Page 128 of Anton

“I don’t even know who the hell I am.” I sniffle. “I need to go.”

Pulling away from her grasp, I start toward the foyer.

“Thora,” Mama sobs. “Please, baby. I love you. Don’t do this.”

“Don’t do what?” I swipe at my face, but the tears keep coming. “Leave? Be angry? Ask questions about the life you stole from me?”

Daddy’s face crumples, but he stays where he is. “Ask whatever you need to ask.”

“What were their names? My parents.”

Mama looks like I slapped her in the face.

“Mara and Wesley Hale,” he answers.

“Did I have grandparents? Aunts? Uncles? Brothers or sisters? Anyone?” The words stick in my throat.

“As far as we knew, there weren’t any other children. They didn’t even tell us about you, so they were private about those things, but there was no one else at the house. I saw those photos of you in an album, so I took them.”

My vision blurs at the edges as I blink, trying to process it all. “I’m going upstairs to get my things, and none of you better follow me.”

Mama cries harder, and all I want is to hold her.

But who’s going to hold me? Who’s going to make this shit better for me?

They kidnapped me and kept it hidden. How the hell do I look past that and forgive them?

“She needs time,” Daddy tells Mama, though his eyes stay on me. “Anyone would. Do what you have to do, but at least tell us where you are so we know you’re safe.”

“Fine.”

Jace steps forward, his face pale. “Thora, nothing changes for us. You’re still our sister. You understand that, right?”

I look at him, then at Greer, then at Mama and Daddy. There are so many things I could say, but every single one of them gets trapped in my throat.

Nothing changes for them. But everything has changed for me. I don’t know who I am anymore, where I belong, who I was before they decided I should be someone else.

I’m not a Whitlock. Hell, I’m not even Thora. I’m goddamn Penny.

Without answering, I turn and march upstairs, each step heavier than the last, and when I reach my room, I lock the door behind me before grabbing the luggage sitting in the corner and shoving clothes into it with shaky hands.

By the time I’m done, I sink onto the edge of the bed, barely holding myself together while my phone sits heavy in my pocket. When I pull it out, I know exactly who I need. The only man who has ever made me feel safe in a life that suddenly turned into a lie.

Anton.

CHAPTER FORTY

ANTON

I’m in the hotel parking lot when the call comes in, Thora’s name flashing across the screen.

I answer it immediately, and at first, all I hear is silence. Then a small sniffle comes through the line, and my grip snaps so hard around the phone, I’m surprised the screen doesn’t crack.

“Thora? What happened?”

Nothing but another shaky breath.

The car is already starting beneath me as I shift into drive and cut out of the parking space with the tires screeching. “Are you hurt?”