Page 110 of Tangled Lies
The anger that burned inside of me though? I held onto that. I wouldn’t allow my uncle to get away with killing my parents. The one thing I got from this was his confession.
I closed my eyes, but I tried to keep myself from losing against the need to sleep. I refused to sleep. I wanted to kill him. My boys had given me a knife this morning, and it was strapped high on my thigh. Breathing seemed harder and harder. Like remembering to do anything had become an Olympic sport.
“You’ll get the deed when we get access. In return, you’ll stop fighting us on the casino.”
I blinked against the pounding in my head. One voice was my uncle’s, but who was he talking to? Where was I?
The place smelled clean, but I couldn’t get my eyes to focus on shit. I moved my arm an inch just for it to fall against my will.
“Do you have the marriage license? I can’t get hold of the lawyer yet, but we need the marriage to comply with the fucking stipulations.”
I blinked again. That was Carrow, I was almost positive.
I closed my eyes and tried to will them to clear. Wherever they had me was at least soft, but I couldn’t be sure they meant to care about my comfort or not. Probably just the only place they felt comfortable, and I got to benefit from it.
“Is she awake yet?”
I kept my eyes closed when I heard Carrow ask. Fuck this. I focused on keeping my breathing even.
“Soon. I just gave her something to help get the drug out of her system faster. Patience, Carrow. You almost act like you’d enjoy marrying my niece.”
The laughter froze the blood in my veins.
“You’re really a shitty uncle, you know that?”
The tone in Carrow’s voice was teasing more than it was concerned. I hated him even more.
“She’s been hiding with the Barone family? What are her ties to them?”
I tried to peek under my lashes to see what they were doing. I really didn’t want to wake up. Not yet. I wasn’t sure what tothink. What was my plan? This wasn’t on my damn bingo card, and now I had to fucking figure out what to do.
Fucking hell. If there was a heaven, I would really appreciate my parents stepping in right now.
I had to breathe. Plans. Plans were good. I needed one though.
“Her father had arranged a marriage with one of the Barone kids. My brother was deep in their pockets. It isn’t surprising. He was just stupid enough to take the opposite side of me. Too bad he was such a good damn lawyer. No doubt it’s why the firm he entrusted his will with is making things rather difficult for me.”
I wiggled my fingers against the fabric of whatever I was on. That wasn’t helping me much.
I squeezed my eyes closed, the shadows of people moving around me. I braced myself when I swore I could feel them coming closer. Their voices were one of the factors but something inside me seemed to sense assholes. I almost flinched when I felt a finger against my cheek.
“I think she’s coming around. Do you think she’ll be worth keeping alive to deal with the Barones?” Carrow asked.
I couldn’t stop myself from holding my breath. Was I going to die today?
“Hard to say. Ronan Barone has a reputation. He doesn’t leave many alive, which is why he is so useful to Angelino. The wedding today wasn’t supported by Angelino, which tells me we might encounter issues with Ronan depending on what was motivating him. It doesn’t seem like it was the trust fund entirely, not with the deal I cut with Angelino.”
My uncle was an asshole. He had no problem stealing someone else’s bride.
I couldn’t take it anymore and didn’t have any better ideas right now. I let myself wake up or at least let them think I waswaking up. I blinked again and again, having the same issue of trying to clear my vision. By the time I could see, I regretted it.
Carrow was glaring down at me.
“There’s my bride. Did Ronan Barone keep you safe for me?”
He was way too close. Even as every muscle in my body struggled to find its strength again, I still managed to push myself to a sitting position.
“When you say take care, do you mean did he teach me how to please a big, tough guy like you?”
