Page 69 of Goddess of Mayhem

Malia:Find whatever you can on any of his close contacts or associates. He’s dead. Salvi’s on cleanup and Douche and Balls are handling recon.

Hazel:Got it. Trigger happy bitch.

I chuckle, typing that for once it wasn’t me but delete it immediately. What I might get off on and brag about, others don’t. Without knowing where I stand with Liam or what is going on with my dad, I need to tread carefully.

I don’t do careful.

I’m a fucking bull in an antique shop.

I groan to myself, hating this new level of maturity I’m reaching that’s not welcome.

Movement catches my attention when I walk into the grand entrance of The Omen Mansion. I see my dad’s figure walking down a path, going toward the family cemetery that we have on the property.

His head hangs low, mussed black curls falling into his face. There’s a slump in his posture that is rare to see, and his hands are buried in his pockets. It’s the dead of winter and the sun has only just begun to rise.

My dad isn’t wearing a coat, just the disheveled button-up he’s had on since yesterday. Making a quick decision, I grab something hanging in the closet. Judging by the way it smells and how it hangs to my knees, it’s Breckin’s hoodie. I groan but pull it over my head and run out the door.

I catch up to him quickly, his steps slow and lazy. If he weren’t walking a straight line, I’d wonder if he were drunk. My dad is prime and pristine. Always put together and stands with his chin up and back straight no matter what. Seeing him like this is so out of character and it worries me.

Then there’s that pesky curiosity as to why he’s walking in the direction of the cemetery. His mother died not long after he was born, and he had a strained relationship with his father.

Rumor has it, Dad killed him, but it’s not been confirmed. And if he did, then good. That cum stain of a human treated him like shit.

My dad’s grandparents and other family members are buried in England. His home country.

There’s no reason for him to go down there.

In the butt-ass cold no less.

After a few minutes of walking, I drop back and hide behind a tree when I see him nearing a grave. I’m close enough to see him, but the size of the tree trunk grants me more camouflage as the sun slowly rises in the sky.

I hear him let out a harsh breath before he speaks.

“I fucked up, Joey,” Dad says.

My heart slams in my chest when he starts speaking, thinking he has caught me in the act. Then I recognize that name.

Joey.

“I made a mistake.” he pauses. “Bringing Malia and Donovan in to help with your boy. He knows who took you away from us, whether he believes it or not, he knows.”

Joseph Brenner, Liam’s father. When I brought that picture of all of us my dad didn’t have much to say on the matter of course.

Liam’s father is buried on our fucking property. Dad is obviously hiding the significance of the Brenner family in connection to ours. This isn’t news, but it makes it more frustrating.

“At this point, I don’t think I could separate them even if I wanted to. They’re incredibly stubborn and I won’t deny them what I lost when I left Alya,” I hear him say.

The pain in his voice starts to decimate all the anger that’s building. Alya Turner was the one who held his heart, she still does even after all these years. He was forced to leave her to marry my trifling mother because “it was good for the business.” Like I said, my grandfather was a piece of shit and the ultimate misogynist.

Fuck him.

I decide against confronting him here. This isn’t the place or time and even I know when my dad needs some time to himself. I slip away unnoticed and head back to the mansion. Beelining toward his office, I pour myself a sad man’s drink of whiskey and plop down on his desk.

At a time like this I know Dad won’t sleep. He will come back here and bury himself into the business. Stretch himself thin to find Martinez. I’m not stupid and it’s becoming clear that Martinez is connected to the Brenner’s but putting my own story together with the pieces of kibble I’ve gathered won’t bring me the full conclusion.

Perhaps my dad thinks I will tell Liam the secrets of his parents. I’ve shown no reason for him not to trust me with the truth and I’m done sitting around waiting for the answers. Martinez is striking against us and it’s hard to prepare for an enemy, you know little about.

Twenty Seven

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