Page 86 of Cruel Love
The three of them fell quiet as their eyes darted between me andMilligan. When a soft sniffle reverberated around the room, Harrison’s gaze snapped to Willow who was quietly sobbing, Cleo doing her best to comfort her.
“What has your wife got to do with this?”he said, returning hisattention to me.
My stomach clenched with anxiety because once I said everythingaloud, there would be no going back. But before I could speak, Cleoanswered her father’s question.
“Eight years ago, Kevin Welch contacted me and asked me toprovide new identities for Helen and Charlotte following the death of Daniel. He told me he was going to help them start a new life, but he lied to me,justlike Eric lied to you,”she said glumly, her eyes darting to Willow who was hanging on to her every word.“I did what he asked. I can’t remember the new identity I gave to Helen, but the identity I gave to Charlotte was Willow Banks.”
The taut silencethatfell across the roomseemedto stretch onforever, only broken by the tiniest of whimpers coming from Willow.
“Your wife is a child of Legion members,”Gabe said, coming to thequick conclusion I had, his earlier coldness now completely missing.“Which makes her Legion.”
I bowed my head.“Correct.”
Ethan rubbed a thumb over his bottom lip in thought.“And how is ityou know all of this, Ann?”
“Because once upon a time, Kevin Welch loved me,”she spat.“Heloved me until one day, he didn’t. All becausethatlittle whore came along and stole him away,justlike her mother stole Daniel away from me!”
I took a step closer to her, towering over her.“Thathappens to be mywife you’re speaking about. Ethan might have agreedthatyou’ll walk out of here, but there was no agreement as to whenthatmight be. Keep spouting vitriol about Willow, and it’ll be a long time before you walk out of here and see daylight again.”The threat in my tone was unmissable, and when she tilted her head up to look at me, fear flashed in her eyes.“Now answer the question.”
She tore her gaze away from me, but instead of looking at Ethan tospeak to him, she looked over at Willow, their glazes clashing.“I’ll never forget the day she arrived at Peartree House. I hadn’t seen her since she was a baby, but I knew instantly who she was. Charlotte Somersby, my niece.”
An audible gasp echoed around the room, and my cold heart cracked for my girl. She was learning too much shit in such a short space of time.
“Everything was perfect until she came along,”Milligan continued,releasing Willow from the brutal sneer she was sending her.“I’d moved on from Daniel, and Kevin and I were happy until she came along. I wanted to find a way to get rid of her, so I went snooping one night, and I overheard Kevin talking with another man, bragging about what they’d done.”
Her voice became more animated as she repeated what she’d toldme at the house the night before.“When I heard they’d had Daniel killed, I was furious! Kevin confessed everything, and he wasn’tevensorry about it!”Milligan cried, slamming her hand on the table.“Andthenfor eight years, I got to watch him fawn all over her,”she sneered, her venomous gaze aimed back at Willow who was staring in disbelief with bloodshot eyes, and her jaw on the floor.“Andthenyou know what happened? When Willow was taken from Peartree House, I stupidly thought Kevin and I could be together,”she chuckled humorlessly.“But all he kept saying was how he was going to get Willow back. So fuck him! I’m not keeping his secrets anymore!”
Like a petulant child, she folded her arms across her chest andrefused to look at anyone. All three of the men across the table gaped at her in disbelief.
When a tense minute passed by, and no one had spoken, I clearedmy throat. Milligan had said all she knew. I no longer had a need for her, and I didn’t want Willow to have to breathe the same air as the woman who had caused her so much pain anymore.
“Aside from my father and Welch, Ann is the only other person whoknows what they did,”I said, holding Ethan’s eyes.“Not only did she fail to inform the board of what she knew, she spent the last eight years injuring a fellow Legion member.”
Milligan’s head whipped up, panic filling her eyes.“What?”
“She knew Willow was part of Legion, and yet for years, sheabused Willow. She whipped her on a daily basis to make her forget her past so she couldn’t tell anyone who shereallywas. My wife has permanent scars on her skin, and psychological trauma from the abuse she suffered at the hands of Ann Milligan. She can’t be allowed to live forthat.”
“What! No!”Milligan said, attempting to get up from her seat, only forJackson to press her shoulders down and hold her in place.“You gave me your word I’d be free to leave if I told you everything!”she continued to squeal, eventually prompting Jackson to wrap a hand around her mouth to shut up her whining.
“I did give you our assurancesthatyou’d be free to leave if you toldus everything. I said nothing about excusing you from further allegations made against you,”Ethan said stoically. He turned his attention to Willow, speaking softly to her.“Isthattrue? Did Ann whip you?”
Cleo squeezed her hand reassuringly, and when she finally raised herhead to meet Ethan’s gaze, her eyes were filled with nothing but heartbreak.
“Yes,”she whispered, the one word answer almost deafening.
Ethan inhaled a deep breath before turning his attention to Harrisonand Gabe, and once again, a silent conversation took place between the three of them before they nodded.He focused back on Milligan who was trying to fight against Jackson’srestraint, an unreadable expression on his face.“You stand accused of breaching rule five set by our founding fathers of Legion. How do you plead?”
Jackson removed his hand from her mouth to allow her to speak.“Fuck you!”she screeched.
My lips twitched, but any smile about to form quickly faded whenEthan gave me a nod, and spoke the final words required when a Legion member was sentenced to death.“Verywell. Ann Milligan, you are now released from your Legion duties.”
Jackson shifted his body to one side of Milligan, allowing me to standbehind her as I pulled out my knife from the holster I had underneath my suit jacket.
Before I held the knife to her neck, I finally let myself look over atWillow, meeting her wide-eyed gaze.“This is for you, Mouse.”
Chapter 30
Willow
