Marcus’ hand discreetly falls to my waist and he gives it a small squeeze before finally nodding and putting me out of my misery. “It’s fine,” he tells me. “You can stay out here.”
Relief washes through me as he steps past me with his brothers following behind. They walk up the final five steps to the big oak door and leave me alone in the dark hallway. Unease swirls through my gut and without another thought, I find myself racing after them.
Who would have thought that I’d ever find myself racing toward the grim reapers in a dark hallway instead of running in the opposite direction? I guess the evil I know is safer than the evil I don't.
Roman tries the door as I hover back a few steps, not wanting to get too close. After all, I don’t know who that woman is, but something tells me that what they’re about to see is going to mess with their pretty little heads.
The door jams and he has to shove his hip into it just as I had done, and the moment it swings open with a loud squeal from the old hinges, the three of them pause. I watch as each of their backs stiffen and the tension starts rolling off them. “What the fuck is this?” Levi mutters darkly, taking in the glass coffin in the center of the chilly room.
Roman shakes his head and slowly steps deeper into the room. “I’ve got no fucking idea,” he mutters, his gaze sweeping from left to right before settling on the glass coffin in the center of the room. “This really is fucked up.”
I scoff from my firm position at the door. “Out of everything you’ve put me through and done over the past week, this is what you see as fucked up?” I question. “I guess it’s nice to know where you draw the line.”
Marcus strides right up to the coffin, peering into it but coming up blank as the frost completely covers the glass. “Who do you think it is?” he asks, not showing a shred of hesitation.
Roman shakes his head and I can’t help but notice the fear deep within his warm, silky tone. “I have a good idea, but I really hope that I’m wrong.”
Marcus glances back at his brothers with his brow raised, waiting for their silent approval to go ahead. When no objections come his way, his hand presses down over the glass and gently wipes the frost away, revealing the woman within.
My eyes go straight to the boys as each of them freeze, the tension I’d felt before, tripling in size. Levi sucks in a pained gasp as Roman clenches his jaw, but Marcus … Marcus looks completely dead inside.
“What?” I breathe, slowly creeping deeper into the room until I’m standing between Roman and Levi, their big shoulders sagged with devastation. “Who is it?”
Levi’s fingers brush up against mine and quickly latch onto them as Roman continues to peer into the glass coffin, looking over the dark-haired woman with nothing but dead eyes. “It’s our mother,” he says factually, his tone firm and final before turning on his heel and stalking out of the room, his grief filling the air around us and constricting my heart in every possible way.
The need to go after him pulses through my veins but my eyes are glued to Marcus and Levi as they continue looking at their long-lost mother. Confusion and heartache swirl in their eyes and my heart breaks for them, and without question, I know that this won’t go unpunished.
They will find out who did this to their mother. But what I've come to learn from my short stay at the DeAngelis castle is that the majority of the time, all roads lead straight back to their father.
27
“No way in hell,” I demand, looking back at the three brothers as they stand in the open door of the Escalade staring back at me. “You said we were going out on business. You said nothing about a fucking party.”
Levi stares back at me, his brows dipped low. “What’s the difference?”
“The difference,” I spit, “is that I figured you’d just chain me up in here and I’d hide out until you were done. There’s no way in hell that I’m going in there and mingling with all your screwed up friends.”
“These people aren’t our friends,” Marcus says. “They fear us too much.”
I roll my eyes and flop back against the leather seat. “Oh, because that makes everything better,” I mutter, crossing my arms over my chest. “Besides, I’m hardly dressed for a party. I’m in sweats and an old tank. I’m going to stand out like dog’s balls in there.”
Levi groans, resisting the urge to just grab me and haul me over his big shoulder. “You’re going to stand out like dog’s balls whether you are dressed up or not. Now, get your ass moving before I drag you in there by your hair.”