Page 130 of Liars

No. It didn’t make sense.

It couldn’t.

Rusty’s expansive chest lifted before he exhaled, his gaze locked onto mine. “Donovan isn’t your godfather, Kaylor. He was never your father’s friend. The Corvos, they’re not who they say they are.”

My vision blurred at the edges, the world pressing in too close. I couldn’t seem to pull a full breath. My thoughts scattered, tangling and tripping over the last. I blinked, tried to find something steady, something solid. But everything was too loud. Too bright. Too wrong. “But the will—” My breath caught, shaking, fracturing.

“It was a setup, kiddo.” His voice softened, almost sympathetic, but that only made it worse. “The lawyer, the will, the guardianship. All of it. Donovan wanted you under his control.”

“W-Why would he do that??” The words came out barely above a whisper, my throat tight with fear.

Rusty’s expression hardened. “Retaliation.” His next words landed like a gunshot. “He’s responsible for your parents’ deaths.”

I froze.

Blood roared in my ears.

My pulse pounded, a deafening rhythm against my ribs.

“You lie,” I said hoarsely, barely audible. “Why would they have any reason to murder my parents?”

Rusty leaned in, elbows on his knees, gaze locked on mine with unsettling calm. “It’s the truth,” he said, the words falling slowly and deliberate. “And you need to accept it.”

I shook my head, but my body betrayed me, every instinct screaming that I was losing control.

“You’ve been living with the enemy, Kaylor.” Rusty’s words coiled around me, suffocating, inescapable. “Sleeping under his roof. You think you’ve been safe?” A sharp scoff. “You’ve been a pawn.”

The breath I’d been holding shattered from my lips.

Rusty watched me closely, judging to see how much I could handle, or if continuing would be too much for me, but he must have seen something in my eyes that propelled him forward. “It’s a story that goes back years.”

A cold sensation trickled through my veins. Something wasn’t right, and I had the sinking feeling that whether I wanted to believe Rusty or not, I was already in too deep.

“The Ravens and Vipers have history that oozes bad blood,” Rusty began to explain, his eyes flickering to his phone, and I swore I heard someone say my name. My father’s partner picked up the device and tapped on the screen before putting it back face down on the table. “We didn’t want Donovan and the Ravens to know who had you. They would assume, of course, butwouldn’t have proof.” He studied me for a long moment. “Your father—he was head of the Vipers Nest.”

The words slammed into me, knocking the air from my lungs.

I shook my head. “No, that’s not—” The head? It was one thing to be a part of a crew but quite another to be its leader. I couldn’t fathom my father being anything other than a mechanic who busted his ass to make his business successful. When the hell had he had time to lead an organized crime group?

Rusty let out a short, bitter laugh. “Yeah. He kept that part of himself hidden from you. He didn’t want you involved.” He gestured toward the warehouse behind us. “But this? This was his real work. He stole cars, fixed them up, and funneled them to dealers.”

My breath hitched, caught on the truth like a snare. “He lied to me. My whole life.”

“It wasn’t like that. He was protecting you. And your mother. He didn’t want you mixed up with his past.”

“And look what happened,” I said, unable to disguise the bitterness from my words.

“It was a business," Rusty continued. “A dangerous one, but your father was good at it. Too good.”

I couldn’t breathe. “Why should I believe you?” I had spent years idolizing a man who I thought had been honest and hardworking. And now—now I didn’t know what to think.

Rusty stilled, eyes darkening as if he could see it all playing out again. “Because the past he tried hard to shelter you from was why Donovan killed your parents.”

My fingers dug into my thighs. “What happened?” There had to be a reason Donovan felt justified in taking my parents from me, in forcing me to live with him. His actions had to have meaning, or was he just a psychopath?

Rusty exhaled heavily, his features clouding with what I thought could be regret. “Like I said, the feud between Donovanand your father goes back years, before you were even born. There was an accident a few years back, and Donovan held your father responsible. The truth was, your father did have a hand in what happened, but he never meant for anyone to die.”

“Die?” I squeaked.

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