Page 63 of Fractured Loyalties
I try to take steady breaths, but my heart is pounding in the side of my head. I don’t know if it’s the adrenaline or a lack of sleep or the withdrawal from whatever the fuck normal people use to keep themselves functional.
“He took everything,” I say, voice wrecked. “He always does.”
Nico rubs the towel over the cut on my knuckle, soaking up the blood. “He destroyed all of us, you know. Not just you.”
I look at her, noticing just how aged my little sister looks. Sure, she’s got the Woods’ good looks, but she’s not had it easy. She was kicked out when she was only fifteen, and sent off to live with our older brother, who overdosed sometime last year.
“What happened to you?” I ask, my voice softening. “We spent so much time together growing up, and then you just…pulled away. No one even told me why you had to leave.”
She shakes her head, then pauses, her entire body stilling. “I tried to kill myself during my sophomore year. You were abroad that year. Nobody told you.”
For a second, the room goes weightless, as if the air is about to cave in.
“Why?” I whisper.
Nico’s lips twist strangely as she peers up at me, moisture glistening in her eyes. “Why do you think? He was grooming me. Not in the way people say it about you, but in the way that made my skin crawl every time he looked at me. He’d come into my room and tell me stories about what he did to Mom before she left. I thought if I died, at least he couldn’t touch me.”
I want to say something, anything, but my tongue is a lump of sand.
She lets go of my hand and stands up, wiping her palms on her jeans. “You think you’re the only one with scars. You’re not. Robert made sure of that.”
I get to my feet, energy fizzing under my skin. “I’m going to kill him.”
She snorts, but there’s no humor in it. “Good luck. He’s a cockroach. He’ll outlive us all. Even with his head cut off. He’s got Irena, too. She does more than she lets on, even if she started as a victim.”
I pace the room again, faster this time. “Okay, so maybe it’s Irena, then. She’s the only one who benefits from blowing up the family like this. If she cuts me out, Ivy can take all the inheritance that’s coming.”
“Call her,” Nico says, sounding bored. “Confront her. You’re good at that.”
I stop, mulling over the idea. It seems…too easy.But also, what’s there to lose?
I pull out my phone, my thumb hovering over the contacts. I hesitate, then hit dial. The phone rings twice, then clicks over.
“Roman?” Irena’s voice is crisp. She sounds surprised.
I put her on speaker. Nico drifts over to stand behind me, her arms folded, listening.
“Irena. Cut the bullshit. Did you leak the video?” My voice is steady, even. The mask is back on. I like myself.
Irena is quiet. I can hear the echo of the airport behind her, distant and sterile. “What tape? Roman, what are you talking about?”
“Don’t play dumb. The tape of Ivy and me. It’s everywhere. You sent it to Robert. Or maybe straight to the board at the Foundation. I don’t care which.”
There’s a beat of silence. Then, “Roman, I swear to God, I have no idea what you’re talking about. Where’s Ivy? Is she safe? Are you with her?” There’s a catch in her voice that penetrates my armor.
That catches me. “What do you mean, is she safe?”
“Roman,” she almost sounds as if she’s panicking, “Tell me where my daughter is.”
A cold spike of dread slices through me. “She’s… she’s at the house. ”
Nico’s eyes flick to mine, sharp and worried.
“Where are you? Please tell me you’re there, too.”
Okay, now she’s scaring me.
“Roman,” Irena’s voice breaks. “Your father… there’s a… he’s…” Her voice trails off as her breathing moves into a strange hyperventilating sound. “He has a lot of…tapes.”
