Page 43 of Traitorous Lies (Prey Security: Charlie Team #6)

“We got this,” Cassandra murmured softly from beside her as they waited for the heavy iron gates to open so they could drive their rental car down the driveway to the house where her father had told them to meet him.

At least something had gone their way. The property belonged to her family, it was their summer estate, and while she hadn't visited since she was ten, she’d remembered enough of the layout of the building and grounds to give detailed notes to Jax and his brothers.

If her father thought he was giving himself a home ground advantage, he was going to be sorely mistaken.

“Yeah, we do,” she agreed. While she hated the idea of her little sister coming with her right into the lion’s den, she was also so proud of Cassandra.

The woman was so strong, so determined, and it seemed like she was feeling empowered by finally having something she could contribute to the mess she believed her conception had set into motion.

“He’s not going to know what hit him,” Cassandra said, pure confidence ringing from her tone.

“Nope, he’s not,” she agreed as the gates finally opened and she drove down the driveway.

The two of them were wearing comms, including cameras.

So everything they said and saw would be transmitted back to the guys.

They’d opted to make it one way because if her father even caught a whiff of the fact that they were about to double-cross him, she had the feeling he wouldn't hesitate to kill them both.

Not something she would have even considered two days ago.

Now she believed it to be the truth, terrifying though that was.

Pulling to a stop outside the house, both she and Cassandra dragged in long breaths before they climbed out of the car.

Then side by side they climbed the dozen steps that led to the porch and the eight-foot-tall front door.

This property had always been one of her favorites, and she’d loved that the front door was rounded rather than rectangular like almost all other doors.

She’d had a cute little room up in the attic as her own, and she’d loved everything about it, from the dormer window to the secret door that led to a hidden room.

Now, though, she had no warm and fuzzy feelings as she knocked on the front door.

Expecting it to be opened by staff, she was surprised when it was her father himself standing on the other side.

It had been almost three years since she’d last seen him in person.

He’d stopped coming to Christmas dinner, and that was the only time she ever went back home.

She talked to him on the phone on her birthday and his.

If she’d had any lingering doubt about her father’s involvement in all of this, it was eradicated by the cold glint in his eyes as he looked at Cassandra and the complete indifference when he looked at her.

Maybe it was only Cassandra he specifically wanted out of the way, but he also wouldn't feel an ounce of remorse if she wound up collateral damage. It shouldn’t hurt because her dad had never been an involved part of her life, but it did.

“Thank you for coming,” her father said as he stepped back to allow them both to enter.

“Thank you for finally arranging this meeting,” Monique said, keeping her tone neutral. If her father knew that she believed what Jax’s family had told her, he could very well kill both her and Cassandra right here and now. “I’m sure it must be a shock to learn you have another daughter.”

“Another daughter,” he echoed, his voice so hard she almost believed if she reached out and touched her father that he’d feel like stone beneath her hand.

“So, this is Cassandra,” she said as her father closed the door behind them and walked toward his study, at least that was where she assumed they were headed.

“Charmed.” Sarcasm virtually dripped from the single word.

“Dad,” she rebuked. “It’s not Cassandra’s fault that you cheated on Mom, or that she left when she found out.

” Those words tasted bitter on her tongue, given that she believed her dad had actually killed her mom, but she was there to gather as much intel as she could so that her father paid for every single crime he committed.

“That was what you were trying to tell me on the phone, wasn't it? That mom found out, and you bribed her with enough money to go and leave me behind? That’s why she left. Right?”

Part of her wanted her father to convince her that it was true. That her mom had just walked away and left her behind, and wasn't buried six feet under somewhere in an unmarked grave.

Her father didn't reply until he had them both in his study, the door closed behind them. Then he turned to study her and Cassandra with the coldest set of eyes she’d ever seen. Monique was used to his eyes being void of emotion, but not like this, not deadly.

“I’m going to give you a choice, Monique. Much like the one I gave your mother almost twenty-five years ago.”

She gulped. “What choice?”

“You can walk away and pretend you never saw anything, never heard anything, don’t know anything.

You can continue living your life, playing with your little animals, and being a complete embarrassment to this family and everyone who worked so hard to build the fortune you now enjoy.

Or you can suffer the same fate as your mother. ”

It felt like all the oxygen had been sucked out of the room as her father confirmed her worst fears.

Her mom hadn't left by choice.

She’d been murdered.

And now her father was threatening to do the same thing to her.

“Mom’s dead,” she said softly, the reality of it sinking in. Along with the grief and guilt about years of anger directed at a dead woman, was a heavy shot of anger. “Mom somehow found out that you raped Cassandra’s mom and she was going to bring you down, so you killed her.”

Fury sprang to life in her father’s eyes. “She was so smug, thought she had it all figured out. She’d been compiling evidence for years.”

Cassandra gasped. “My mom wasn't your first victim.”

“Your mother was nothing special,” their father spat. “Certainly not worth losing everything over.”

“Mom had proof, though,” Monique said.

“Proof that saved your pathetic life,” her father sneered.

“She was dying either way, but I gave her a choice. Either she gave me all the evidence she had so I could make sure it was destroyed, or you died too. She chose you. So I let you live. Let you waste your life. But instead of being grateful for that, you’re just like her.

Here, stirring up trouble, sticking your nose into things that don’t concern you. ”

That was the best compliment her father could give her.

She’d let her mom down by believing the lie that she’d abandoned her, but now Monique was going to spend the rest of her life honoring her mother’s memory, her strength and bravery.

“I am like mom, only where she failed, I'm going to succeed. Cassandra and I aren't here for a little meet and greet, we’re here to get justice for our mothers.”

“Then you're both going to suffer the same fate,” her father shot back.

The bookcases lining one wall suddenly sprang open and two men dressed in black ran in. Before either of them could react, one of the men slammed the butt of his weapon into Cassandra’s temple, dropping her to the floor, and the other pressed the cold barrel of a gun to her temple.