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“Fuck, maybe you’re not our sister,” Alec said. “Seeing as your father sounds different to ours.”
“He told me about you all, though. When I was twelve and there were some bullies hassling me at school, I told him I wished I had some older brothers to help protect me. He said that I did. They just had other lives away from me. But if I ever needed them, I could go to them, and they’d help me.” Ryleigh let out a sob.
“We would have been there for you, Ryleigh,” Tanner told her. “I promise.”
Ryleigh turned to him. “I just . . . I don’t know why I didn’t ask to see you. To see some photos. Why didn’t I ask him for that?” She rubbed her forehead.
“It doesn’t matter,” Alec told her gently. “What’s important is that you’re here now. But why didn’t you come straight to us yourself?”
“There were . . . are complications.”
“My brother,” Lilac said. “My brother is a complication.”
“What does he have to do with Ryleigh?” Alec asked.
“He . . . he’s my fiancée,” Ryleigh said.
36
Linc stood up suddenly, making Lilac jolt.
“Fiancée? How can you have a fiancée?”
“Easy,” Opal warned. “You don’t want to snap at her.”
“Ryleigh?” Linc asked.
Ryleigh raised her face, her eyes swimming with tears. “I thought Stefan was amazing. Dad had been diagnosed with stage four cancer, but he hadn’t told me. I knew he wasn’t feeling well, but I didn’t know the extent. Mom died when I was nineteen. Dad said he wanted me to be taken care of and he introduced me to Stefan. Stefan swept me off my feet. Gave me everything I wanted. When he proposed, I said yes straight away. I had some misgivings, but Dad told me that he would feel so much better if I was with Stefan. He was so kind and caring, especially when dad died. He even moved me in with him. Said he didn’t like where I was living, that it wasn’t safe. I thought he was so caring.”
“Fuck,” Tanner muttered.
“Until I discovered one day that he wasn’t.” She took in a deep breath. “Stefan said he wouldn’t sleep with me until our wedding night. I thought he was being kind and understanding since I’d lost my father recently. What I didn’t realize was . . . was . . .”
“That Stefan got his needs met elsewhere,” Opal said. “That would be me.”
“What?” Linc asked.
“Yeah. I was Stefan’s mistress.”
37
Tanner almost couldn’t keep up with everything.
Lilac was Stefan’s sister.
Ryleigh was his fiancée.
And Opal was his mistress?
“Lilac and I had gotten close,” Ryleigh kept talking while they all struggled to keep up. “But I could sense there was stuff she was keeping from me. Anyway, one night, I couldn’t sleep, and decided to go searching for Stefan. He wasn’t in his bedroom or office, but I decided to keep searching. I hadn’t gone into one wing of the house as he said it was for guests and that there was nothing there. I could hear . . . I could hear voices. Muffled sobs. And then I found Lilac and Opal.”
“I was a bit of a mess that night,” Opal said. “He’d been very . . . extra.”
“Extra psycho,” Lilac whispered.
“Yeah. Psycho is the word. I couldn’t believe that Stefan would hit someone like that. A woman. Lilac told me that Stefan was the one who’d hurt Opal. That she was . . . she was . . . ”
“His mistress,” Opal said bitterly.
