Don’t get me wrong, Noah has been blowing up my phone since the second I left. He’s been checking in every twenty minutes, whether it’s a call or a text. He even called with an excuse saying he was checking what Ari’s favorite ice cream flavor was, but it was clear that he was making sure I was still alive.
Noah can be a little much sometimes but for the most part, I love his protectiveness. He’s my man, my alpha, my everything, and I’m his girl. He has every right to be protective of me just as long as he remembers that I’m capable of a major ass kicking, then we’ll be fine.
Gina’s head turns and she takes me in a second later. A soft sigh pulls from her lips and it’s clear that it must be a bother to see me like this, but I mean, what else is she doing with her time? It’s not like she had to move a few appointments around to squeeze me in.
She’s released from her cuffs and slowly makes her way towards me. I can’t help but replay our last visit when she flew into meltdown mode when the name ‘Anton’ was murmured. She’d told me never to come back, yet here I am. I’m either way too curious for my own good or just plain stupid.
Probably just stupid.
“I thought I told you not to come around here anymore,” Gina says, slowly taking her seat before me.
“You see, to me…that came off as more of a subtle suggestion.”
Gina’s jaw sets and it’s clear that she doesn’t exactly appreciate my challenging tone. “Why are you here, Henley?”
“Because it turns out that the woman sitting right here in front of me isn’t exactly the saint that she likes to believe she is. You lied to me, Gina.”
She arches a brow and a soft smile plays on her lips as though she’s been playing me all along. “What in particular did I lie to you about?”
“Why don’t you tell me all the times you’ve lied, and I’ll let you know which ones I’ve managed to work out.”
Gina scoffs. “You can’t play me, kid. Either get to the point or get lost.”
I smirk across at her before taking the marriage certificate off the bench beside me and placing it on the table. “Anton’s your husband.”
Gina’s eyes go wide before horror comes over her and all I can do is grin. Checkmate, bitch. “Something tells me he had a lot to do with putting you behind bars. It couldn’t have all been Rivers; he was just a kid. Even your husband couldn’t stand you. He sent you away.”
Gina’s hand slams down over the marriage certificate and she glares across the table at me. “Shut up. You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Oh, really? But I think I do.” I place mine and Rivers’ birth certificates down on the table, one on either side of the marriage certificate. “You lied about this too. Did you not think I’d find your home or the little hidden drawer in your bedside table? You let me believe that Harrison Bronx was my biological father,” I pull out the DNA results and place them on top of the pile. “You lied.”
Gina rocks back on her seat, clutching onto the edge of the table as though the weight of what I’ve just said is enough to send her falling back. “What have you done? You stupid girl. I was trying to protect you.”
“Oh, come on! I’ve heard that one before. It’s funny. That’s exactly the line that Anton fed me. Let me guess. You sent me away to keep me safe from all the bullshit of your world, to mask me from the dangers and the people who would want to hurt me to get to you or Anton.”
“That’s exactly what I did,” she growls.
“You let my dad…Harrison believe that he was my father.”
“It was for the best. If Anton knew you were his he would have kept you close.”
“That’s bullshit. Anton knew all along. He said so himself. He’s been watching me this whole time.”
“If you believe that for even one second, you’re a bigger fool than I could have ever imagined. If that man knew you were his or even had an inkling, he never would have let you go. Anton is possessive to the extreme. He would have had you locked in his ivory tower just as he did to your brother. You would have been his asset. Just like Samuel was.”
I narrow my eyes on her. Could she be telling the truth? I was so quick to believe Anton when he’s done absolutely nothing to earn that kind of trust. My head spins with the possibility as I recall the state of Gina’s bedroom. Someone was trying to find those birth certificates and DNA results. Could it be possible that Anton was trying to confirm something he didn’t already know and all I did was confirm it for him? Could Gina finally be telling the truth? Has she been trying to protect me from him all along? Or is Gina just lying to me again? Anton didn’t flinch when I mentioned I was his daughter and it seemed as though I was telling him old news.