Page 66 of Cup of Lies

All I know is I feel it deep in my chest cavity—a throbbing inside my heart that he is responsible for. If it’s ever taken away from me again, I’ll probably die.

“I made a mistake,” Caius says, tearing his gaze away from me and looking at my belly. “Dad was playing with me and I chose wrong for us.”

Guilt makes his face pinch and his body deflates.

“What mistake?” Now that I’ve polished off the entire container, I set it aside. “You can tell me.”

He rubs at his temple as if the memory gives him a migraine. “Dad told me to choose between you or Calista. I knew I could always find you—to come back for you later. But Calista…” He curses and then meets my eyes. “I’m sorry, Romy.”

“Come here.”

As if tied to me by an invisible tether, he moves toward me. I spread my legs and he rests his head on one of my thighs, his face near my naked pussy as he stares up at me. To comfort him, I stroke my fingers through his hair with one hand.

“You did what you had to do to find her.”

Except she’s not here, is she?

“I don’t have a sister,” he says sadly. “This whole time, I wanted to save her, and she was you. It doesn’t make sense.”

A memory of a sad boy with the same eyes as Caius materializes in my head. I was at the same facility as he was. The doll in my hand was named Calista. When breaking his mind, he confused the name of her for me.

“I was there because of what Vivienne did to me. She’s my birth mother.” I tremble at the truth of my life. He takes my hand and holds it, waiting for me to continue. “She ran from Dr. Huxley, my real father. Dad—er, Gideon—took her in. When he discovered her abusing me, he sent her away, took me to the very facility my father owned, and let him screw with my mind.”

“Our lives have been connected from the beginning,” Caius murmurs. “I’ve been trying to save you my entire life.”

“You saved me when it mattered most.”

Caius

“This is surreal.”

I swallow down the beer and glance over at Romy. She’s perfectly relaxed in a chair near the pool, drinking sweet tea and watching Kaitlyn swim. The kid’s been at it for hours.

Surreal is an understatement. This is the most in control of my life I’ve felt in decades. I have my girls safely with me. Romy with her adorable belly on display and in nothing but a red bikini is a sight to behold.

“Kaitlyn,” Romy calls out, “time for more sunscreen.”

“In a little bit, Mommy!”

Bermuda tosses her into the deep end and her squeal is submerged by the water. She resurfaces giggling and begging for him to do it again. Sunshine, sprawled out on the pool’s edge, whaps her tail happily as if in tune with her human sister’s joy.

“You missed the meeting,” Koyn says as he saunters our way from the garage. “I thought I made it clear we had shit to discuss.”

Romy whips her head toward him and arches a brow. “He’s been through a lot. I’m sure it can wait.”

Koyn smirks and pulls out a chair beside her. “This compound attracts the most obnoxious, bossy, pigheaded women in the whole damn country.”

Romy smiles sweetly at him. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“You would.” He sighs as though my woman exhausts him, which is amusing to me. Then he turns his attention my way. “I’m assuming you don’t care if she hears what we discuss.”

I snort. “I’d just tell her anyway.”

“Fine. Now that we killed the doctor and took his wife and kid—”

“He was not my husband,” Romy interjects, lip curling in disgust.

“You know what I mean,” Koyn says in exasperation. “To the general public and those at that facility you were. Any-fucking-way, now that you two have gone missing, things are going to heat up and quick. We need to stay on offense if we have any chance of taking these assholes down.”

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