Page 56 of Seeking Vengeance

To me, he was the same man who’d always denied me attention.

Affection.

Love.

His request created the only bond I’d ever had with him. The one connection between us. So when he offered financial compensation for the information I’d already been giving freely, I didn’t see it as a bribe. It was merely a strengthening of our building relationship.

At least, that was what I told myself until he proved otherwise.

The thickening tension builds.

The men at the table judge me with annoyance and disappointment. The women do the same with shame and embarrassment.

Every second, every blink, every sigh or noise of displeasure scampers under my skin, the toxicity finding a home inside me.

“I think we need to end this conversation before it gets out of hand.” Sarah pushes from her chair and grabs the salad bowl. “I vote that the women clear the table and the men stack the dishwasher.”

This is far from over.

Cole will keep hounding me. Will keep holding everything against me until I finally stand up to him.

“I’m not done.” My eyes burn as I stare my brother down. “I’ve apologized over and over again. I’ve tried my best to make amends. I let you bug my house when you said you couldn’t trust me. I allowed your guards to follow me—to invade my home and my privacy—because that’s what you wanted, even though I despised having strange men in my home when Stella and I were at the height of our grief.”

“And?”

I bite my tongue, caught between crying and screaming. “And I didn’t protest when you deliberately sent Tobias to boarding school because you knew Stella would follow. She was all I had, Cole. The only thing to bring me happiness, and I let her go. All for you. I’ve done everything you’ve asked of me. But I won’t allow you to dictate my life anymore.”

“You won’t allow me?” He raises a brow, his livid rage crackling below the surface.

Someone curses under their breath. Hunter or Decker. I’m not sure because I don’t drag my gaze from the severity in my brother’s eyes.

“Yes. I won’t allow you.” I stand my ground. “Everyone at this table has made mistakes. Every single one of them. Yet, two years later, their sins are forgiven and mine seem brand new. Why is that?”

“They’re not blood,” he snarls.

“They’re notblood?” My voice rises without my consent, the tone filling with feminine emotion I despise as I swing an arm toward my sister in the kitchen. “Keira made mistakes, too. And don’t get me started on your wife.”

He flashes his teeth in a snarl. “Choose your words wisely, sister.”

“I have. Foryears. I’ve done everything wisely, with extreme caution, always keeping everyone here at the forefront of my mind because I want to make up for what I did. For how I allowed my own father to manipulate me. But that’s what it was, Cole—manipulation. Our father tricked me.Usedme. Just like he used so many others. And yes, I know it’s still my fault. And yes, I profited from it and have to live with my decisions for the rest of my life. But what I won’t live with is you throwing it back in my face whenever the whim takes you.” I sniff to kill the tingle in my nose. “I won’t take the overbearing protectiveness anymore. I won’t play along with you thinking you can decide where I go and what I do. Or that you need to know why I cancelled my credit card or how I got a goddamn bruise on my face. What I do now is my business.”

Cole raises his chin, slow and deliberate, the anger receding as smug superiority takes its place. Then he inclines his head as if in agreement.

“That’s it?” I frown. “You’re not going to say anything?”

He gives a faint shrug. “You’re doing me a favor.”

That hurts.

Reallyhurts.

I want to hunch from the pain he slices through me, his rejection tearing open old wounds as my eyes burn like wildfire.

“Cole,” Anissa pleads. “Don’t say something you’ll regret.”

“I won’t regret it, little fox.” He keeps his gaze on me as he speaks to his wife. “As far as I see it, this is perfect timing. Layla no longer wants me to know her business, and I’m more than happy for her not to know mine.”

There’s an ominous ring in his tone. Something that alludes to a deeper meaning.

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