Page 96 of Sweet Torment

A loud thud from the living room breaks my trance. I turn, immediately on alert.

“Shit,” Freddie mutters from the other room. “What the hell?”

I find Freddie crouched near the couch. The book Bianca had been reading lies splayed open on the floor, but it’s what’s scattered around it that catches my attention: notes and photographs. There’s a USB drive.

We gather everything up and walk to the bathroom, closing the door and squeezing in tight with the five of us.

Tristan and Owen are scowling, and Bianca looks confused. “What are you guys doing? Does everyone have a boo-boo tonight or what?” “Bianca, what is this?” I hold up the items we found on the floor.

Her eyes grow wide, and then her face morphs into annoyance. “You snooped in my things?”

“No one was snooping. Freddie was cleaning up, and the book fell and opened.”

“I guess that sounds plausible.”

Owen pulls her closer to him. “What is it?”

“I found it in Whitney’s office. I recognized it from when we were kids. She made it herself to keep secrets from her dad.” She looks so small in the middle of all of us.

“Did you find anything?”

“I was going to ask Tristan to help me. I think I found a picture of her mom—Isabelle Clyne. Does that ring a bell to you? I mean, hell, you were bonded to her.”

“Please never remind us of that again. I swear to fuck, every time I’m inside you, my mind goes blank, and I forget she existed,” Tristan drawls into her ear. And they are both still touching her.

“She never mentioned her mom, but isn’t this your mom?” Freddie asks, holding out one of the photos to her.

Bianca takes it from him, her fingers trembling slightly. “Wait, I didn’t see this one yet.” She stares at it for a long moment, and I watch as the color drains from her face. Her eyes are huge round saucers, as if she can’t believe what she’s seeing.

“Why the fuck is there a picture of Dr. Montgomery, my mother, and me as a baby?”

Has he been experimenting on her since she was a baby? I knew the man was sick, but babies?

“Did Dr. Montgomery deliver me?” Her voice comes out strangled and barely above a whisper. Then her face changes into a scowl. “She sure didn’t mention that.” “Who didn’t mention what?” Freddie takes the photo from her, flipping it over.

Written on it are her birthday and her birth stats. It’s definitely Bianca.

“I spoke with my mother earlier. She dated Dr. Montgomery in college before she met my father. Apparently, he wasn’t happy about the breakup, but she explained everything, and it didn’t sound like she knew about how insane he is.”

“This is getting pretty fucking creepy,” Tristan muses.

“Tris, I want your help with the USB drive. Maybe there’s something useful on there, or it could be recordings Whitney made. I’d prefer if you looked first.”

“I can do that.” He thumbs her lip. “For a price.”

She sucks his thumb into her mouth, melting into his body completely before breaking away and stepping back. “Good boy.” She pats his chest, smiling up at him.

“Why did Whitney have this, and what does this mean?” Freddie is still staring at the photo.

“Maybe she found it in Daddy’s things and got pissed when she realized it was Bianca,” Owen points out.

Likely.

“We’ll look through the rest together, but we need to be careful.” I move closer to her, lifting her chin so she’s looking up at me.

“Are you ready for bed?” She licks her lips. Her pupils are huge.

“Are you ready for bed, Weller?”