Page 49 of Blood and Lies (A Twisted Duet 1)

I held up my hand. “Stop. You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He stepped forward, stupidly not backing down, placing him right in the middle of the ring of fire. “Your mother has always been a master manipulator—”

“I will not let you insult my mother in front of me.”

“Are you telling me that you’ve never suspected your mother of influencing the people around her into doing her bidding?”

I took a step back, afraid the rage currently simmering inside my veins would erupt. “She’s my mother.”

“Yet she’s hardened you, putting you in this impossible situation.”

“There is nothing impossible about this situation. I’m in charge of avenging our family.”

“No!” he blurted, and I was momentarily stunned by how enraged he sounded. “That’s what she wants you to think, that you’re doing right by our family, when in fact you’re only doing right by her.”

No longer backing down, I stepped forward. “There is nothing wrong with doing right by my mother. She is my flesh and blood.”

“She might be your flesh and blood, but she’s deceiving you with her lies, and you are too wrapped up in your need to please her, to prove to everyone that you can fill your father’s shoes. And you know what?”

Biting the inside of my mouth, I glowered at him, not saying a word.

He took a step back. “You can’t fill your father’s shoes, because you are not him. You are not your brother. You are you, and all this”—he held his arms out wide—“is not you. This is not the life you want for yourself, which is why this role will kill you before you’ve had the chance to prove to everyone that you’re a ruthless leader, a coldblooded killer.”

My blood ran cold. Every word that came out of his mouth struck me like a punch to the gut. “What do you mean she’s lying to me?”

Uncle Gino straightened. “I’ve already said too much. But what I will say is that you need to figure out for yourself what is right for you and stop focusing on what is right for everyone else. Right now, you’re letting your mother control you, and you need to control your own life. Look what happened to your brother because he allowed her to control him.”

Bewildered and confused, I launched forward and grabbed him by his collar. “I will not let you stand there and insinuate that my mother had something to do with Carlo’s death.”

“That’s not what I’m doing at all. Carlo’s death was because of his own stupidity and lack of a fucking spine. If he had the balls to live his life by his own rules, he would still be breathing today.”

He jerked out of my hold and turned to walk down the hall.

Holy shit, what the fuck is he saying?“Uncle Gino, come back here. We’re not done.”

“We are…for now. If you have questions, I suggest you ask your mother.”

Without looking back, he strutted down the hall, leaving me utterly confused and enraged. A thousand and one questions rolled through my head like credits of a goddamn horror movie. What did he mean by all that? By insinuating it was my mother’s control over Carlo’s life that killed him? It was the fucking Linscotts who pulled the trigger, not my mother. It was because of the woman back in that room that my brother now lay ten feet below the ground, his corpse rotting, turning to dust like he never even existed.

Suddenly, my mind was spinning out of control, my thoughts flowing in a thousand different directions.Uncle Gino was a lot of things, but I’d never known him to be a liar. It was because of his raw honesty that he annoyed most of the family.

I glanced at the door behind me then back down the hall, which led to the dining room. I couldn’t allow an old man’s opinion to cloud my judgment—and that was all it was, an old man’s opinion. There was no proof, no substantive evidence that what he said had any merit.

Then why did I now feel the sharp jab of doubt against my chest, thinking about Carlo, Tatum, my mother, and the entire situation that surrounded us all?

I couldn’t allow it. Protecting our family, providing for them, and being the leader they all needed was my number one concern…no matter how much doubt currently choked the life out of me. No matter what happened, I had no choice but to see this through. I’d come this far, and I didn’t plan on failing now, not even when the woman whose life I was supposed to take was busy cracking through the stone surrounding my fucking soul.

***

The next morning, I stood by my bedroom window staring out. Tatum was right. It was because of Carlo and childhood memories that I hated the fucking view. In fact, I didn’t just hate the view, I hated the garden and the house too. I hated everything that reminded me of how my life once was.

With a sigh, I glanced at my wristwatch. It was almost eight in the morning. It would be a few more hours before my package arrived on the Linscotts’ doorstep, which would lead them straight to me. I wasn’t concerned they would go to the cops. My instructions that would be delivered with the severed hand missing a finger were clear. No cops, or the next package delivered would contain their daughter’s head.

I just hoped the Linscotts weren’t fucking stupid by not following my instructions to the T. The thought of cutting off Tatum’s head amused me for a while, but now, not so fucking much. For some weird and wonderful reason, I was growing attached to that pretty face of hers…and smart mouth. Unfortunately, I’ll have to work on that, get rid of that sense of attachment I was feeling, since in the end, she would die.

Making my way to Tatum’squarters, I tried my best to ignore how my heart beat faster and faster and the anticipation that started to brew inside my stomach the closer I got to her. Images of her naked, wet body squirming against mine while rocking to the rhythm of how my fingers thrust inside her spread through my mind like the fucking black plague. It slowly, surely consumed me, infecting me, making me feel like having her completely was the only fucking cure to release me from the disease of raw lust pulsing through my groin. What was this woman doing to me?

The trolley carrying the breakfast I had ordered was already standing in front of the door. It had been days since she ate. She couldn’t go without food for much longer. I had to get her to eat something. But while I was doing that, I was going to use the time to break down that iron will of hers and in turn bring out the woman craving domination.

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