Page 162 of Uprising

I slap her so hard across the face her head snaps back.

“You fucking bitch.” I hiss.

She spits the blood from where I’ve split her lip. “You think I didn’t have him? You think after he married you that he didn’t still fuck me? You think you satisfied him that much Rose?”

“You’re just as fucked up as he is.” I say clenching my fists.

She laughs. “No Rose. It was me that set it up, me that suggested to him that you became his wife. Everyone in Verona loves you so much, the great sunshine princess.” She spits again. “He needed that. He needed it. You should have been thanking me. You should have been grateful. I gave you the love of my life. I gave you the man I wanted, the man I deserved, only instead of him you went for this scum.”

She looks at Roman, goes to spit again but his fist in her face shuts her up.

“You piece of shit.” He growls. “You evil, conniving, bitch.”

She laughs as blood drips down her mouth. Her teeth are cracked. She looks like a horror show.

I let out a deep sigh. My anger is blinding me right now. I’m falling right into the trap I said I wouldn’t. I’m so close to losing it, to going feral and ripping her throat out. My hands shake, something is screaming in my head.

“Tell me where he is.” I say.

She shakes her head.

“So you do know then.” I reply.

She runs her eyes up and down me. “You should have had his children. He deserved that. After what he did for us…”

“What did he do?” I ask.

She smiles more glancing at Roman. “Did you never wonder why your parents fell from grace? Did you never wonder why your mother had to die?”

Roman tenses. “What are you talking about?”

I narrow my eyes, my adrenaline racing at what she’s implying. His mother had a heart attack. They found her in Sofia’s nursery, dead on the floor with Sofia crying in the cot.

“She found out about us.” My mother says. “About me and Darius. She was always a nosey little bitch. Always one for gossip. She put it together and realised what we were.”

“She knew you were related.” Roman states.

She looks so smug. She looks so proud.

I’m itching to wipe that damned smile off her face. “Silly little Lizzie.” She taunts. “She was so gullible. So naïve.”

“What did you do?” I ask.

“We did what was necessary.” She says.

“You murdered her.” Roman replies.

“What else could we do?” My mother laughs. “Silly bitch had found out everything. Of course we got rid of her. No one even batted an eyelid. No one even cared.”

Roman reacts, his fist slams into her face and this time the man holding the chair can’t keep it upright. She falls back, slamming into the concrete.

“You murdered my mother.” Roman bellows.

I jump in, pulling him back, and he swings his arm narrowly missing my face. His eyes widen. He blinks, realising how close he was to hurting me and then he’s pulling me into his arms, holding me so tightly, apologising, like he has any need to.

“How does it feel?” My mother taunts. “How is it holding her, knowing that she was Paris’s wife and then Darius’s?”

I tense, not wanting to react, hating that I do.