“I don’t…” he swallows back the pain and sobs. “There wasn’t a name attached, but I’ve seen him. Older man. Irish with a cane. He was my father’s first client.”
Seamus. Or whoever the hell is pretending to be him.
“Why wasn’t there a name?”
“Guy didn’t want anything traced back to him,” Conrad tells me breathlessly. “We kept him anonymous.”
“What about…” Movement at the door to the restaurant catches my attention. It is subtle and no one else in the room appears to have caught it.
Blue eyes beneath a wide-brimmed hat burn into my soul, the hatred bubbling up around me at the smug smile that is shot my way.
Kenzi is here.
Then, before I can blink, she is gone.
sixteen
“Let’s continue this later, huh?” Without a backward glance, I stride out of the restaurant, ignoring the people calling my name. This is more important. The revenge I’ve been searching for is at my fingertips.
The street outside is nearly empty save for a few pedestrians.
An engine revs to my left, tires squealing as it brakes to a sudden stop in front of me. The window slides down. Betrayal sears my soul when she smiles at me and winks from behind the wheel of her Aston Martin.
“Come and get me, big sis,” she taunts before revving the engine again.
Snarling, I rip my father’s car key from my jean pocket and dart to it before she can get too far ahead of me. It is pure luck that I insisted on driving myself to the restaurant.
The door opens automatically at the push of a button, sliding up and out of the way. Once I press the keyless ignition, it closes, and I am off like a shot. The Ferrari F60 America glides through the slick, wet streets of Portland with ease. Its two-seater capacity, compact body allows it to take the sharp turns of the city, weaving through traffic smoothly.
Kenzi manages to continually stay out of range. She is leading me somewhere. Probably a trap, but I don’t care. This is my chance. Matthias is dead and she is the reason why. I don’t care if she’s been tricked into it or is ready to apologize.
All I want is for her to bleed like my heart bleeds every damn day.
Rain begins to pour from the open sky. The Ferrari’s wipers work overtime as I follow Kenzi’s trail down a long dirt road just outside of the city limits. Despite the mud beneath the tires and several near wipeouts, I only inch the gas pedal down farther.
Kenzi disappears from my sight. Not that it matters. There is only one place this road leads. An abandoned barn surrounded by a field of trees.
Because that isn’t creepy at all.
“Bit dramatic, don’t you think, Kenz?” I holler over the howling wind, the rain instantly soaking me as I step out of the car. Unease blitzes through me when I peek at the depreciating structure before me. Summoning what little bravado I possess, I stalk toward the dilapidated building.
“Come on, lil sister,” I mock once I step inside the open door that leads inside. It smells of mold and musty hay, the air hanging heavy with disuse. “You got me all the way out here.” I let my hand rest on the gun tucked into the small of my back. “You just gonna hide?”
The echoing laugh is mordacious and dark. It makes my skin crawl and my jaw clench.
“You used to like to play hide and seek.” Her voice is distant, and the capacious space makes it hard to pinpoint where it is coming from. “Remember?”
I roll my eyes. Oh, I remember all right. The twins knew the inside and outside of the house. The secret hallways, theservants’ wings, everything. I spent hours looking for them only to realize Kendra had taken them out for something special while leaving me home.
Yep. There is no forgetting memories such as that.
“That’s not exactly how I remember it,” I return. “But let’s not quibble over such trivial things.” Not that those memories are trivial. They are branding. A reminder where I truly sat in that family growing up. “Why don’t you just come on out. Let me shoot you. Get this over with nice and quick.”
More laughter.
“I always knew there was a mentally unstable psycho lurking just beneath that ridiculously naïve façade of yours.”
I snort.