Page 127 of Anton

Her lips part, but she doesn’t answer.

I pull my arm free. “This is unbelievable.”

Daddy drags a hand down his face and exhales, but the silence keeps stretching, pressing against my chest until I can barely breathe.

“Can someone just tell me?” The words come out thin, almost broken, as exhaustion etches deep into my bones.

My father nods, and somehow he looks older than he did yesterday. “What I’m about to tell you is going to upset you, and I’m sorry for that, sweetheart. I never wanted to hurt you. None of us did.”

Tears rush into my eyes, and I curl my fingers into a fist, my nails digging into my palm until the sting gives me something to hold on to. “Just tell me.”

Mama chokes on a small cry.

Daddy looks at her, then back at me. “Many years ago, your mother and I had people working for us. They were good people. Reliable. Quiet. We never had a problem with them until they got greedy and stole from us.”

“What did they steal?”

“That doesn’t matter.”

“It matters to me.”

“What they stole isn’t the point, Thora. The point is that they stole from us, and once that happened, they couldn’t be trusted anymore. So they had to pay the price,” he says, his voice rough. “And they did.”

A hand flies to my mouth, because I already know what he’s going to say. My gaze travels from Mama to Jace to Greer, and nausea rolls through me.

This doesn’t shock them. Why would it, though? Blood, people disappearing because they crossed the wrong line…all of it is part of the business to them.

Daddy pinches the bridge of his nose before forcing himself to continue. “I did the job myself.”

He means murder. He should just say it outright instead of calling it a job.

“I was about to leave with my men when we heard a baby crying.”

“Oh my God.” A sob tears out of me. “Please don’t say it.”

Mama presses trembling fingers to her mouth. Daddy’s eyes stay on me as he says the next words that completely destroy me.

“They used to call you Penny. We had your name changed when we adopted you.”

My head spins so hard that Jace slips an arm around me to keep me from falling.

“You adopted me?” A cry slips free. “You mean you stole me from my family.”

“Thora, don’t.” Greer reaches for my hand, but I jerk away from her and Jace at the same time.

“Don’t you fucking tell me ‘don’t.’ How the hell are you okay with this? How did all of you just sit here and lie to me my whole goddamn life?!”

Mama’s tears continue to stream down her face in quiet rivers.

“We didn’t want to put you in the system.” Daddy leans forward, emotion thickening every syllable. “They didn’t have any family we knew of, and we didn’t know where you would end up. Who would take you. What would happen to you. And after everything that had already happened, we couldn’t do that to you.”

“You mean after you killed my parents?” A strange laugh rises in my throat. “God, I’m going to be sick.”

My name is Penny. I’m a whole other person.

“My entire life has been a lie.” The tears spill, impossible to stop. “I always felt like I didn’t belong in this family, and now I know why.”

“That’s not true,” Mama cries, rushing over and grabbing my hands. “You belong to us. You’re ours. You are my daughter.”