Page 26 of The Forbidden Secret

I wanted to puke as I looked into the man’s empty eyes and wondered what kind of psychopath would kill for sadistic reasons like that.

I couldn’t peel my eyes away as I continued reading about the trial where he was eviscerated by the prosecuting attorney, and his own had done little to try to counter the overwhelming evidence. They even brought in his ownsonto give testimony, a young Zeke Coleman—

I straightened, my eyes scanning the section again.

Zeke.

It couldn’t behim.Zeke was a common enough name…

I searched his father’s name and found a plethora of news articles with his story and the story of his family. Of all the women he had killed. I reverse-searched the name Zeke, and a handful of articles remained highlighted. I skimmed through them, looking for a picture to confirm the sickening theory.

And I found it.

A family photo with Andrew Coleman, his arm around a scrawny Middle Eastern woman in a hijab. In front of them stood a young girl and a teenage boy. That teenage boy was younger, smaller, and far scrawnier than the Zeke I had come to know, but the piercing blue eyes were the same. The smug smile was identical.

I read through the article.

Andrew Coleman had been at home with his family when an argument started, and he used the family gun to attack his wife, Talia. Then he turned his attention to his daughter, Fiona Coleman. The teenage son, Zeke, came in during the commotion and tried to defend his sister. Unfortunately, she succumbed to her wounds before Zeke managed to disarm and incapacitate his father in time for the authorities to arrive.

A tear trailed down my cheek as I continued reading.

When they arrived, they searched the home for more weapons. They discovered the bodies of twelve women in a locked basement. In a continued rage, Andrew admitted to his crimes.

I stared at the keyboard as I tried to process what I had read.

It explained so much.

Everyone close to me ends up dead.

Zeke thought he was a monster. He made a name for himself in a life of crime because his father had been a criminal in the underworld long before him. It had probably beensoeasy for him to break into this life with his father’s name behind him.

And his father had killed his mother.

He had watched it happen.

It made sense why he wanted no attachment or connection—why he wanted nothing to do with commitment. If the only committed relationship he had ever seen was one where his father had betrayed and killed his mother, it was no wonder he wanted to avoid that kind of attachment. He was a killer, just like his father, so he thought hewashis father.

God, this changed everything.

I caught movement in my periphery and immediately exited out of the web browser as I looked up. My hand moved toward the nearest bookshelf, and I picked up the first book and held it open in front of me as I watched Zeke approach.

When I saw him, I wanted to tell him that he was nothing like that monster.

I wanted to tell him that he was different and his future would be different.

I had so much I wanted to say, but I kept my mouth shut as I met his eyes and put on my best innocent expression, holding up the book as if I had been using my time to read.

Zeke stopped in the doorway, looking at me and then trailing his gaze over the book in my hands. His eyes widened slightly before a smirk pulled to his lips.

“I, personally, prefer to experiment in person. Literature doesn’t do it for me.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” I asked with furrowed brows.

He moved toward me and sat in the nearest chair, propping his feet on the desk. “You see, some women are interested in watching it. They get off on it. I didn’t peg you for the reading type.”

“Yeah, reading is fine,” I retorted with a shrug. “Why are you making it a big deal? Why are you acting weird?”

“Princess, if you want to experiment with darkerinterests, you only have to ask.”

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