Page 117 of Tangled Lies

“Margaux, we’ve done a lot for your uncle. I don’t appreciate being embarrassed. You tried to stand up our family. I’m sure you can understand I’ll turn a blind eye as long as you obey the family expectations from now on,” Mr. Thorne said.

The sick fuck watched Margaux move with far too much interest. She ran her hand over one of the empty plush chairs, giving the idea that it was more entertaining than her guests.

“Barone, you’ve been so quiet. Tell me, does Ronan know you sold me?”

My fuckhead father cleared his throat.

“He’ll do what is best for the family. I had an understanding with your father. He was smart enough to know he had a target on his back,” Barone said.

My father nodded to the senator, and Margaux’s eyes narrowed even if no one else noticed. But I did.

“A target from his own brother?” she asked, but there really was no question in the words.

The senator faked a laugh.

“Oh, Margaux. I’ve raised you like my own daughter. I can’t believe you would think such a thing.”

I watched her absently pick at a fiber of the chair before she met her uncle head on.

“Have you now? A daughter that you can abuse to become the prize pony? Most parents don’t stoop to measures like arranged marriages just to get control of a trust fund. Tell me, Uncle, what exactly is in this trust fund that you want?”

Her uncle turned, and I couldn’t read him anymore. My phone vibrated and I looked down.

T: Plan A. Poison is quiet.

I locked my phone and went back to watching my little bird as she seemed to stretch her wings.

“Nothing that I want. But they do,” the senator said.

Margaux had suddenly started to live for herself, and the way she looked at him now? She hid nothing from him.

“I see. And what do you get in return for giving them what they want? What did you get for murdering your own brother?”

The senator wasn’t reading the warning signs. Margaux inched her way closer to him, and if I had to bet on one of them, I’d bet on Margaux and the pent-up rage.

The senator didn’t see the flashing signs written all over her.

“My dear, I get all the funding and backing I need to remain right where I am. You don’t know the half of what I have done. My brother was one small stepping stone in the way. Did you know your father tried to bring a case against me? It would have ruined my career, and I couldn’t have that.”

The senator shifted in his seat and reached for Margaux. The jerk of her hand, and he missed.

“It’s sweet revenge to know I got to ruin his daughter.”

I don’t know if anyone else caught the way she straightened her back at his words, but I did.

“Miss Harrington, I’m a bit confused. Why is Talon here helping you and not Ronan? Ronan and the others are never apart,” asked my father, finally getting what was off in the room. He was the only one who would see any of this as wrong.

“It’s Mrs. Barone, father-in-law. I took Ronan’s last name, and you’re right. They aren’t far apart.”

Margaux nodded toward me, and she slowly backed her way to the ensuite hiding the others.

“Come out, come out wherever you are, boys,” she said, her tone teasing.

“What is the meaning of this?” Barone asked, his tone demanding. Too bad for him that tone had ceased to work on me years ago. “Took Ronan’s name? I haven’t approved the marriage.”

I stepped out.

“You didn’t have to. The state of Nevada did. The thing is, she could have married anyone of us, but the Barone name seemed to have the most impact.”