Page 129 of Queen Of Dark Money

I’dget everywhereIneeded to go on my own legs, thank you very much.

Theyled me out into the backyard, which was literally about a mile of green grass as far as my eyes could see, perfectly manicured, with a host of flowers overflowing from the side of a half-kempt garden.Theyard ended in tall brick walls that, from whatIcould tell, ran the perimeter of the property.Iwas stunned that such a piece of land had been sequestered in a gated community like this, butIjust kept going back to the revelation thatKhulaCitywas nothing likeIexpected it to be and took a deep breath, rolling with the punches.

“Okay, so what’s so damn amazing about a yard?”

RafeandRiverturned me around, pointing me back at the house with huge, twin smirks on their faces.Theylooked absolutely dopey with those matching grins twisting their lips, andIwas briefly tempted to drag them both down for a kiss.IfonlyIdidn’t need my hands on these crutches to keep my balance.

Maybethey’d hold me up.No, there was no maybe about it.Iknew they’d hold me up.

Afterall, they were my pillars.

“Okay, so don’t be mad at us, sweetheart, but we have one more surprise after this, and this was one hundred percent not my idea, but–”

“Wethought you might miss home,Kenz.Sowe found a way to bring home to you.”

Atthose words,Rafespun me around, andIcame face to face with a woman not ten feet away, her face cast into shadow by the sun behind her.Buteven in the dead of night, blind, or half-dead,I’dknow that shape anywhere.

Thecurve of her hip, the one she’d broken whenIwas three, sitting just a smidge higher than the other one as she cocked it out and rested a hand on it.Herlong neck, so slender it looked breakable, like a swan in the city park, rising into that curved jaw and bouncy 80s style bob cut.Thedangling earrings that she never seemed to take off no matter what or where or who–

“Mama?”

Shetook a step in my direction, then two, and then beforeIcould blink, she had me in her arms, the both of us crying uncontrollably as she petted my hair andIheld onto her for dear life.

Mymother.Shewashere.Andshe feltsturdy.Strong.

Healthy.

“Kenzie, sweetie, oh my precious girl.Imissed you so much.”Thesmell of her perfume wafted along the breeze, teasing my nose asIwas catapulted into a wave of nostalgia so thick it threatened to drown me.

“Buthow?”Ipulled back, hands on her shoulders, needing to understand it to believe what my eyes were seeing. “You–”

“Yourmen here called me up and told me everything.Andas much asIdon’t particularly approve of a criminal lifestyle, they seem to be doing right by you, and that’s allIcould ever ask for any child of mine.”

Anotherfigure loomed in the shadows behind her, and whenIlifted my eyes to meet their gaze,Ifound myself staring back at a thinner, less vibrant version of myself, like looking into an antique mirror.

Ilet out a short gasp of shock. “Cait?”

“Mhmm.”Shenodded slowly, eyes searching mine for answers to questionsIcouldn’t fathom. “Kerenza?”

“Gotit in one.”Mymother opened her arms and welcomed the new yet familiar stranger into the embrace as my boys stepped back a few feet and gave us room.

Westood like that, crying, all three of us, out there on the lawn in the middle of the day, sunlight beating down on us as the breeze teased our hair, so similar, and yet so very different, all finally together for the first time in my life.

Ilearned thatRafecontacted my mom, coming clean about our time together in college.Dominickbroke down the whole ordeal, from the momentIleft her side to now, thankfully skipping over the danger to my life and their kidnapping.Jasperhad created a trust fund to cover all her expenses and insisted she come here and allow them to pay for her treatment, which she agreed to, only for my benefit.Rafehad tracked downCaitand liberated her fromSinclair’sestate, burning the place down in the process.She’dbeen skeptical at first, knowing damn well who they were from the storiesEddyhad told when they were among company, but considering his treatment of her had declined in recent years, she was essentially a hostage in her own home, so she let them take her, and she’d been getting to know our mother ever since.

Ifelt a pang of jealousy and regret thatI’dbeen going through my own recovery while my mother was undergoing life-changing surgery, her estranged daughter at her side for it all, butIwas thankful to my twin.Sheheld the hand of a woman she didn’t know, through a week of traumatizing treatment,and together, they healed each other, mentally, physically, and emotionally.

Theicing on the cake was that the boys had moved my mother here, toKhulaCity, to live with us.Whichleft me slightly confused, asRiver’splace was burned down,Dom’swas eighty floors in the air,Rafe’splace was on a rooftop, andJasperonly had two bedrooms.

Sowhere they fuck did they expect all of us to live?

“Yourboys have one more gift for you,Kenzie.Whydon’t you go on ahead and find them in that house behind you–they left us to our own devices awhile ago–and ask them what it is.”

Onedidn’t argue with my mother, soInodded and hobbled away, barely reaching the patio beforeRiverwas shoving the door open and sweeping me up in his embrace.

“Youreyes are all red, sweetheart,” he lamented, ushering me into the same room whereI’dmet the stunning blondeRenataearlier. “Areyou ready to see your last surprise?”

Ileveled him with a stern glare. “Iswear toGod, if there’s a pony in the driveway,I’mgoing to shoot someone in the foot.”

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