Page 52 of Among the Sins of my Father

I grip onto the railing, head tilted to the wind, and breathe deeply. Michael comes up from behind, offering me a glass, and wrapping his arms around my waist.

“All this could be ours,” he says. “This life, this world. Everything is ours for the taking, Everly.”

I remain stiff in his arms. I don’t want this life. I don’t want him.

“Think about it, Ev. It’s everything we ever dreamed of. Everything we ever wanted. All you have to do is want it again.” He presses his face into the crook of my neck and breathes deeply as though inhaling the scent of me. “You can’t resist me forever, you know.”

I turn slowly, his arms still looped around my waist and take a sip of the champagne while looking straight at him. “You won’t ever have me, Michael,” I say with all the sweetness I can muster. “You might think you do. I might pretend you do. But you will never truly have me.” I lean forward and talk against his ear, letting my breath flow over his skin. “Your little stunt last night worked. I was scared. I was terrified in fact. You have control over me in ways no one has before, and I will no doubt comply. But know this. Every time I touch you, I will recoil with disgust on the inside. Every time you kiss me, bile will rise at the back of my throat. Every time I feign affection of any sort, it will not be real. It will not be true. And if you ever think, even for a moment that I am falling for you, please know that it is all a lie. I do not love you. I will never love you. I love Jericho.”

I press my lips to his, keeping my eyes open, letting him feel the rage that’s bubbling just beneath the surface. His mouth is cold and hard.

I pull away, battering my lashes repeatedly. “Blink if we have an understanding.”

He moves so quickly, I don’t see it coming. A slap sounds and then a stinging pain burns across my cheek. “Don’t push me, Everly.”

“Or what?” I hiss. “You’ll force me? You’ll break me? I thought you weren’t like your father?”

His chin quivers with barely controlled rage. I cup his cheek and press another kiss to his lips. “He will come for me and he will make you pay. Because I am his.”

As quickly as it rose, Michael’s anger fades. “I wouldn’t be so sure of that.” And then he winds his fingers into my hair, pulling my face toward his and smothers me with his mouth. He laughs when I pull away and wipes his lips with the back of his hand. “The reason I’m not like my father is because I choose not to be. Don’t be the one who makes me regret that.”

chapter twenty

JERICHO

She’s been gone for over a week. I keep looking back at footage of her, obsessing over where she might be, what might be happening to her. It’s torture, plain and simple. The pain hasn’t lessened with the days. I want her back. I’m desperate for her return and each day that passes only increases the rage that’s bubbling inside. I learned patience in searching for Hope. But I don’t want to do it again. I won’t.

Gideon saunters into my office and flops himself down on the chair opposite my desk. “You summoned?”

He blows a stream of air upward, unsettling his mop of curls. And then it’s as though he remembers. Remembers that Berkley and Ette have been taken. Remembers that we’ve gone through this before. Remembers that he shouldn’t be acting like the insolent asshole that he is. He sits up a little straighter and leans forward, rearranging his face into something that resembles concern.

“Have you heard anything?”

I shake my head. I don’t want to talk about her with him. He made her life here miserable.

“I can’t stop thinking about Ette.”

There’s a tightness in my chest at the mention of her. To be honest, I’ve tried to block it out of my mind. I purposely don’t add her in during the imagined scenarios. It gets me too enraged and that helps no one. I should do the same regarding Berkley, but I can’t.

I clear my throat. I called him in here for a reason. There’s no point in drawing it out. “I’ve found Alice.”

Gideon blinks. His head tilts to one side as though deciding whether to accept the information or not. “What do you mean, you’ve found Alice?”

He’s wary. I don’t blame him. As far as he’s concerned our mother has been out of our lives for years. He thinks she may even be dead. He has no idea that I’ve always known where she was or that I’ve been in contact with her ever since she left.

“It’s exactly what it sounds like, Gideon. I’ve found our mother.”

Gideon gets up from the chair, eyes narrowed in suspicion. Walking over to my desk, he slams his hands down, leaning close. “How long?” he asks.

“There are things you don’t know. Things I’ve kept hidden.”

Gideon shakes his head slowly, processing the information. He’s handling the news better than I thought. Then again, he doesn’t know the truth. Not yet.

“No shit.” He walks back to the chair and takes a seat. It’s a controlled response from him. Not normal. “So, keep talking.” He crosses his arms over his chest, already defensive.

Where to start? I’d gone over this conversation in my head a million times but none of the possible scenarios played out like this. They didn’t involve the relative calm on behalf of my younger brother.

I take a deep breath.

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