotten any sleep the last couple of days.

I couldn’t believe that Leon was Iona’s uncle. In what world would something so cruel even be possible? My husband had been engaged to the niece of the man that held me captive? It was insane. Knowing that there was a family history of mental issues had me on edge. If he was capable of the things he did to me, what about her?

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