Devious Intentions (Carson Cove Scandals 3)

Addison wasn’t sure if the judge would release me because of the seriousness of the charges. I figured I would get charged with drugging Pennington, but that was a long damn way from attempted murder. The charges for trashing Sinn Manor were the least of my worries—that was a drop in the bucket compared to the one that shouldn’t have even been there. My father set me up. There was no doubt in my mind. If he wasn’t going to play by the rules, then neither would I—I just had to get the fuck out of my cell so I could give them a real reason to put me back in it. If I was going down for something like that, I was going to make sure the charges were legit instead of fabricated.

My life is basically over now. I might as well make sure every day I spend behind bars is fucking worth it.

I was consumed with worry when I returned to my cell. I missed Leigh. I would have torn down the walls with my bare hands if I was able to do it—just so I could hold her one more time. The future I thought we would have together, was never going to happen. I practically confessed when I walked out of Sinn Manor and let the cops put the handcuffs on me. I could plead innocent, but the case would be a slam dunk. I was going to prison, no matter what. I never thought I would be capable of killing someone, but Edgar Sinn had managed to bring out a dark hatred in me that almost as intense as the pain I felt after Caroline died.

I’m sorry, Leigh. I promised you the world, and now I’m going to burn it to the fucking ground.

The next couple of days were filled with news I didn’t want to hear. Addison hired a private investigator who was almost certain that Jenny was still at Sinn Manor—but worse than that—so was Leigh. My arraignment got delayed because the District Attorney still needed to interview the victim. It didn’t surprise me that Pennington was dragging his feet, especially if he knew that I was stuck behind bars a little longer because of it. Addison tried to reach out to my mother, but Juniper Health turned her away just like they did me—it seemed that we would need a court order to see her, and we definitely weren’t going to get that.

“You know the drill, Sinn.” The guard walked up to the cell and motioned to me.

“Bracelets and keep my mouth shut.” I walked up to the cell and let him fasten the handcuffs on me—he didn’t snap them tight for a change.

“Now you’re getting it.” He smiled and opened my cell.

The guard led me back down the hallway to the same room I had the pleasure of occupying every time Addison came for a visit. I wasn’t sure why she was back so soon. It was supposed to be a couple of days before the District Attorney filed his motion to arraign me—the right to be arraigned quickly didn’t appear to be a concern in Carson Cove. I was probably lucky to get a damn phone call. If my father had anything to say about it, I would have just rotted in my cell until someone noticed that I had been there for a while. There didn’t seem to be any urgency behind getting rid of me—it was an opportunity that fell into his lap, and he jumped on the chance to put one more knife in my back.

“Hey…” Addison walked into the room, and her pace was a little more hurried than usual.

“More bad news? Lay it on me.” I sighed. “I’m sure it isn’t going to get any worse—unless I’m looking at the death penalty now.”

“It’s not that bad.” She shook her head and sat down. “You may feel differently when you see this, though.”

“What?” I stared as she opened her briefcase.

“I decided to keep the private investigator on the payroll for a few more days.” She pulled out a piece of paper. “Especially when we realized that your sister wasn’t leaving Sinn Manor at all—not even to go to school.”

“Then maybe she’s not there.” A hint of hope swirled in my stomach. “She might have actually escaped…”

“I don’t think so. He set up an alert for any sort of activity—credit card usage, bank withdrawals, hospital admissions—even legal transactions.” She sighed. “This is probably the last thing I expected to see.”

“What is it?” The hope in my stomach immediately came to a halt.

“Damien, your sister is getting married this weekend.” She put the piece of paper down in front of me—it was a marriage license.

“What the fuck?” I snatched the license up and stared at it—my eyes were drawn to the groom. “Who the hell is Giovanni De Luca?”

“Franco De Luca’s son.” She sighed.

“Okay, call me out of the loop, but who the hell is Franco De Luca?” My head began to spin with confusion.

“The head of the De Luca Family. Damien, they’re connected to the Mafia.” Addison leaned back in her chair. “Your sister isn’t even old enough to get married. Your father signed the marriage license as her damn guardian.”

“Holy shit.” I threw the paper down as things began to become a lot clearer in my head. “This is what it was all about…”

“What do you mean?” Addison tilted her head inquisitively.

“Leigh overheard a phone call. My father was making some sort of plan for Jenny—he said he had already gotten rid of my mother.” I shook my head in disbelief, and anger flooded my veins. “He got rid of her so she couldn’t object to her seventeen-year-old daughter getting married!”

“I need to look into this a little more.” Addison put the marriage license back in her briefcase. “This is way above what I normally deal with, but I’ve got business associates who might be able to help.”

“There’s no way Jenny is going to walk down the fucking aisle and say I do.” My blood was filled with so much rage I was seething. “He’ll have to force her—somehow.”

“We don’t have long to figure this out.” She slammed her briefcase shut. “I may need to focus on this instead of your case—for now.”

“That is your top priority.” I nodded. “I need one more thing from you first though.”

“Okay, what is it?” She leaned forward.