Page 97 of Beautifully Broken Control

I screamed, jolting back in surprise. The movement had my vision blurring again, and my head pounding. This had to be a dream. A nightmare.

My mother rolled her eyes. “Oh, please, like you care whether the man who beat you to shit is killed or not.”

But I did care. I might’ve wanted to give Doug a swift kick to the balls before sending him to jail for a decade or so, but I didn’t want him dead. But the thing that sent ice sliding through my veins was the absence of emotion on my mother’s face. She was totally and completely numb. How had I missed that all these years?

“You really should be thanking me. The original plan was for you to come to an unfortunate end.”

“W-w-what?” I hated the tremor in my voice.

Mom chuckled and placed the gun back into her purse. “You’ve had quite a few near-misses lately, haven’t you?”

“What are you talking about?”

She grinned, and it was a bit feral. “Your bike. The gas leak at that shitty little apartment of yours.” She took a moment to examine her manicure as if checking to see if shooting a man had chipped her polish. “I made the mistake of hiring out on that. And you know what they say. If you want something done right, do it yourself.”

My head spun. She could’ve killed Jensen—my stomach pitched—or even Noah with that gas leak. One glance at the woman who’d been my mother for decades, and I knew she wouldn’t care. But it didn’t make sense. Killing me would get her nothing.

She rubbed her thumb along the edge of her nail. “I see you trying to put the pieces together, but you’re missing the key one.” She paused, her lips pursing. “Your grandmother died. She left everything to you, your brother, and an assortment of charities.”

My jaw went slack. Helen Barrington had never been warm and welcoming to me. She’d always kept me at arm’s length. I didn’t think I’d ever seen her hug another living being. But she had always kissed my father’s cheek whenever we went to her home. She’d seemed to love him in her own way. Her leaving him nothing, even after what he’d done, didn’t compute.

Mom straightened in her chair. “Charities, when her own daughter-in-law was being thrown out of her home. Did she have no family loyalty?” My mother might’ve lost her twenty-million-dollar home, but I knew she had a trust fund from her own parents that paid out a yearly sum that was more than enough for a comfortable existence. Just not one with caviar and couture.

She brushed a strand of hair back that had fallen free of her perfect chignon. “I’ll admit, I was understandably upset at first. I shouldn’t have looked to end your life when there were obviously other options, but I was hurt that you’d betrayed us so.” The woman was deranged. It was as if she were apologizing for raising her voice, not trying to kill me. “But you’ve done so well for yourself, finding an almost suitable match.” Her nose scrunched. “His family is abysmal, but he’s made up for that with his tenacity and business sense. He won’t even miss the piddly amount I’m asking for. And then we’ll all go our separate ways.”

Tears welled in my eyes as waves of nausea swept through me. This is what I came from. Manipulation. Greed. Selfishness. “Please, don’t.” I awkwardly scooted myself towards the edge of the bed, swinging my bound legs over. “Please, don’t do this. You can have Gran’s money. I’ll sign it over to you.”

Mom removed the gun from her purse. “That’s close enough. And what do you take me for? A fool? Like that signature would stand up in court. You have two choices. You can play along like the obedient girl you always should’ve been, or”—she flipped the gun over in her hand—“I can kill you. And all that money will go to the person who’s named in the will I had drawn up.” She grinned. “Don’t worry, I signed it for you, so it’s all official. Now choose. Behave, or die.”

44

Cain

I strode towards my bedroom.

“Cain! What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Walker called after me.

I went straight for the safe, keying in my code and placing my finger on the scanner. It beeped as it opened, and my hand made a beeline for the metal box in the back. My fingers were the only thing needed to unlock this case, their prints the only code. I lifted the Glock out, checked the magazine and chamber.

“Oh, shit,” Tuck mumbled.

I hated guns. Anything that could cause death and destruction, really. But I also understood better than most that you never knew when violence would show up at your door. The deeply rooted need I had to prepare for that possibility meant that I’d logged more than enough hours at a shooting range to be proficient with the weapon in my hands.

Walker grabbed my shoulder in a grip meant to stun. “What the hell do you think you’re doing? Are you just going to knock on Doug’s door and pull a gun on him?”

I pushed to my feet, pulling a holster from the box and clipping it to my jeans. I slid the gun in. “I wasn’t planning on knocking.”

“Do you want me to arrest you?” I ignored Walker’s words and headed for the door. “Do you want to get Kennedy killed?”

That stopped me in my tracks. I turned slowly, facing Walker and Tuck head-on. “What do you want me to do? You have nothing. Not one thing that could get you a warrant. The time on their deadline is running out. I’m not going to stand by and let them keep hurting her.Did you see her face?!” The ferocity in my words grew with each sentence until I was yelling. That image of Kennedy’s bruised and swollen face would haunt me forever. My chest heaved, but I lowered my voice. “They’re going to kill her.”

Tuck took a step forward. “You’re not going in alone.” Walker cursed, and Tuck turned to face him. “You know he’s right. We have to go in now. Get creative. Find a reason.”

Walker ran a hand through his hair. “Fuck. Okay. This is what we’re going to do. Vest up. We are going to Doug’s because he’s the one person we haven’t talked to yet to see if he’s seen or heard from Kennedy. When we get there, if we hear a scream, sounds of imminent danger, Tuck and I breach. You,”—Walker pinned me with a stare—“stay the fuck outside.”

Like hell, I would. But I nodded. Walker would forgive the lie later on.

“Let’s go. I’ve got gear in my truck.” Walker strode out of the room, only to come face-to-face with Jensen.

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