Page 49 of Thorns of Deceit

“But he doesn’t know where we live, right?” I took her hand in mine. “We can explain it all to Aiden and he’ll ensure that his family keeps this secret.”

“It’s too late. Why do you think Aiden Callahan married you? They want connections to the Lyons mafia that come along with your birthright.”

I shook my head. “No, he doesn’t know?—”

“He does,” she cut me off. “Jack Callahan came to visit me.” She sank her fingernails into my flesh. “He’s already reached out to your father to work on leveraging your marriage to his family. Jack knows it was me who sent Duncan to prison. Informingis the worst kind of betrayal in the mafia. The Callahans won’t protect me.”

My shoulders slumped. “But?—”

“Snap the fuck out of it, Raven. They are criminals just like your father, and they won’t hesitate to kill us once they’ve gotten what they want.”

“What—” I slammed my eyes shut and dropped my face to my hands, biting back the sob that wanted to tear free. I couldn’t make heads or tails of all this information, it was all too much.

“You have to run, Raven. Disappear. Be dead to the world.” My shoulders tensed and tears began streaming down my face. “I know I should have done better. I wasn’t a good mother, I know that, but you’re the most important person to me. Promise me, no matter what, you’ll get away from all of them.”

“Who… what…” I clutched my chest, trying to soothe the pain forming. “How?”

The words tumbled from my lips on a whisper, unsure what she was asking of me.

“You’ll have to die,” she whispered. “Start fresh, but this time, I can’t go with you.”

“But… but… I can’t leave you.”

“You’ll have to. Remember our P.O. box? Go there, grab the money. There are travel documents and?—”

“No.”

“We don’t have time to argue, baby.” She cupped my cheeks, her tearstained face softening for the first time since I stepped into the apartment. All the fire had left her. “I’ve lived my life and?—”

“Hardly,” I argued. “You’re young. We still have so much to do and see together. I can’t leave you.”

“Give me your ring,” she demanded, her eyes on my wedding finger.

“What?” But I was already handing it to her.

She grabbed me by the elbow and gently brought me to unsteady feet. “You need to leave before your father finishes the job he started nineteen years ago.”

I struggled to process what I’d just learned. My father wanted to kill my mother and use me. The Callahans left me alive only because they somehow learned of my connection to Duncan Lyons, a man I’d never heard of. And the one that hurt my heart the most… Aiden Callahan used me for his family’s gain.

Everything was falling apart.

My stomach churned and I tripped, falling to my knees.

“Keep it together, baby,” Mom said, her voice trembling much like my entire body.

“I can’t… can’t do this without??—”

My words were cut off by a loud ticking sound. The last thing I felt was my mother’s body on top of mine.

And then…Boom!

SEVENTEEN

AIDEN

Present, Five Years Later

New York City