Page 79 of Twisted Truths

Unshed tears burn in my eyes. “I was an idiot for ever thinking someone could love me like that.”

“Sid, I saw you guys together. She may have lied about?—”

“I don’t want to hear it!” I shout.

My cell phone rings from the inside pocket of my suit, but I ignore it. When it starts up again, I pull it out to see who it is.

“It’s Ash.” I toss the phone to Kol. I don’t want to talk to my big brother right now.

Kol swipes the screen to take the call. “Yeah?” His gaze flicks over to me. “Yeah, he’s here. Sure, we’ll meet you there in a minute.”

I groan. “What the hell does he need us for this late at night?” It’s well past business hours.

“Two men just showed up at the gate saying they’re Ariana’s father and brother. Wouldn’t leave. Insisted that they need to see her. Said she’s not answering her phone.” My face transforms into a scowl as Kol stands from the chair. “Let’s go.”

“What the fuck are they doing here?”

He shrugs as we make our way out of the room toward the communal part of the house. “Who knows, but let’s try to figure it out. Try to keep your shit together.”

I want to say fuck off, but somehow, I keep my mouth shut. Kol leads us to one of the living areas in the main part of the house, and I see the guy I saw Ariana at the bar with, her “brother” Bastion, and another man who’s probably in his late forties.

The moment I see him, I want to shove my fist through his face for what he did to his daughter, how he raised her by using her in his cons. Maybe if he hadn’t, she wouldn’t have tuned out to be such a fucking liar and what we had would have been real.

But it looks as though someone beat me to it. Both men have obviously been worked over. Between them, they have bruises on their faces, a swollen lip, and a cut on the forehead. That at least brings me some level of satisfaction.

Asher looks between Kol and me, obviously sensing that something is off. “What’s going on?”

Kol nods for Asher to join him on the other side of the massive room, and the two of them walk over there, leaving me with the two pieces of shit.

“What the hell do you two want?” I say.

“We need to see Ariana,” Bastion says, then looks nervously between his father and me.

“Why?” My head tilts in a move akin to a predator assessing its prey.

“Family emergency,” her father says.

My eyes narrow on him. As my mom predicted, I am the wolf stalking its prey. “Got another con job for her to run for you?”

The shock on his face almost makes me laugh. Almost.

“What are… that’s ridiculous,” he says, attempting to look as if I’ve offended him.

“I know all about how you raised your daughter and son.” I flick my hand in Bastion’s direction. “What kind of father does that? Makes her think her worth is in how well she can screw people over. Sells her off to the highest bidder when she gets older. You’re a disgusting piece of shit, and if it weren’t for you, maybe she wouldn’t be the liar and con that she is.”

Kol must be done filling Asher in because the two of them join us, standing by my side.

Bastion stands from the couch, hands raised in the universal sign for surrender. “She’s obviously told you everything. But you should know, she wanted nothing to do with our way of life anymore. Was working two jobs to try to make a living because she wanted so badly to be done with it all. It wasn’t until he got mixed up with Uma that she was forced to participate again because Uma threatened all of our lives.”

At least her father has the decency to look somewhat ashamed.

“I don’t give a shit. None of that matters. Explain what you’re doing here.” I set my hands on my hips.

Her father stands. “We’re afraid that Uma—the woman I owe money to—might try to hurt her. She’s become more unhinged.”

The hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. “What do you mean?”

“This is courtesy of her and her goons.” Bastion points at his face. “Most people would be happy we were coming up with the money to pay her off, but every time I showed up with a chunk of change to put toward the debt, she seemed more and more agitated. Wanted to know how we were coming up with the money, but I never told her.”

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