Page 217 of Ruin Me With Lies

“Patience?”I ask, cutting a sharp glance at Dad.“Or trying to scare him off?”

“I’d like to think of it as testing his commitment to you,” Dad replies, watching me carefully.

Mom continues, “When your father told me Stefano was just...accepting of everything, taking it all in stride?I knew something was off.He’d been through the wringer trying to find you.Attacked, beaten, drugged.No way he wasn’t operating under some kind of haze.

“That’swhy I went to see him.Face to face.To make sure he was still himself.And I was right.The Stefano I spoke to wasn’t the sharp, calculating man we know.Not the bare-faced brute who likes to push my buttons for sport.He was in a fog.His only clear instinct was to get to you.He would’ve said anything, agreed to anything, just to make that happen.”

She pauses, reaches for a bottle of water on the nightstand, takes a sip, then forges on.“He’s in love with you.There’s no doubt about that.But I was worried,for you.That once the fog lifted, once he was truly clearheaded and fully confronted with the weight of our world, he might—” She breaks off with a sigh, raking her fingers through her hair.“I’m just trying to protect you, Soraya.For once.”

Her voice softens.“I figured…give it a year.Let him see everything clearly.Let him really think it through.And if, after all that, he still feels the same, if he still chooses you with his eyes wide open, I’ll step aside.

“And honestly?I hope he does.Because when it’s your time to sit at the helm ofTHE O, Stefano Castello is exactly the kind of man you’llneedby your side.Fiercely loyal, a master of connection, and most importantly, isattractedto your power, not intimidated by it.”

She presses her palm to her chest.“I don’t hate him, Soraya.I’m in his corner.And I know—believe me,I know—I’ve been the worst kind of mother.I’ve let you down in every way that matters.There’s no undoing it, no earning back what I threw away.But this time…this one time, I swear I wasn’t trying to hurt you.I was trying to help.”

She turns to Dad and laces her fingers with his on top of the sheets.“To answer your question about your sister’s name: Your father has grown quite fond of Stefano.So we agreed on Mirabella because we know how much his mother meant to him.Everything he does at that villa, everything he builds, he does in her honor.Naming the newest, most innocent member of our family after her…I thought maybe it could be a bridge.An olive branch.A way of saying that, despite everything, there’s a place for him here.In this broken, fucked-up family of ours.”

What a crock of shit.

Who does she think I am?

I’ve spent my whole life watching this woman manipulate everyone around her for her own personal gain.Does she really believe this will work on me?

“Aw, how touching.You did all that formybenefit?Because youcareso much?”My laugh is vacuous.“The same mother who neglected and blamed me when her golden boy brutalized me, now suddenly caresso muchabout my heart being broken, that sheshatteredit to ‘protect’ it?You sure this was for dear old me?The same evil daughter you thought, just minutes ago, was here to hurt a two-month-old baby?”

Dad tries to interrupt, “Soraya, that’s—”

“Ordid you do it because you’re scared of me?”I cut him off.“You purposely went to Stefano in the middle of the night, when youknewhe’d be foggy and disoriented.Still recovering from whatever drugs Dad pumped into his system.Hell, was it even at night?He was held at Serra-10 compound, no?With all its artificial bullshit to fuck with his mind, no windows or devices.He didn’t know up from down.You went to him when he was most vulnerable, most pliable.And because of that, he said yes.Youneededhim gone.At least for a little while.Why is that, Mom?”

I don’t wait for an answer.“Could it be because you found out the other Chairs have been secretly asking me to oust you?”

Dad looks between us, shocked.“Is that true, babe?”

“You keep asking how I got in here,” I continue.“But you know, Mom.Youknow.Those people out there are fathers, mothers, uncles, and brothers, some of whose daughters, nieces, and sisters werealsoSevyn’s victims.And they’ve had toshut upandswallow it.But you lost their loyalty the moment you chose to protecthimover me.”

I lower my voice, calm and steady.“And that’s why, no matter where you move him, Ialwaysknow.Becauseno onewants to spend their time protecting him.They’rebeggingme to kill him.”

I straighten up from the armchair, gently rocking Mirabella in my arms.“So cut the bullshit.You made Stefano leave because you fearedusas a unit.Feared what it would mean for me to have someone like him by my side.A man who’ll fits seamlessly into this life, because he’s so muchmorethan even he knows.

“He’s ruthless and he’s brilliant.He’s hateful and he’s personable.He’s cold and he’s forgiving.He’s violent and he’s patient.He’s explosive and he’s calm.His men kneel when he kneels.”

I pause and press a kiss to the top of Mirabella’s soft head.“Would anyone kneel foryounow, Mom?Because at this point, no one’s here out of loyalty, but out of fear.Because they know there’s nowhere in the world they can hide from you, isn’t that right?”

“Soraya, that’senough,” Dad snaps.

Gazing down at my baby sister, now sound asleep in my arms, I cross over to the bassinet and gently tuck her in.

“I’ve been in here for over an hour, you know.You didn’t even stir.I could’ve slit your throat and walked out without a sound.Be done with it.That’s whattheywant.”

I lift my gaze to Mom, rocking the bassinet in a soft, quiet rhythm.“But I don’t want your life, Jhay Byrd.I don’t want to be you.I wantmylife.The one Stefano and I planned.And come hell or high water, I’m going to have it.And you’re going to stay the fuck out of it.”

“Soraya—”

“Those little birdie messages you got about what the Chairs have been up to?”I tilt my head.“Isent them.I’vebeen trying to steer you toward reality, trying to make youseewhat’s going on inside your own damn organization.But you’ve been too caught up in trying to ruin the onegoodthing that’s ever happened to me.”

“I didn’t—”

“What youneedto focus on is winning your people back,” I cut her off, firm and pointed.“And the best place to start is to publicly execute Sevyn.”