“No!” I pushed up—Jenny’s voice set off a surge of adrenaline.
“Don’t…” Pennington rose to his feet with me, and he was holding a piece of the shattered vase. “It’s over, Damien.”
“It’s fine.” Jenny held up her hands as she walked towards me. “We both knew he was going to come for me eventually.”
“You’re not leaving.” I reached for Jenny, but Pennington stopped me in my tracks with the piece of glass.
“Damien, you’re a tough mother fucker—I’ll give you that.” Martinez chuckled and took a step back. “I’ll be sure and tell your dad that you put up a fight.”
“This isn’t over.” I stared Martinez down and searched for some sort of advantage—there just wasn’t one.
“It is.” Pennington threw down the piece of glass.
As much as I hated to admit it, he was right. Jenny was already too close for me to try something stupid. My head was spinning. I was pretty sure I had a mild concussion that wasn’t going to go away with Tylenol. My father’s bodyguards were going home with a few wounds, but they were leaving with my sister. There wasn’t a damn thing I could do. I needed to regroup and figure out what my next play was going to be—it certainly wasn’t going to be a fistfight with a behemoth and a giant.
“I’m sorry, Jenny.” My body tensed up as she walked towards the door. “I’m going to come get you—I promise.”
“Please don’t do anything stupid.” Jenny turned back towards me. “I’ll be okay. I’ve lived there seventeen years—another one won’t kill me.”
I was forced to watch as Jenny walked to the waiting car. Pennington and Martinez climbed in after her. The car pulled out of sight, and the wall became my outlet for the rage that was still coursing through my veins. I left two holes and several bloody fist prints on my way to get something to put on my head—and the stiffest fucking drink I could find. I was defeated, but I wasn’t done fighting—not by a long shot. I called Addison to ask what kind of options I had, but her response wasn’t the one I was looking for.
I need to go to my aunt’s house. My mom must listen to reason now—he just basically kidnapped her fucking daughter.
My head was hurting too bad for me to drive, and I fully intended to finish the drink in my hand. I also looked like I had just been through a war. I had blood on my shirt and part of it was ripped. I needed to take care of myself before I even thought about going to see her, so I arranged for a car and headed upstairs to the bathroom. My jaw felt like it could be cracked from the right hook Martinez laid on it. It hurt when I tried to squeeze it shut. I was going to have a knot on the back of my head, and my ribs were going to be bruise when the pain finally settled into muscles that covered them.
Leigh needs to get the fuck out of Sinn Manor. I can’t have both of them there—if my father is willing to resort to this, then he might be more dangerous than I realized.
I took a quick shower and then sent a message to Leigh. She didn’t respond immediately, so I finished getting ready to leave. My aunt’s house was several hours away. It would be late by the time I got there, but I couldn’t wait. Leigh could walk out of Sinn Manor on her own, but it was going to take a legal battle to get Jenny out of the devil’s lair. My father had plans for her based on what Leigh overheard, so while Jenny thought she could survive another year underneath his iron-fisted rule, I didn’t want to chance it.
“Mr. Sinn?” The driver stared at my door with concern on his face as he approached.
“Yes, I’m ready.” I nodded and walked towards him.
“Your door…” He blinked a couple of times in surprise.
“Girl Scouts are really pushy with their cookies this time of year.” I patted him on the back. “Let’s go.”
I need to call someone to fix that on the way—otherwise my house may get pillaged worse than Sinn Manor before I get back.
The adrenaline officially started to wear off once we were on the road, and the pain turned into a splitting headache instead of a mild one. Thankfully, it was just pain. It wasn’t serious enough for me to go to the hospital—not that I would have unless they wheeled me in against my will. I had one destination—one mission—and nothing was going to stop me. My mother was going to sign the paperwork. My father didn’t bother with an emergency hearing—he took Jenny by force. That meant we could flip it on him and call for the hearing ourselves. If we could get Jenny in front of a judge, she could tell the court that she didn’t want to live with our father. She was old enough to make that decision.
My father said I hadn’t been a problem for quite some time—he’s about to find out that is the furthest thing from the fucking truth.
Chapter Fifteen
Leigh
“Mom, what is going on?” I walked downstairs when I heard what sounded like yelling coming from the living room.
“Don’t worry about it, sweetheart. Go back upstairs.” My mother motioned to me.
“Is there a problem?” I ignored what she said and walked towards her.
“Edgar’s daughter just arrived. It’s a complicated situation.” She took my hand and squeezed it. “It isn’t our concern.”
The way they’re yelling at each other, it sounds like it’s going to be a concern for everyone in a ten-mile radius.
“It isn’t?” I raised my eyebrows. “She’s your stepdaughter now, right?”