Page 34 of Scorching Lies

Not here to make friends. I keep my face blank, the name alone should signal her not to give me shit. Being the Heir to an empire tends to give you those perks.

Waiving me to a green metal bench bolted to the faded white wall she instructs me to take a seat.

“Remove your shoes for me.” She says.

Jerking back, I look at her with what I would assume is a confused as hell expression, but she just holds out her hands for my shoes and waits. Slipping them off, I’m left with only my black socks while she shoves her hands inside my shoe, feeling around looking for anything I could have snuck in. After several minutes of her searching my wallet, shoes, pants, and even having me lift the bottom of my bra and shake, I've finally passed her test. By the end of my shake down I’ve thought of going home twice and regretted coming at least a dozen times.

Following Helga the guard, she walks me through a few more glass security doors, glass being the main word because security and break-ability go hand in hand here, we make our way to a section with a large D on the wall. Each group is sectioned by letters and then numbers, but visitation is held in a large room with tables, vending machines, and benches clutter the space. Some places are like that, but not here in Del Mar. Prisons are strict when it comes to visiting even down to the clothes you wear. Nothing that shows your cleavage, no holes in your jeans, no sandals or open toed shoes, nothing too tight, and the list goes on.

It’s the reason I’m wearing straight legged jeans paired with my Nike shoes and a plain white tee that hugs my body but is just loose enough that if I wasn’t wearing a bra you wouldn’t notice. On our walk she goes over a few of the rules, visitation time,and how the payment system works for the vending machines. In order to buy things for the inmates, or yourself, a card has to be loaded with money that you use to purchase things. Adding a whole extra step just to swipe another card.

“He will be sitting at one of the tables or benches. You can hug once, but after that no touching. If either of you want snacks, drinks, or anything from the vending machines, you will need to be the one getting it. Visitation ends in an hour.” She says.

Her hand hovers over the curved metal handle to a double door. Looking back at me once more, she tugs the door open, revealing a spacious room. Surrounded by grey walls and black plastic chairs, the room is filled with round cafeteria tables placed throughout the space. Men are seated around the room with family and friends visiting them. She Hulk keeps moving further into the room while my legs drag behind her, giving me time to take in the space around me. Locked in a giant room full of criminals. Fucking great.

A chair scraping loudly across the floor pulls my attention past her to the man now standing near the center of the room. Grey eyes stare back at me with bewilderment, his salt and pepper hair showing his age. Looks like my father was expecting someone else. I wasn’t expecting him to jump for joy at the sight of me, not with how he left me for dead, but the look in his eyes isn’t one I was expecting.

“Hellcat.” He says.

Ice slithers down my spine with his words. That name. His voice. It’s all enough to send me back to a time in my life where he was my king and I was nothing more than a little princess. Pausing in front of him, the guard looks to each of us before deciding that our drama isn’t the kind that warrants her services. Black bootsscreech across the floor on her way to the corner of the room. I look away from her retreating bringing my focus back to the turbulent storm brewing in my father’s eyes.

Nodding to the chair across from him, he takes a seat without so much as an attempt to embrace his only daughter, the one he tried to kill.

“What are you doing here?” He questions.

His tone is hard, but behind the malice is something softer.

“I’m not here for you. I’m here for me.” I state.

Chewing on the inside of my lip, my gaze rolls over the man that raised me to be the person I am today. Only, that man is gone and in his place is a shell of who he once was. Where Kane Kingston was powerful, un-movable, and resilient, this person before me is anything but. A coward is all I see. Betrayal burns the back of my throat just sitting near the man responsible for Paige's death. For the past two years I’ve claimed him innocent, but looking at how truly dark he is now, I know how wrong I was.

His hand moves, as if to reach out to me, but he hesitates when I flinch away from his touch.

“You shouldn’t be here. If they see you’ve come to visit me it’ll be the final piece they need to come after you.”

I huff out a short laugh. No amusement can be found in the sound that leaves my chest.

“Come after me? They already have and it’s no thanks to you that I’ve survived this long.” I snap, my voice getting louder.

Bodies shuffle around us drowning out my rage, but the true fear that flashes over his face has me sitting back in the hard plastic seat.

“What, you thought they’d let me walk away from what you did to their family. To ours!”

Shaking his head, “The Stone brothers are where you’re safest. Do whatever you need to keep your place there.” Reaching for my hand he squeezes me roughly, “They’ll want to kill you themselves, but they need you alive so they won’t. Use that to your advantage because there are snakes at Hawthorne that want you more.”

Yanking my hand from his, “I’m not worried about the monster I don’t know, it’s the one I do. So why don’t you tell me what the fuck is going on?” I spit at him.

His eyes darken, “You can’t trust anyone there, Hellcat. Keep those boys close at all times, because you’re in their veins. Stay away from the Foundation.” He warns.

Leaning in closer my voice lowers, “Tell me what the hell is going on, dad.” My voice cracks on the last word.

Looking around the room, keeping his eyes off mine, he pauses for a moment.

“I was set up by someone we thought we could trust. You and Paige were never supposed to be there. I’m handling it from inside, but they are pushing for things I can’t give them. Once I run out of chips to play with they’ll come for you, the only thing left I have to lose, and they will break you. I can’t allow that to happen, so you have to listen to me.”

Nothing he says is making sense. Who would Alec and my dad trust so much that their judgment was tainted? Alec was never one to let anyone close enough to his family to cause harm, so it didn’t make sense.

I’m already shaking my head before he starts speaking again, “No. Alec never trusted anyone with his family. Not his kids or me.”

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