Page 83 of Traitorous Lies
If she’d had any lingering doubt about her father’s involvement in all of this, it was eradicated by the cold glint in his eyes as he looked at Cassandra and the complete indifference when he looked at her.
Maybe it was only Cassandra he specifically wanted out of the way, but he also wouldn't feel an ounce of remorse if she wound up collateral damage. It shouldn’t hurt because her dad had never been an involved part of her life, but it did.
“Thank you for coming,” her father said as he stepped back to allow them both to enter.
“Thank you for finally arranging this meeting,” Monique said, keeping her tone neutral. If her father knew that she believed what Jax’s family had told her, he could very well kill both her and Cassandra right here and now. “I’m sure it must be a shock to learn you have another daughter.”
“Another daughter,” he echoed, his voice so hard she almost believedif she reached out and touched her father that he’d feel like stone beneath her hand.
“So, this is Cassandra,” she said as her father closed the door behind them and walked toward his study, at least that was where she assumed they were headed.
“Charmed.” Sarcasm virtually dripped from the single word.
“Dad,” she rebuked. “It’s not Cassandra’s fault that you cheated on Mom, or that she left when she found out.” Those words tasted bitter on her tongue, given that she believed her dad had actually killed her mom, but she was there to gather as much intel as she could so that her father paid for every single crime he committed. “That was what you were trying to tell me on the phone, wasn't it? That mom found out, and you bribed her with enough money to go and leave me behind? That’s why she left. Right?”
Part of her wanted her father to convince her that it was true. That her mom had just walked away and left her behind, and wasn't buried six feet under somewhere in an unmarked grave.
Her father didn't reply until he had them both in his study, the door closed behind them. Then he turned to study her and Cassandra with the coldest set of eyes she’d ever seen. Monique was used to his eyes being void of emotion, but not like this, not deadly.
“I’m going to give you a choice, Monique. Much like the one I gave your mother almost twenty-five years ago.”
She gulped. “What choice?”
“You can walk away and pretend you never saw anything, never heard anything, don’t know anything. You can continue living your life, playing with your little animals, and being a complete embarrassment to this family and everyone who worked so hard to build the fortune you now enjoy. Or you can suffer the same fate as your mother.”
It felt like all the oxygen had been sucked out of the room as her father confirmed her worst fears.
Her mom hadn't left by choice.
She’d been murdered.
And now her father was threatening to do the same thing to her.
“Mom’s dead,” she said softly, the reality of it sinking in. Along with the grief and guilt about years of anger directed at a dead woman, was aheavy shot of anger. “Mom somehow found out that you raped Cassandra’s mom and she was going to bring you down, so you killed her.”
Fury sprang to life in her father’s eyes. “She was so smug, thought she had it all figured out. She’d been compiling evidence for years.”
Cassandra gasped. “My mom wasn't your first victim.”
“Your mother was nothing special,” their father spat. “Certainly not worth losing everything over.”
“Mom had proof, though,” Monique said.
“Proof that saved your pathetic life,” her father sneered. “She was dying either way, but I gave her a choice. Either she gave me all the evidence she had so I could make sure it was destroyed, or you died too. She chose you. So I let you live. Let you waste your life. But instead of being grateful for that, you’re just like her. Here, stirring up trouble, sticking your nose into things that don’t concern you.”
That was the best compliment her father could give her.
She’d let her mom down by believing the lie that she’d abandoned her, but now Monique was going to spend the rest of her life honoring her mother’s memory, her strength and bravery.
“I am like mom, only where she failed, I'm going to succeed. Cassandra and I aren't here for a little meet and greet, we’re here to get justice for our mothers.”
“Then you're both going to suffer the same fate,” her father shot back.
The bookcases lining one wall suddenly sprang open and two men dressed in black ran in. Before either of them could react, one of the men slammed the butt of his weapon into Cassandra’s temple, dropping her to the floor, and the other pressed the cold barrel of a gun to her temple.
Chapter
Twenty-Two
