Bitter Truths (The Denton Family Legacy 3)

It’s just a file.

She’s just a woman from the past.

Opening up the file, she blew out the breath she’d been holding, and once again tears sprang to her eyes as she looked at the pictures. There were so many of her and Lionel, and her with the Dentons. There were memories that she had forgotten, and that she hated. The tears spilled down her cheeks.

Finally, there were pictures of her family’s murder, and just seeing the evidence once again, she was struck by so much anger and rage. She didn’t throw the file away. She read the reports and the witness statements. She went through everything in the hope of finding something.

It had to be the Dentons. There was no other explanation. Wiping away more of her tears, she tried to contain her sobs, hating everything that was being said to her, and explained.

“You … have … to … go … Dentons…”

“Go … to … them…”

Could she have been so wrong in Lionel’s final words? She looked at the witness statements, and the detail of the guy’s tattoos on his arms and neck. The dagger with a C wrapped around it. She didn’t know what the hell was going on, and it was scaring her. For the past ten years she’d been convinced it was them, and yet all of this evidence said otherwise. What was more, she saw the details of the Dentons searching for her.

What would Lionel want her to do? She didn’t know what to make of this. Her whole life had been dedicated to hurting those that hurt her brother, her family.

She let the tears go. The pain that she had kept for so long consumed her.

“Lionel? What do I do?”

Chapter Three

Oliver found it hard to walk away from Ruby. She was about to have her life bared, and it wasn’t all going to be what she remembered.

“I didn’t like you sitting that close to her,” Maddox said.

“She didn’t hurt me, and sometimes you have to show a little trust.”

“Trust? She has to earn that damn trust. She tried to kill you, Oliver.” Maddox pointed at him, and he just leaned against the wall, trying to stay close in case she needed him. Damn, this need was taking over every part of his life, and it was already driving him crazy. He wanted to go to her, protect her.

“Sometimes you just have to have a little faith. She hadn’t seen me, and I remember what she was like as a little girl. This isn’t about dealing with a child, Maddox. She’s hurting, and she’d acting on the wrong facts.” Charlotte sighed. “You’ve got to learn to listen to reason. We’ve got to make her see sense if Oliver hopes to have a future with her. Do you see him killing the woman destined for him?”

Maddox shook his head. “Why couldn’t you fall for a normal woman?”

“Hey, you’re the one that told us about that stupid fucking curse.”

“It’s not a curse.”

“It’s not a damn legacy. Look at Damian, he’s got a kid with a woman who doesn’t belong to him. He has to make a decision about what the fuck to do with that.” Oliver moved away from the wall. He wasn’t going to move too far away. Even if he wanted to, he couldn’t. Ruby might need him.

“She’s good at staying hidden,” Charlotte said.

“Of course she is.”

“It’s frustrating. We could have helped her. Do you see how bruised and thin she is?” Charlotte rubbed her arms and tried to warm herself up.

Oliver went to go to his mother, but Maddox got there first, and pulled her in for a hug.

“We’ve got her now.”

“Only she thinks the worst of us.”

Oliver moved away, and headed into the kitchen, putting together a sandwich. There wasn’t much he knew about food, but he could handle a sandwich. Spreading bread, he placed a square of cheese inside, and cut them into little triangles. He poured some water into a mug, and stirred in one of those tomato soup sachets.

Put a person in front of him to torture, he was the right guy. Cooking, preparing food, he was a waste of space.

Once he’d done enough to serve two, he made his way toward the room. No one was going to stop him.