Page 114 of The Devil's Torment

“Nothing good can come of this,” she whispers. “I’m begging you, all of you. Drop it.”

“Nothing can be worse than hearing our mother was raped,” Xan snaps, receiving another glower from me for his trouble. If he barks at my wife one more time, I’ll rip out his fucking tongue.

I touch Victoria’s knee. “We can take it. We only want the truth. Does Mum say when it happened?”

Her throat bobs with a swallow, and she nods, then says nothing. She’s pale as a ghost. I never should have agreed to let her read it.

“When was it?” I gently coax.

“The night before her wedding to your dad. She says that he, I mean George, he said he loved her and asked her to run away with him instead of marrying his brother. When she refused, that’s when he, when he…” She covers her face with her hands. “Oh, God, this is so awful.”

Xan’s on his feet again. “Now,I’m going to kill him.”

“Wait.” Victoria jumps to her feet. The journal falls on the floor. “Wait, please. There’s… there’s more.”

I get up, too, then Imogen follows. I need to both comfort my wife, who is clearly upset by whatever this “more” is she’s read, and also use her as a crutch for me. Sliding my arm around her waist, I graze my thumb over her hip.

“Tell us,” I urge.

She doesn’t look at me or at Imogen. Her gaze is locked on Xan. Nausea curdles my stomach, my instincts taking over.

God, I hope I’m wrong. Please, for the love of Christ, let me be wrong.

“It says in there that you… you and Annabel… that George is your father.”

ChapterThirty-Eight

ALEXANDER

My world implodes, the room around me spinning as Victoria’s announcement reaches the inner recesses of my mind.

Everything I’ve ever believed is a lie. A lie born out of a vile assault on my own mother.

I’m not my father’s son.I’m not the person I thought I was.

Who am I? A product of rape? A child created from a heinous violation of trust. My mother was raped.Raped.And I’m the product.

Every day, for the past twenty years, I’ve wished my twin sister was still alive, but now? I’m fucking glad she isn’t. She died without knowing the truth—the godawful truth I’m now faced with.

He’s dead.Dead.

I will murder him with my bare hands. I will rip him limb from limb, his pleas for mercy meeting cold indifference.

“—sit down.”

A sudden yank on my arm snaps me back to the present. My siblings, my wife, and my sister-in-law are all watching me with alarm etched across their faces. Nicholas is nearest, his thighs flexed, ready to spring into action at a moment's notice.

“Get the fuck off me.” My eyes fall on Mum’s journal lying on the floor. I snatch it up and hurtle for the door. Nicholas dives in front of me, hands out in front, barring my exit.

“Move, Nicholas.”

“Xan, wait. God,wait, brother.”

“Brother?” I bark a mirthless laugh. “I’m as much a cousin as I am your brother. Jesus Christ.” I rake one hand through my hair, the book of secrets burning my hand as though it were in flames. “Get out of my fucking way.”

“No.” He casts his gaze behind me, and Christian and Tobias move into position on either side of him, forming a barricade. They won’t stop me. Nothing can stop me. Pure, blind rage clouds my vision.

“Let me go, Nicholas.”

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