Page 96 of Dangerous Deceit

His eyes leave mine as he shakes his head in disgust.

My stomach churns. “What’s your problem with my uncle?”

He scowls at me, but he doesn’t open his mouth. It’s like the words are tearing him apart, and it makes me nervous. Kenzo is contemplating how to tell me the truth, and that’s not like him.

“Fine,” I say. “If you’re so hell-bent on being honest, then out with it. Why do you hate my uncle?”

“He’s lied to you since he adopted you.”

This is stupid. Stupid, stupid,stupid.

“So what?” I snap. “Everyone lies. You may hold truth to your chest like a badge of honor, but you’re exactly like us. I bet you’re lying to your family about me.”

“What did he tell you about your parents?” he asks, his voice low and controlled. “How did he explain their deaths?”

The hairs on the back of my neck stand, and my fingers twitch at my sides.

“I already told you,” I say nervously. I kneel and pick through the pieces of ceramic. “It was a burglary. The robbers were armed. Now, will you help me clean this up?”

He kneels down and grabs the biggest shards of the vase.

“You believe every word out of his mouth,” he says.

“He’s my uncle. My only family.”

“I bet he told you this wasn’t a dangerous job. But you know what?” He flips over the shard slowly in his hand. “If it were Dice or Niko who had taken your marriage contract—if Cherry liked women—if you had been married to any of them,and not me,you’d already be dead.”

Nausea rises in my throat. What do I say to that?

“Why am I even doing this?” Kenzo mutters to himself. “Why do I care about your loyalty to Jay when you won’t even give me half of that respect?”

I grab the shard out of his hand. “Will you shut up about my uncle?” I shout.

“He had your parents killed,” he says.

Blood pumps in my chest like a ticking time bomb, and it throbs in my ears. How can that be true?

“The burglary? It was staged,” he says. “He hired the contract killers.Youwere supposed to be in there too!Youwere supposed to die that day, but the fucker felt guilty when he saw you in the back of the car, and then he couldn’t get the insurance money unless he keptyou or killed you. Don’t you get it, Vi?” He leans in closer, and his minty breath washes over me like a film of plastic, ready to suffocate me. “He’s using you too.”

I smack him across the face, but it’s only after I’ve struck that I realize I still have a jagged piece of ceramic in my hands. Theskin right below his bottom lip is broken. He licks the wound, then bares his teeth at me.

I should feel bad—I didn’t mean to cut him—but I’m furious. Kenzo is saying this just to hurt me. To manipulate me. To tear me away from the only stable person in my life.

And I don’t believe a word he says.

“Now, you’re lying,” I say.

“Deep down, you know I’m telling the truth,” he growls. “Damn it, Vi. You’ve been lying to yourself for so long, you probably don’t even know what’s true anymore.”

Exhaling slowly, I drop the shards. But everything is red, and I feel the anger building inside of my chest.

“What do you even want, Vi?” Kenzo asks. “Is it money? Candles? To adopt children? Did you even get a choice when it came to this job?” He chuckles, but there’s no humor in it. “You don’t know, do you? You’re just a puppet.”

“Fuck you!”

I lunge at him, taking him by surprise and knocking him down to the ground. I pound my fists into his chest, and he grinds his teeth, taking each blow. I don’t stop until I can’t breathe. Because if he’s right?—

If Kenzo is right?—

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