Page 91 of Unburdening His Heart

“Shut the fuck up!” Malcom roars, but I keep talking like he didn’t say a word.

“Christopher found out she looked in his safe deposit box at the bank. He had bank statements from their offshore account hidden there. He went to their brownstone and tried to kill her with his bare hands. That’s why she ran.”

“Malcom! You told me she was having an affair! You said she ran off to be with whoever she was cheating with! You lying son of a bitch!”

Mom approaches Malcom. Her hand whips out to slap him, but she isn’t fast enough. He grabs her arm, stopping it just before she makes contact with his face and pushes her back. His shove is so forceful that I have to reach out to catch her before she falls.

I steady her and tuck her behind me. I may not care for her, but he won’t lay his hands on her in my presence. I take a steadying breath, ready to lay out the rest of his secrets. The ones to come will cut the deepest.

“When Andrea’s apartment was set on fire, we all assumed it was Christopher who hired the hit on her. However, when I paid a visit to the hitman, he had a much different story. He says Malcom is the one who hired him to kill Andrea. He wanted her silenced. He knew if she exposed Christopher, he would be next.”

Sleeping since that visit has been nearly impossible. At first, I thought he was lying, trying to cover for Christopher, but why would he lie? He has nothing to gain from that. He’s on the hook no matter who paid him. I’m still digging for more evidence to prove Malcom did indeed hire the hitman to kill Andrea, but at this point, I wouldn’t put anything past him.

I watch his face, looking for any kind of crack, but Mom steps in front of me again.

“You tried to have our daughter killed!” Her voice is shaky but filled with rage.

It’s time to drop another bomb. Maybe we’ll even get lucky, and he’ll confess to everything.

“No, Mom, both of your daughters.”

She turns back to face me, her mouth hanging open. He stays eerily quiet during all this, which is out of character for him and has the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end, but it’s not enough to stop me. I’ve already come this far.

“See, Malcom and Christopher didn’t think through having Swank killed. That stopped their embezzlement money from funneling to their offshore account. When the hitman didn’t get his last payment, he kidnapped Adalyn. He sent ransom messages to the burner phone he contacted before when he killed Swank. No one responded.”

He finally breaks his silence. “If you’re so fucking smart, where’s this so-called burner phone?” Malcom clearly thinks he got me with that question.

If I’d gone into medicine like I’d wanted, I wouldn’t be able to answer this question. Instead, I went to law school like he wanted, so this will be a breeze for me.

“I don’t need the burner phone. I have the messages that were sent from it, and I have the statement from the hitman about the night he killed Swank. You slipped up. Until that night, the hitman thought Christopher was the mastermind.

When you and Christopher initially met with him, you made Christopher do most of the talking. However, the night of the murder, the hitman’s phone rang, and the call came from the same number as those text messages, but it was you on the phone, panicking and wanting to know if it was done. He knew your voice from the day you and Christopher met with him. That right there is enough to nail your ass!”

Malcom lurches towards me. He grabs me around my collar and pulls me forward. I quickly jerk my arms up to break the connection. He staggers back and then rushes forward, swinging his right arm out to punch me. He doesn’t even come close before I shove his arm away and take a swing at him. My punch lands square in his kidney. He doubles over, sputtering, and staggering back.

“You ungrateful piece of fucking trash! How dare you! How fucking dare you! I’ve given you this life, provided for you by any means necessary, and this is how you thank me!”

I won’t stand here and listen to his bullshit. I don’t have to anymore. Mom knows the truth, and as soon as I see Adalyn and Andrea face to face, they will, too.

I look over to find Mom crumbled on the floor, her face in her hands as her shoulders quake with silent sobs. She finally sees Malcom for who he truly is. I reach out to her, but I suddenly pull back. I don’t have the strength or desire to comfort her. Not when she did nothing to stop him. Without a second glance, I walk out of the room and to the front door.

Malcom is on my heels. I can feel him seething behind me, but he’s too slow. He’s still limping behind me from that punch I landed. I open the foyer closet and grab my suit coat without really seeing what I’m grabbing at. I feel almost disoriented from the weight of what was just exposed in that room. I finally grab the right jacket and turn to leave.

“I should have had you killed instead of Swank!” The words roar through gritted teeth, and I know he means every word. That’s the last thing I hear before the click of the front door closing.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Andrew

It isn’t until I’m home in the quiet of my apartment that I realize what I’ve done. I’ve put everyone in danger. The contents of my stomach threaten to make an appearance right here on my living room floor.

I pace. “Fuck!”

What the hell have I done? I should have waited. I should have waited until I had everything I need to make sure he rots in jail for the rest of his life before I showed my cards. Why did I let him goad me? I know why, but it doesn’t make it any easier to stomach.

I’ve spent years wanting to tell him to fuck off. That I was done being a pawn in his games. After finding out just how deep his involvement is, I couldn’t walk away. I didn’t think my level of hatred could go any deeper, but he continues to prove me wrong every day. Now I just need to make sure I outplay him.

He isn’t as smart as he lets on.

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