Page 92 of Possess Me

“Your mother was blonde.”

“Yes, Megan and I took after her, something Daddy teased us about.” She appeared more uncomfortable.

“You’re still not telling me everything. Are you?”

“No. There is something else you should know. My apartment was trashed and someone left me a note.” Her fingers were shaking as she handed me her phone. “If you really think I’m responsible for whatever is happening and the reason you were brought here, you are dead wrong. I never wanted any of this. Do you understand I have no one left? My entire family is gone.”

Her words faded. As soon as I glanced at the picture, the anger returned. No one laid claim to… No one laid claim to what belonged to me. “Who the fuck did this?”

“My stepbrother. Antonio Esposito. Another piece of garbage.”

“The man who hit you.”

“Yes. What do you care?”

I slowly lifted my head. “I care very much, Fallon. That’s what you need to understand and before you say anything, this has nothing to do with Megan. You are not your sister.” My words were a complete shock. To both of us.

“Then what the hell am I? Why am I here?”

“To be used as a weakness.” I half laughed, the bitterness of being played so well just another reminder that I’d ignored my own instincts.

“A weakness. From Ludolf?”

“I do not know for certain.”

She took a few shallow breaths. “Then there’s something else you need to know, Vissarian. I don’t understand what is going on or why I’m in the middle of this nightmare, but my mother and Luis were recently murdered.”

“Yes, I know. I just found out.”

Her eyes flashed. “Then what are you doing? Are you trying to tell me that I’m lying, or do you just want me to go through the horror all over again?”

“I thought you were sent here by Bruni or by Ludolf to use the past with Megan against me. If you were, then we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

“Goddamn it. You keep spouting off about trust, Vissarian. I have no idea what in the hell is going on. You throw out several details, including that someone I believed I cared about is dead. Murdered. It’s all very difficult for me to process. If you can’t understand that then I was right about you in the beginning.”

“You’re right. However, try and remember that discovering you’re Megan’s sister has been traumatic for me. Questioning everything is what I do as a necessity.”

Seeing the way her eyes sparked was another reminder the two women were flesh and blood.

“In your dangerous world where criminals kill innocent people,” she retorted, her features softening. “I always believed Megan was alive. I thought one day she’d find me. I had fantasies about reconnecting. For a long time, I tried calling her number, but after a few months, her voice no longer existed. All this time and she was dead. Dead! She was my sister.”

The horrible tension was difficult on both of us.

“Wait. My real father. Was he murdered?” Her natural resolve was returning.

“It’s possible. That I don’t know.”

“Would you tell me if you did?”

I nodded. “Yes, Fallon. I’m not your enemy.”

“And I’m not yours. I know Antonio killed his own father and my mother. My guess was to move up in the big Bruni mafia organization. He thinks I belong to him. He knew I’d be forced to return to Chicago. I wouldn’t put it past him to kill them, so I’d return. The fucker cornered me in my house. He was so angry, furious that I wouldn’t accept his advances. As if I belonged to him. He got a taste of his own medicine.”

She had no understanding of how dangerous the Bruni family could be, even after all she’d heard. If anyone dared believe they would take her from me, they were wrong.

“Over my dead body will anyone ever touch you again.” My growl surprised her.

“You act like you give a damn.”