After several steps, she turns back to face me, and I can see what I didn’t before. The malevolence marring her face. “She was supposed to be fucking dead,” she spits out the words, her lip curling in a sneer, and I can’t do anything but stare at her. I fucking gape, wondering how I ever thought I knew this woman; wondering how I ever called her mom, ‘cause in this moment, she is more reminiscent of a nightmare than any mother I know. “That fucking asshole screwed me over. He couldn’t even keep a child”—she sneers out the word—“under control.”
She huffs out a humorless laugh. “The fact she was able to escape under his command is laughable. It’s a testament to the wayward nonsense he was running in that compound. Under my leadership, such shirking of responsibility will not be tolerated.”
My mind races as I try to process what she’s saying, but West beats me to it as he croaks out, “You knew? All this time, you knew where she was?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” she snaps irritably, gesturing to me. “I had no idea she was even alive until you brought her home and told me who she was. She was supposed to be dead, or buried so deep in the foster care system, no one would ever find her. She was not supposed to be right under our noses, on our own goddamn property.”
My head is spinning now. “But you did play a hand in her disappearance?”
She stops in front of me, her gaze hardening. “We’re not here to talk about her. She won’t be a problem for much longer.” What the fuck does that mean?! It takes everything in me to not struggle against my restraints, but it’s hard to fight past that clawing need to get to Hadley. She’s been through so much, and I refuse to let anything else happen to her. Not under my watch. No fucking way. I don’t give a damn what it takes, I will protect my sister with my life. With every fiber of my being, I will ensure she leads a long and happy life.
“What I want is the shares you stole from me.” Maria’s next words cement me back in the present though, and remind me I can’t just storm out of here to go to Hadley’s aid. I want to be the one to save her, but I’m fully aware of the fact she’s capable of looking after herself. We didn’t expect my mother to come after us this quickly, but we are prepared for this, and I try to take some comfort in that knowledge; in the fact that Hadley can take care of herself, and she has Beck, Mason, and Cam to look out for her. I’d trust them with my life, so I know I can entrust them with hers too.
“I’m not just going to hand them over to you,” West sneers, lifting his chin.
The condescending look Maria throws his way stalls the breath in my lungs. “Nor did I expect you to.” Lifting her hand, she raises two fingers in a come here gesture, and from somewhere behind us, two men dressed in black appear. No further instruction is needed as they lay into West.
“NO! STOP!”
I fight against my restraints, screaming for them to leave West alone, but it’s futile. It’s only a minute or so, but as I watch, I feel like they beat on my best friend for fucking ages before they eventually relent. They’re not even breathless as they move to stand in a soldier-like fashion, their hands clasped behind their backs and their legs hip width apart. Their expressions are blank, as if they weren’t just beating on a kid a second ago.
I gape at them in shock for a second, before focusing on West. His head is dropped against his chest, and a string of blood-tinged drool hangs from his lips, but his chest rises and falls in exerted breaths, and he lets out a pained groan, reassuring me that he’s still with me.
“What the fuck?!” I snarl furiously at my mom. I’m not surprised by her actions, but I am taken aback by the display of violence and the apathetic way she just stood by and watched.
Ignoring me, she approaches West, tugging on his hair until he’s looking up at her. She smiles at him, and it almost looks gentle, reassuring, if it wasn’t for the cruel gleam in her eyes. The longer I sit and watch her, the more I wonder if I ever really knew her. It’s a question I’ve been asking myself on repeat all year, ever since I found out the truth about my parents. I have been going back through old memories, trying to put together the pieces, and see the truth behind their facade, but everything is so murky, it’s impossible to tell what was real, and what was all for show. But looking at her now, I can’t help but think, this is the real her. Maria Davenport without her fake, socialite mask on.
“Was any of it real?” I ask, drawing her attention my way.
She removes her tight grip from West’s hair and his head flops forward as he groans. She doesn’t spare him a glance as she stands upright again and turns to face me.
“Any of what real?”
“The time both of you spent with me? When you’d come to my football games and cheer me on, or when you showed up at my middle school graduation, with a smile on your face and clapped like you were proud parents…was it all for show? Did you ever care?”
She tilts her head to the side, a pitying look on her face that confirms what I thought. Knowing I’m right doesn’t make me feel any better though, and I can feel something inside me shrivel up at the knowledge.
She pushes her lips out in a pout. “Aww, sweetie, did you want your mommy to love you?”
My lip curls back in a snarl as I go into my default protection mode. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
The mocking look on her face drops off, quickly replaced with one of fury, and her hand flies out to smack me across the face. My head whips to the side, and I can feel the sting in my cheeks, but I use that pain to fuel my own rage, glowering at her with so much hatred I can feel it burning through my veins and turning my insides to charcoal.
“What is wrong with me?” she snarls furiously. Her lip curls back, making her features appear grotesque. “Just because I never wanted children, that means there must be something wrong with me? Your father is the one who couldn’t accept living a life without sniveling, snot-nosed gremlins running around—although I can’t for the life of me work out why. Not once have you disproved me, and now that you’ve finally started to serve a purpose, you fuck everything up.”
I can’t do anything but gape at her as she rants. The disguise she’s been hiding behind all these years is long gone now, and for the first time, I’m getting a glimpse at the despicable human being that lies beneath. Growing up, I spent so much time wishing my parents were present more, that they gave enough of a shit to be around, but now, as I look into the eyes of the monster that birthed me, I’m seriously fucking glad she played a minimal part in my life.
“Everything was fine until she came back.” I watch as my mother visibly unravels before me, and I cast a quick glance at West out of the corner of my eye, finding the same what the fuck expression on his face. “She was meant to be DEAD!”
My eyes snap to her face. That’s the second time she’s said that, and the thought that she had anything to do with Hadley’s disappearance only adds fuel to the burning fire of rage building within me.
“What did you do to her?!” I yell. My harsh words pull her back into the here and now, and her gaze snaps to mine. Fire burns in her eyes, and rage pours off of her.