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“That’s my girl.” He smiles and glances at Mom, who stares back at me with worried eyes. I note how nervous she looks. Almost frightened. “My poor Roxy doesn’t know you guys won’t make it to the spa.”
I give Adrian a narrowed stare when he looks back at me. “Why won’t we make it to the spa?”
“I won’t let you.” He rolls up the sleeves on his shirt, and I see a knife scar on his left arm just above the tattoo of an eagle on his wrist. “By the time Roxy gets back, you’ll both be dead. Then she’ll blame herself because she didn’t realize I was the devil.”
My heart stops, my mouth goes dry, then shock wedges in my lungs, slithering down my insides like a viper ready to strike.
“What did you just say?”
“You heard me, Chloe.”
I glance at Mom, who is now crying and shaking, then a dark and twisted thought hits me when I look back at Adrian.
Everybody has been going through the motions, but I’m the prodigal daughter, the outsider who should have been more observant with people I don’t know.
Roxanne said she met Adrian at a coffee shop while she waited for Harlan. So far, everything I know about Harlan has been shady. I don’t think that meeting was a coincidence.
“Who are you?” I mumble the words, and he smiles.
“Good question. Clever question. I can see that husband of yours trained you well. My real name is Borya Tavorski, but Cillian O’Ridian will know me as Lance Polinsky.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chloe
My lungs empty themselves, and a gust of air rushes through my lips.
All my emotions tangle together in a twisted heap, and I can’t pick anything apart. I feel heavy and light at the same time, as if my insides will collapse in on themselves or float away like air molecules.
Confusion and confliction assail me, then my survival instincts kick in and I school my thoughts. I can’t check out now. If not for myself, then for my mother.
People say that when you’re looking for something, it might be right in front of you.
Cillian has a fleet of people looking for this man, but Lance Polinsky has been here the whole time. In our home. With my mother. We left him with her.
Fuck. He was at my wedding and there… always there, every step of the way.
And Roxanne… poor Roxanne.
“Why?” The word barely makes it out of my mouth. “Why would you do this?”
“I needed to be on the inside. I just didn’t know things were going to play out quite so well. But your return home and Cillian’s fascination with you made it possible.”
“I don’t understand.”
“My only goal was to destroy Cillian O’Ridian and recoup the money he lost me. When I stumbled across Harlan, he was perfect. He was one of Cillian’s most trusted workers, so it was easy for me to get him to do my dirty work. But I wanted to be around to ensure he didn’t screw me over. That’s why I hooked up with Roxy. Through my encouragement, your mom put up the restaurant and the house as capital to get the loan from Cillian. I was going to make my exit, but then you arrived, and when I realized how fascinated Cillian was with you, I knew I could use you to get to him.”
I feel sick, like I’m going to throw up my insides. “I’ve barely spoken to you.”
“Oh, you didn’t need to speak to me, sweetheart. I was able to get close to him because of you. My closeness with your family sealed the deal, and the mafia king trusted me because he regarded me as one of you. Look at me now, in your home with your guards outside. They think you're safe.” He laughs and cocks his head to the side. “I was planning and waiting for your mother to be well. Once she came home, I knew I could use her as leverage for my final plan.”
“Which is what?”
“Use her against him, too, by blackmailing you to deal the final blow.” He pulls out a gun and points it at Mom.
My soul shakes on seeing the cold barrel of the gun pointed at my mother. One of the most precious people in my world. “Please, no. Don’t hurt my mother. I’ll do anything.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought, so I came prepared.”
