A Hurt So Sweet Volume Four (Elite of Eden Falls Prep 4)

She killed him.

And she's going fucking down.

"I'm here to talk about something that is of interest to you," I tell Emilian. "But it's going to cost you."

He laughs, shaking his head as he sits down behind his desk and motions for me to get up. But I don't, smirking at the man. He should know what I have is valuable. He should know I'm going to make him pay.

"What's it going to cost me?" he wanders out loud with a careless smile. "I doubt you have anything of interest to me, Booth."

"It's about Lily Anna." His smile falls and we face off, his eyes flashing with interest.

"What about her?"

"Lots of things you don't know." I watch his fists under the table, the veins standing out on his knuckles. He fucking hates this. Hates knowing he's not the one who holds a

ll the power right now. "So, let's start with my first question. Where the fuck is Pandora?"

He stares me down. "Tit for tat, Booth. What about Lily Anna?"

"She's not dead," Julian cuts in impatiently. "Now give us what we want if you want to know more."

I watch Oakes closely for his reaction. He pales instantly. His skin turns ghostly. He had no idea about this. At times during the past few years, I've wondered whether he had any suspicion about Lily Anna, but his reaction proves he was fucking clueless.

"P-Pandora... She's with her mother," he manages. "In Stormcliff."

"Her mother?" I furrow my brows. "I thought Angela was dead."

"We all have our secrets," Emilian mutters. "And she's very much alive, as one of you knows very well."

I follow his gaze to Easton, who looks guilty as fuck.

"You knew about this?" I hiss.

"I gave her the address," he mutters. "I didn't think she'd go there. I thought she'd just go to Wildwood."

"You thought wrong," I hiss in response. I'll deal with him later. There are more important issues at hand. Including finding out what happened to the two girls who shaped my life, past, present and hopefully, future. "Lily Anna is out to hurt her."

"How do you know that?" Oakes demands.

"Because I'm not a clueless fucking idiot?" I snap back, rubbing my temples. "Our first step is checking CCTV. If we can find a security camera in town... maybe we can confirm whether Lily Anna has found Pandora."

"Where was she all this time?" Emilian hisses. "Did you fucking keep her from me?"

"Of course I did," I snap. "You would've hurt her. She was fucking afraid of you, you piece of shit. You wanted her, and she knew it."

"She's not my biological daughter," he tries in vain to defend himself.

"And yet you're the one who raised her," Caspian reminds him.

"She always saw you as her father," I nod. "Too bad you didn't understand that. Either way, she was safer with me. And everyone in this room was fucking safer that way, too. I'm assuming you heard about Lai?"

"What about him?" Oakes feigns nonchalance, but I can see how pale he is. He already knows it was her. "He's gone. Dead meat."

"Because of her," I grind out. "Because of Lily Anna. She killed him, and escaped. And now she's after Pandora."

"Why would she try to hurt Pandora?" Oakes asks. "She has no motive."

"I'm the motive." I get up from the desk and pace the room until I reach the bar cart. Pouring myself a glass of expensive bourbon, I ignore Emilian's judging stare and throw the drink back. "She doesn't want to share me with anyone. And it's been that way since the beginning."