where?” he asked, turning to her, finding it harder to rein in his own fury than it had ever been. “Where will you go, Grace, that the agency or the Kin can’t find you? There were only a few of those low-level bastard traitors searching for Kenni, and she lost her uncle fighting to stay alive. How will you survive against the agency or the Kin they convince to go after you?”
She was so fucking pale, it made him want to slam his fist into a Brigham face.
Emerald eyes sparkled with tears as soft pink lips tightened to control their trembling and a sense of hopelessness flashed across her face. “But I didn’t do this.” The file shook in her hands as she lifted it for just a moment before letting it settle back to her lap.
He hadn’t seen that look on her face since she was five years old and standing beside her father’s grave. The vulnerability and uncertainty mixed with overwhelming grief and pain. It was bad enough knowing her mother had betrayed the family in general and was the reason for her father’s murder. But to realize the woman who should have nurtured her was instead so evil, she’d sacrifice her daughter as well was tearing her up inside. And there wasn’t a damned thing he could do to make the pain go away for her.
“I’m going to assume you have a solution?” Vinny snarled. “That’s why you’re here, right?”
“How can he have a solution?” The tears in her voice didn’t detract from the anger, the pain, or the confusion. “How can he help when it’s obvious you or the Kin can’t?” She turned to him then, shaking her head. “And how did you get this information? You hate the Kin and the Brighams, yet you were able to steal files from the estate?” Disbelief flickered in her gaze. “Really, Zack? Did you turn into a cat burglar overnight?”
The question came quicker than he’d anticipated. Grace was smart, though; he should have expected it.
“Did you verify this information, Uncle Vinny?” Desperation filled the question, the search for something, anything to change the situation apparent in her tone.
Turning back to Vinny, Zack let his gaze lock with the other man’s.
Vinny’s expression was heavy with knowledge of the sacrifice Zack was making. And it was a sacrifice. A lifetime of secrets, the attempts to deny who he was and where he came from were over.
“Uncle Vinny?” Grace whispered, the silence in the room becoming as heavy as the tension.
“I don’t have to verify it,” Vinny said quietly. “I know Zack was at the estate when you were attacked. He’s there every month, just as you are.”
Cord wiped his hand over his face before leaning forward in his chair, elbows on his knees, his hands hanging between them as he stared at the floor.
He’d always known the time for secrets was going to be over soon. It had been a damned good fight, and he’d managed to stay one step ahead of the Brigham family all his life.
He’d known the truth would eventually come out though.
“Why?” Grace whispered. “Why would the Brighams care about someone who so obviously hates them as much as Zack hates them? What does he have on them?”
Zack shook his head. “I don’t have anything on them, Grace. It’s what they know about me.”
He rubbed at the side of his jaw; the bombshell he was about to drop would be devastating for her. The rumors of the reasons behind her father’s and his parents’ deaths had circulated through the Kin for decades. Truth didn’t matter. The truth had never been told, the rumor always allowed to stand simply because it was less dangerous to the family and to the Kin.
“What they know about you?” she questioned him, anger rising in her tone. “How can you help me if they have something they’re holding over you? What kind of game are you playing?”
“They’re not holding anything over me,” he gritted out, forcing his fingers not to curl into fists.
“Then explain it, Richards!” Deacon snapped as he and his
She was so fucking pale, it made him want to slam his fist into a Brigham face.
Emerald eyes sparkled with tears as soft pink lips tightened to control their trembling and a sense of hopelessness flashed across her face. “But I didn’t do this.” The file shook in her hands as she lifted it for just a moment before letting it settle back to her lap.
He hadn’t seen that look on her face since she was five years old and standing beside her father’s grave. The vulnerability and uncertainty mixed with overwhelming grief and pain. It was bad enough knowing her mother had betrayed the family in general and was the reason for her father’s murder. But to realize the woman who should have nurtured her was instead so evil, she’d sacrifice her daughter as well was tearing her up inside. And there wasn’t a damned thing he could do to make the pain go away for her.
“I’m going to assume you have a solution?” Vinny snarled. “That’s why you’re here, right?”
“How can he have a solution?” The tears in her voice didn’t detract from the anger, the pain, or the confusion. “How can he help when it’s obvious you or the Kin can’t?” She turned to him then, shaking her head. “And how did you get this information? You hate the Kin and the Brighams, yet you were able to steal files from the estate?” Disbelief flickered in her gaze. “Really, Zack? Did you turn into a cat burglar overnight?”
The question came quicker than he’d anticipated. Grace was smart, though; he should have expected it.
“Did you verify this information, Uncle Vinny?” Desperation filled the question, the search for something, anything to change the situation apparent in her tone.
Turning back to Vinny, Zack let his gaze lock with the other man’s.
Vinny’s expression was heavy with knowledge of the sacrifice Zack was making. And it was a sacrifice. A lifetime of secrets, the attempts to deny who he was and where he came from were over.
“Uncle Vinny?” Grace whispered, the silence in the room becoming as heavy as the tension.
“I don’t have to verify it,” Vinny said quietly. “I know Zack was at the estate when you were attacked. He’s there every month, just as you are.”
Cord wiped his hand over his face before leaning forward in his chair, elbows on his knees, his hands hanging between them as he stared at the floor.
He’d always known the time for secrets was going to be over soon. It had been a damned good fight, and he’d managed to stay one step ahead of the Brigham family all his life.
He’d known the truth would eventually come out though.
“Why?” Grace whispered. “Why would the Brighams care about someone who so obviously hates them as much as Zack hates them? What does he have on them?”
Zack shook his head. “I don’t have anything on them, Grace. It’s what they know about me.”
He rubbed at the side of his jaw; the bombshell he was about to drop would be devastating for her. The rumors of the reasons behind her father’s and his parents’ deaths had circulated through the Kin for decades. Truth didn’t matter. The truth had never been told, the rumor always allowed to stand simply because it was less dangerous to the family and to the Kin.
“What they know about you?” she questioned him, anger rising in her tone. “How can you help me if they have something they’re holding over you? What kind of game are you playing?”
“They’re not holding anything over me,” he gritted out, forcing his fingers not to curl into fists.
“Then explain it, Richards!” Deacon snapped as he and his
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