Page 129 of Kissing the Villain

He couldn’t even look me straight in the eye.

“Drake, tell me.”

He clenched and unclenched his jaw. “Sorry, I wish I could help you.”

I glanced over at Pops. “I don’t understand why they need me to be their queen, but until they find Aiden, I’m not doing shit.”

“Alex,” Pops protested. “This is a sensitive matter.”

“So is the whereabouts of my twin brother. You act like the Salvatores are your enemies when you have been plotting with them behind my back. And if you lied about your involvement with them, you also lied about Aiden.”

“Princess,” he said in a sweet tone. “I have told you everything I know.”

“No, you haven’t. Why do you owe Arlo a favor? Why did you promise me to Luca? I accepted this arrangement a long timeago, but I want answers. I’m sick of being the pawn of bored rich men.”

“You’re not a pawn,” Pops assured me. “The queen is the most powerful piece in chess. And you, my dear, have more power than you understand.”

“Then help me understand because I’m not interested in power or money. Tell me what you did,” I demanded. “If you want me to be part of your billionaire boys’ club, I want to know your secret. Why do you owe Arlo a life debt?”

He shoved a hand through his white hair and sighed. “Because your mother killed Eva.”

My heart nearly stopped.

I couldn't form the words as chills rushed down my arms. “No, she wouldn’t… She didn’t.” I shook my head, unable to think clearly over the ringing in my ears. “Why would she do that?”

“Your mother poisoned Eva with a drug produced by Wellington Pharmaceuticals. The FDA took it off the market because of its side effects. Even in small doses, it caused death.”

I couldn’t stop blinking as I stared at my grandfather. My mother killed my idol. She took Luca and Marcello’s mother from them.

“She tried to poison me when I was a child,” I whispered in disbelief. “Was it the same drug?”

Pops bobbed his head. “Your father took you to the hospital before you overdosed. Eva wasn’t as lucky. Luca found his mother on the floor in her studio.”

“That’s why you covered up her death with a car accident.” My eyes widened as I glanced over at Luca. “You’ve always known about this?”

Luca nodded.

“The night we met?”

Another nod.

“Now I understand,” I muttered. “Why you’ve been so… How could you even look at me knowing the truth?”

“I hated you at first sight,” Luca admitted. “And then you quoted my mom that night in my bedroom. I knew you weren’t like your bitch mother. But I still didn’t like you. I tolerated your existence. You just…”

“Grew on you?”

He smirked. “Yeah, I guess.”

I looked at Marcello, who gave me a knowing look. Everyone in the room knew but me.

“Why would she do that?” I asked Pops.

He rolled his shoulders against the couch. “She regretted leaving Arlo after I took away her trust fund. Your mother has no life skills. Neither does your loser father. They couldn’t even pay the cable bill between the two of them. If not for Arlo, your parents would have lived on the street.”

“Is that the only reason?”

“She was jealous of Eva,” Pops confessed.

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