Page 50 of Sinner's Fury

He was about the right age.

“Did you love him?”

She smirked. “Let me put it this way. If I wasn’t who I was and he was just some random man, I would have lived a happy life with him. So yes. In my own way, I loved him. Because of him, I have Drew, and every time I see my son, I see his father in him.”

“He was a good man. I liked him.”

“How did you know him?”

“He would accompany his family into the city occasionally for a meeting or some gala event. We would talk and found out we had a lot in common. We became friends. I was sad to hear he died. My condolences.”

“Thank you.”

“Carly, why did you let the world believe that Drew belonged to your parents?”

“Because Mother threatened to send him to Italy and me to the Trick Pony if I refused. She hated that I sullied her reputation. If it weren’t for Issac, she probably would have killed me. Appearances meant everything to Mother. I either did as she requested, or she made my life a living hell. Once, when I was a young girl, I made a friend at a summer camp. I was so excited to tell Mother everything, but when I started talking about traveling around the world with my new best friend, Mother had her killed.”

“Jesus.”

“So, when she learned I was pregnant and threatened me, I believed her. Other than Drew’s birth, my happiest day was when someone in the Golden Skulls killed her because I knew my torment was finally over. I was free.”

“Do you know who fired the shot?”

“No, and I don’t care,” she stated, then smirked. “What about you? You and Davina Duchene, huh?”

Chuckling, I rubbed the back of my neck, feeling my skin heat. “Yeah. I guess, in a way, it was the same for us, too. She came to see me regarding some investments and shit, and one thing led to another. I knew she was married, but fuck me, she was something special. Before I knew it, she would pop into town, and I would drop everything to see her.”

“She was an amazing woman. Your girls are very lucky to have had her for a mother.”

“Thank you for that. I miss her.”

“Yeah, I miss him too,” she whispered, leaning her head against the window.

I really didn’t know what to make of Carly Mitchell. She wasn’t anything like I expected. She was so down-to-earth, so comfortable in her own skin. Yet, she had a strength about her that reminded me of Davina. Fate dealt both women a bad hand, but they made the best of it. The two women shared a similar plight, each bound to a life they despised, weighed down by unbearable burdens and lacking any viable means of escape.

My mind wandered to the possibilities of their lives had they only been given the liberty to forge their own destinies, unshackled by the constraints imposed upon them by their unfortunate circumstances. Would Davina have married me? Would Carly and Drew’s father have had that happy life they both desperately wanted? So many lives changed because of theSocietyand those who were loyal. Women like Carly and Davina were treated like pawns on a chessboard, and neither woman stood a chance. Just the thought of someone doing that to my girls had my blood boiling.

Taking a deep breath, I looked over at Carly and made a promise.

She would have that happy life she dreamed about if it was the last thing I did.

I couldn’t save Davina, but I could save Carly.

“What’s all that?” I asked, leaning against the door, watching while she unpacked her laptop and several files. With four young kids, we knew we couldn’t just drive straight from the city to Tennessee, so we stopped outside of Scranton, Pennsylvaniashortly before dinner, and got a hotel room. It was nothing fancy, just a conjoined suite big enough for all of us, with two separate rooms and a small living room.

“It’s my research.”

“About?”

“William Doherty and the history of the Golden Skulls.”

“Why are you researching him? He was a dick.”

She smirked. “No, he was a right nasty bastard and a rapist, but that’s not what I’m concentrating on. My obsession with him started after the Golden Skulls killed Mother and I stayed with Salvatore Valentinetti for a short time. Something about the man always bugged me. I couldn’t wrap my head around the coincidence of it all. William, the Original Seven, Mother’s hatred for the Golden Skulls, everything.”

“William was sick, Carly. Even I knew that. You can’t justify what he did.”

“I’m not, but there is a reason, a motive, behind it all. That’s what I’m looking for. Take this, for example,” she said, handing me a folder and adding, “William was raised in a loving family. Got decent grades, even had a high school sweetheart before the government shipped him off to Vietnam.”

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