Page 99 of Selling Innocence

Tor released my hand and gestured at the couch. I’d done enough to piss them off, so I did as he asked, sitting like a good girl.

Why do I keep failing at that? Even when I want to do well, I still don’t measure up.

It seemed my path in life.

A mug was set on the table before me, the wonderful scent of coffee streaming from the top. Char pushed it toward me on the table with a single finger.

“Thanks,” I whispered and picked it up. The warmth seeped through the ceramic and into my palms, easing that tightness in my chest.

The others filtered in from the kitchen, one at a time, each with a cup of their own. It seemed we all needed the caffeine.Then again, I had no idea when they’d realized I was gone, so I didn’t know if they’d slept at all.

When they sat, however, the juxtaposition struck me. How many times had we done this?

“What are you smiling about?” Char asked, an edge to his voice.

“I was just thinking about how we’ve sat here just like this so many times. It’s weird to think it’s only been a few weeks.”

“And we almost never did it again,” Vance muttered, a simmering anger in his tone.

“Getting right to it.” I took a sip of the coffee, the taste of the sugar substitute familiar and welcome. “So you know who I really am?”

Hayden nodded, his face an already familiar one. He had the expression he wore when he was trying to stay calm, to be the adult in the room. “Yeah, we know.”

“How much do you know?”

“Enough,” Char snapped. “Even this far away, the Williams family is well known. Of course, as far as anyone knew, Mackenzie Williams, the last legitimate heir, was killed about a year ago.”

Tor’s gaze dropped to my stomach as he narrowed his eyes until the gold just barely peeked out.

“Yeah,” I nodded and touched the scar through my shirt. “I wasn’t lying about that. This is where my father shot me.”

“Why fake your death?” Hayden asked.

“Because it was the only way for me to have a life. Otherwise, people would try to use me. I wouldn’t be able to go to school, to have a real life, because people would constantly be trying to make use of my name and my bloodline. My father was Kyler Williams and my mother Caroline Hester.”

Hayden cursed beneath his breath, the word vulgar enough to take me by surprise, given he didn’t typically say such words. “So you’re essentially a mafia princess, huh?”

“So you see why I lied? If anyone knew who I was, I’d never be free, I’d never get to live my life how I wanted. My father used me all my life, caring only about how he could sell me off to benefit himself. I didn’t want that future.”

“There are rumors that the girl who took over Kyler’s spot was related to him, but it’s not easy to get anything specific.”

I couldn’t stop myself from seeing Nem’s face then, from seeing the way she scowled, or better the way her expression softened whenever she looked at me. “Nem. She’s my sister—well, half-sister. We share a mother, but her father wasn’t Kyler.”

“Fucking hell,” Char whispered. “You’re telling me that your sister is Nemesis? The psycho bitch who runs the west coast?” He paused, then let out another string of curses. “Which means those bodyguards you talked about, you’re saying they’re the Quad?”

I laughed softly at his tone. It was far from the first time people had reacted in such a way when they figured out I knew the Quad. Normally, it amused me. A flash of fear when the recognition hit.

This time, my laughter felt hollow.

“Yeah,” I admitted. “They’re like brothers to me.”

“And who were you talking to in that alley? I didn’t recognize the voice and it doesn’t seem from the conversation that he was one of the Quad,” Hayden asked, his tone barely contained anger.

In for a penny. I had no reason not to tell them, did I?

“He’s a fixer. He goes by the Fox.”

“Jesus,” Vance growled out. “Even I know about him.”

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