“H-h-he had bound my hands in front of my body,” Lucy whispers, the words pained with the memory of her monster. She shakes her head slowly before looking me in the eye, “He had a knife to my throat.”
“You’re lying.” My mouth goes dry as I try to recall the night with more clarity. I believed I knew what happened that night, what I saw. But is it possible I’ve been hiding certain aspects of the memories? Have I buried it so deep nothing makes sense anymore?
“I’m not,” she tells me confidently. Her eyes shine and the wetness o her cheeks make her look ethereal. Confusion twists in my gut. “He came home angry that night,” she continues when I don’t answer. My hand slowly falls away as I try to figure out what the fuck is going on in my head. “He was drunk, and dragged me from the house with my mother screaming at him to leave me alone. By then, she knew about the Bratva,” Lucille admits. “I still didn’t understand it.”
Shock must be painted on my face because the pain in her eyes dances like flames in the darkness. “Your mother knew?”
Lucille nods slowly. “She found some papers in his office, and when she questioned him, he took me. He told her I would see what I have to look forward to in a few years.”
“What did he mean?” I ask, my shoulders tense, my gut coiling like a serpent, readying its attack. “Did he tell you what the fuck he was doing this shit for?”
“Hawk—”
“No,” I spit as I regard Crow from over my shoulder. “She needs to fucking tell us the truth right now. I’m done waiting.” I’ve completely lost all control, and it’s all because of her. She shouldn’t be here because I can’t trust myself around her. She’s dangerous not only to me, but to my brothers as well. I won’t let her blood taint us any longer. I reach for the rope holding her arms behind her back and I tug it free before I step behind the chair and slide it around her neck.
“What—”
I cut her words off as I lift her from the chair with the noose and lean in until my lips feather along her earlobe. “Tell me everything, and if you leave anything out, I will know. And you know what happens then?” I don’t wait for her to choke out her response, I tighten the rope until she coughs and convulses against me which only seems to make my jeans tighten at the crotch.
My brothers don’t stop me. They know I’m not thinking straight, and if they come near me right now, I will kill her. And I won’t think twice about doing it.
When I finally release her, Lucille slumps into the chair and sputters while drawing in much needed breaths. I’m in front of her in an instant, and I watch her rub those slender fingers along the column of her neck which is now turning a deep shade of red.
“Now,” I say, “Let’s start from the beginning.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
LUCILLE
I should be angry. But I’m not. These men have been tortured by my father, and now I’m here because they need to know why I went with him to his last job before he got caught. It was my fault my dad is behind bars. If I didn’t fight him at the car, the cops would never have caught up with us.
Taking a deep breath, I look at each man and start my story. “When I was fifteen, I started babysitting. My father wasn’t happy about it, but my mother said I should learn to earn my own money. Responsibility. He never agreed with her because he believed I would be married off to the highest bidder.”
“By then he was already knee-deep in business with the Bratva. Although, we had no idea. It was only when he used to do long trips, return, and there was something darker about him. It’s strange how he changed before my very eyes.”
“What do you mean?” Falcon says, the other two men are silent, anger emanating from them as they glare at me. I don’t blame them for thinking I was in on it. But they need to understand what went wrong. But before I can even get to my explanation, I need to tell them how I got there.
“He would talk about blood, death, weapons,” I tell them. “He didn’t seem to be fazed by the violence.” It confused me how my father who used to be a calm, affectionate man had changed.
“He liked it,” Hawk murmurs and I nod. “Because of his work with the Bratva. But why would he target families you were working for?”
“Easy access,” I tell them. “I honestly don’t know. I thought perhaps he was trying to get me into trouble when he came to the first house without telling me. But he didn’t do it again, and I figured perhaps he forgot I wasn’t supposed to allow anyone in the houses when I was sitting for them.”