Page 5 of Reign By Wrath

I gazed out the window—quiet as I ate my sandwich. A moment like that, a million thoughts should go through your head with even more questions. Who are you? Where have you been my whole life? Why did Mom refuse to tell us anything about you? Why were you here now?

All of them good questions, but there was only one I needed to know.

“Why weren’t you at the funeral?” I asked flatly. “Do you not care about us? Did you not care about Winter?”

His smile melted away, and in its place was naked pain. “Of course I care about you. Both of you. You’re my daughters.”

“So why weren’t you there?”

“Your mother decided it would just be family. If I showed up, she’d have to explain who I was to you, and she wasn’t ready to do that. She allowed me a private moment before the funeral to say goodbye, and I’ll forever be grateful.”

“Why didn’t she want us to know you? Is it because you rack up the kind of enemies who plot and murder and burn people alive to get to you?”

He sighed, giving up all attempts at finishing his food. “The answer to that isn’t as simple as you think.”

“Didn’t you bring me here to give me answers?”

“I brought you here because you’re in danger, and I won’t lose another daughter. If there was any other choice, I’d still be a question mark in the back of your mind.”

“Oh, gee, sorry,Daddy. Didn’t mean to inconvenience you.” I shoved away and stormed off, making for the windowless room I woke up in.

“Shit. Wait! That didn’t come out right. Luna? Luna, please,” he cried. “I’ll tell you everything.”

I slowed, pausing on the first step.

“The whole truth. If by the end of it you still think I’m an asshole... then it’s no more than I deserve.”

I froze—torn between leaving and staying. I did deserve an explanation, but I wasn’t stupid enough to believe it’d be a happy or positive one. How many more awful truths was I supposed to handle, one after the other?

My sister was driven to suicide because of a purple fucking flag? The person behind it was staring me in the face for months. There was still so much I didn’t know about my guys, including if they were truly okay. Wasn’t the smart move to just crawl in bed and stay there until the world wasn’t so impossible to handle?

When would that be? I have a feeling if I crawled under those covers waiting for my life to change, I’d be under there until the seas dried up and the moon fell out of the sky.

“Okay,” I said. “I’m listening.”

“Please, sit. I know you’re in pain.”

I did, but not next to him. I stretched out on a plush white couch—holding a pillow to my aching chest. He—my father—came to me anyway. He pulled the armchair closer and made like he was going to take my hand. Changing his mind, he drew back.

“I guess I should start with my name. I’m Alistair.”

I cracked an eye open, brows snapping together. “Alistair? Don’t meet many of those.”

“My family has a tradition of unique names. There’s an Osvaldo and a Seven lurking in the family tree.”

“Seven? Yikes. I thought Winter and I had it bad, named after how we were conceived.”

He smiled. “Your mother and I chose those names for a reason. You both were named to remember the best moment of our lives—the days you both came into it.”

I dropped my gaze, not able to handle the tenderness in his eyes. This guy spoke like he loved me. But how could I be loved by someone I didn’t know?

“You make it sound like you and Mom were in a real relationship.”

A frown twisted his features. “What do you mean? Of course we were.”

“Mom said she loved you, but your relationship was forbidden,” I explained. “I figured you were married, and the beautiful blonde housekeeper was your secret.”

“No, Luna, I’ve never been married. It couldn’t work with your motherbecauseshe wasn’t my secret.”

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