Page 88 of Betrayed By Sin

Bria’s handflies to her mouth, hereyes wide, wild, disbelieving.

She knows this woman.

I turn back to the screen, mypulse hammering.

And then I see her.

The woman leans down beside my father, her expressiontense. Her dark hair is swept intoan elegant knot, her lips pressed together in frustration. Sheglances at him, then at the camera, her voice sharp.

"You need to stop recording and move. We don’t have time."

My father shakes his head. “We have to warn them.”

I barely register thesound of the chair scraping against the flooras Briastumbles away, shaking her headviolently. "No. No, no, no."

It’s her.

Bria’s mother.

Islam my hand against the keyboard, stopping the video.

For a long,longmoment, no one speaks as the realization hits her that her mother was working with my father, against the Caputo’s. The real enemies, the ones who killed both of our parents.

Bria is stillstaring at the screen, her bodyrigid, her handsshaking.

I take a step toward her, mypulse racing. "Bria…"

She snaps toward me.

"They killed her, Magnolia."

I go cold.

She’s right.

Bria’s motheris dead. My fatheris dead.

And now, weknow why.

Bria continues, “The Caputo’s killed her, and we dine with them, we share information…” She chokes. “I celebrate Christmas with these fucking people!”

Zeik’s familysilenced thembefore they could reveal the truth.

Briaruns a hand through her hair, breathinghard.

"That’s it. That’s the proof. We don’t need anything else. We take this back to Cameron, and we end this."

She’s right.

This is it.

The final piece.

I exhaleshakily, my fingers curling intofists. "Then we go back."

Brianods once. “And this time?”

I meet her eyes, my voicesteady. "We finish what they started."