Page 195 of Hexed
“Doesn’t change what he was to me for years. He was a good friend.”
“Until he wasn’t,” Bas replies.
“Yeah, I guess.” I brush off the heavy feeling, looking around. “Where’s Aria?”
He points to the hallway, a piece of turkey falling from his sandwich. “In the back room, locked in.”
“Is she hurt?” I ask, peering down the dimly lit hall.
He shakes his head. “Nah, I didn’t know what you wanted to do with her.”
“I want to use her to lure out my uncle, of course.”
Enzo looks between us. “You think that will work?”
“I know it will.”
The words come out confident, but honestly, I’m not sure. I’m basing it entirely off the fact my uncle has always gone batshit if anything threatens Aria’s safety, and I’m hoping that still rings true.
The only thing I’m not as sure about is what he’ll give up in order to save her.
What’s more important to a man like my uncle: his daughter or his power?
The atmosphere in the cabin is heavy, and I walk up to the painting, chewing on my lip when I stand in front of it. I flick my gaze to Bas. “Were you serious? About the documents being here?”
He nods and gestures toward it. “See for yourself.”
After walking forward, I pick up the painting and flip it around, noticing there’s already a thin line splitting open the backing paper. I reach in and pull out two thick envelopes.
I snap my head up to Bastien. “Why are there two?”
“The first is your momma’s will—not anything fancy, just a scribbled piece of paper, but still. And then, your grandpa’s. Where he states emphatically everything belongs to his daughter and then is to be passed down to you.”
“I don’t understand,” Enzo chimes in. “Why would Trent keep those instead of destroying them?”
Bastien takes another bite of his sandwich, a knowing smile gracing his face. “Trent never knew. He used the MC to bribe everyone who knew of their existence and thought he burned all the copies, starting with the ones in the house when he killed his dad.” His eyes flick to me. “But when he gave me the painting to prepare for the engagement party, I found these hidden in the back. Figured it was best to just let them be. Trent doesn’t need to know everything.”
I nod, pulling out the papers and reading over the fine print, my hands shaking when I realize Bastien isn’t lying. He never was.
Uncle T stole the Kingston empire out from under my momma.
That’s why he killed her.
And that’s why I’m going to kill him.
I place down the documents and then spin around to look at Enzo, hating what I’m about to tell him. “I need you to do something for me.”
He quirks a brow but walks toward me, wrapping his hands around my waist. “Anything, piccola sirena.”
“I need you to pretend that you love Aria.”
He jerks back, shaking his head. “Fuck that.”
My arms come up to rest on his biceps. “She’s obsessed with you, Enzo. And if she thinks you’ll take her back, that you two will ride off into the sunset forever, then she’ll do what we want. Otherwise…none of this will work.”
He sighs, tugging on the roots of his hair. “How?”
“Tell her you love her. Convince her that working with me is the best chance for you two to be together.” I swallow over the thick lump in my throat because saying this out loud is making me sick to my stomach. I don’t want him to do this, but it’s the best chance we have. “Do whatever it takes.”
