Page 190 of Deceived Wrath

I knew he would be angry when he finally learned I had been working with Lorcan, but what’s even worse is the pain in his eyes.

I hate that I’m the one to cause it, but I can’t take it back. The only thing I can do now is try to explain.

“Who told you?”

“Why does it matter?”

“Because I want to know what you know.”

“I know you’ve been working for my uncle since before I even met you, which tells me all I need to know.”

“I didn’t do this because I wanted to. I did it because my sister was drowning.” My voice is shaking so badly I can barely form the words.

Cormac stands across the office from me, his arms crossed tightly over his chest and his eyes dark and unforgiving.

The distance between us feels miles wide.

I force myself to keep going even as tears blur my vision. “Carly was in trouble. She had a gambling problem. I didn’t know how bad it was at first because she hid it so well. But by the time I finally found out, it was already too late.”

Cormac’s jaw clenches, but he says nothing.

I’m not stupid enough to think that just because he’s giving me the space to explain, it means he’s going to forgive me, no matter how much I wish he could.

“She owed money. A lot of it. And the people she owed it to weren’t the kind you can ignore and hope it will all go away.”

I start to pace the office as I talk, feeling like I might collapse under the weight of all the lies that I’m caught up in.

“I thought I could fix it for Carly, I really did. I thought if I handled it quietly, if I kept it away from Joe and the girls, I could protect them. Protecther.” A strangled sort of laugh escapes my lips, but it quickly turns into a sob. “I was so stupid not to face the fact that Carly was in deep, and she was dragging all of us down with her. But I didn’t see any other way out.”

Cormac exhales sharply through his nose, like he’s holding himself back from exploding.

I don’t risk looking at him because I can’t bear to see the distance in his eyes.

“Then she got involved with my boyfriend Freddy and…” I suck in a breath as all of those memories of betrayal come flooding back. “I don’t know what she was thinking. Maybe she thought Freddy could help because he was caught up with the same sort of people. Maybe she was hoping he could call in a favor. But instead, he handed her straight to Lorcan.”

“Lorcan paid off her debt,” Cormac says, and I nod.

“And when she died…” I exhale shakily. “That debt got transferred to me.”

Cormac laughs then, but the sound is so cold and unlike him that it makes me flinch.

“So, you decided to sell me out.”

I finally look at him. “No. I never told Lorcan anything?—”

Anger flashes in his eyes. “Bullshit! You decided to lie to my face. To myson’sface.”

The wordsonhits me like a slap in the face.

“I never would have hurt Scout. Never. Iswearto you?—”

He growls. “Stop! Just stop lying. You’re beyond that now, so you might as well come clean about how you never gave a shit about me or my family. You used us for your own personal gain.”

I shake my head wildly.

He’s got it so wrong. He’s gotmeso wrong.

“I’m not lying.”