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All I can do is nod...while the poison starts to spread.

Is this really happening?

Is it?

Really?

I thought we'd be waiting for days. But all it takes is twenty minutes for Giancarlo's men to extract my parents from their self-purchased (un)safe house with military precision.

The look on my father's face when he sees me seated inside Giancarlo's private jet is almost...comical. But I think I've lost my sense of humor, and so all I can do is stare.

"Cadence? What the hell—"

"Hello, Dad."

My mother comes in next, and she loses all color when she sees me. "C-Cadence?"

Am I being too sensitive here...or are my parents reallynothappy to see their one and only daughter?

"Apologies for cutting the family reunion short, but we need to take off immediately. So Mr. and Mrs. Quinn, if you will?"

Giancarlo's silken drawl has my parents hurriedly doing his bidding.

The seatbelt sign lights up. We take off. And all I can do is watch my parents look anywherebutme.

Because they know what they've done.

And just like always, they're unwilling to take the blame.

A few more minutes pass before the seatbelt sign goes off, and before I realize what I'm about to do—-

"How could you?"

I'm already crying the words out.

Because all I can suddenly hear in my mind is the alarms in Keiran's penthouse apartment going off.

"You used his name—-"

My dad bristles. "He's my son-in-law—-"

His gall nearly has me throwing up. "So now he's your son-in-law...just because it suits you? You painted a target on his back—-"

"Stop talking to your father like that," my mom says shrilly. "We had to do what we had to do! And that man is one of them—-"

"You should be the one to stop," I burst out. "Just stop talking about Keiran like he owes us something when he never did. I was the one who was lucky—-"

"You've clearly lost your mind," Marvin rages at me. "You always lose your mind where that man's concerned—-"

"That man has a name!"

"Do I look like I care?"

"If you know what's good for you—-"

It's Giancarlo who says this, and the dangerous softness of his tone has both of my parents stiffening in their seats.

"You should choose your words very carefully from here on. Keiran de Laigny is the only reason I wasted my time in saving you."