Severance (Entangled Series Book 2)

by C. M. Radcliff

  Holding hands, we walk through the half empty garage and into the sleek building. It’s sterile in appearance, in an all marble way that screams money. They aren’t playing little league ball in this law office.

  Hopping on the elevator, we ride in silence to the twenty-fifth floor; Anthony’s personal office requires his own fucking floor, while the rest of his employees are on the floor below.

  The elevator dings and the doors slide open as we step out into the vast waiting area. The room is empty and upon closer inspection, his receptionist is gone.

  What the fuck?

  Glancing over at Kai, his hardened mask is in place, but his troubled brown eyes shine through.

  Welcome to lesson 101 on how disloyal monsters are.

  “Stay behind me, okay?” Kai tells me quietly as he draws his pistol.

  Glaring at him, I shake my head. “Fuck that. This is clearly a setup and I don’t need you to protect me.”

  Kai grabs both sides of my face and dips his head down to mine. “A king always protects his queen,” he whispers as his lips just barely graze mine.

  My eyelids instinctively flutter closed as I anticipate his lips on mine, but he pulls back within an instant. I sigh in frustration as a sly grin plays on his lips and he winks at me.

  Ignoring my annoyance, he grabs my hand and pulls me through the door that leads into a hallway. We walk the short distance to the single door at the end of the hall and Kai pushes through it, revealing Anthony’s personal office.

  It’s massive and screams money. Anthony is a well sought after lawyer, despite how expensive he is and the appearance of his office alone shows just how well he’s doing for himself.

  “Kai, what the fuck?” I question him as he leaves me by the door and rounds the desk. Pulling open all the desk drawers and cabinets, he flips through the numerous files in them.

  Looking up at me, his expression falls and the color slowly drains from his face. “They’re gone,” he scoffs and slams his fists onto the solid mahogany desk. “Every fucking one of them.”

  “What’s gone?”

  Kai closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose as he clenches his jaw. “Stan. Dex. My father. Me. You.” His eyes flash open and a fire builds inside of them; a wildfire ready to begin its path of mass destruction. “Every fucking file is gone.”

  Dahlia

  Anthony’s house isn’t far from his office and Kai has us there in a matter of minutes. Driving like a madman, he swerved in and out of traffic and somehow managed to get us there in one piece.

  Wasting no time, Kai jumps out of the car, leaving me behind and marches up to the front door. He’s here on his own mission, with his own agenda, and I’m in the fucking dark right now.

  Quickly climbing out of the car, I jog after him and follow him into the house as he lets himself in. The house is dark, except for one room. Light from inside spills out into the main hallway and it leads us right to Anthony.

  Kai shoves the door open, letting it smack the wall as he enters the room with me on his heels. Anthony sits in a massive chair, his hair a mess and clothing disheveled, as he spins a crystal tumbler filled with amber liquid on the top of his desk.

  “Ah., there he is.” Anthony smiles as he tips his glass to Kai. “Rage looks good on you, Kai. You should learn how to channel it properly.”

  “Fuck you, Anthony,” he seethes as he enters the room. “Tell me what the fuck is going on.”

  “Hmm,” Anthony murmurs as he takes a sip of his drink. “I’m guessing you already went to my office.”

  Peering around Kai, Anthony spots me and smiles. “Dahlia. Please, come in too.”

  Kai glances over his shoulder at me and gives me a small nod as I walk up beside him. Turning back to Anthony, his face turns to stone. “What’s your angle here, Anthony? Every file is gone. Every file that is filled with information that cannot get leaked.”

  Anthony rolls his eyes and motions for the two of us to sit.

  “I’ll stand,” I chime in curtly and Kai stands completely still.

  “Very well,” Anthony sighs. “I may be an old man, Kai, but I’m not a foolish one. The files were burned, to cover your ass.”

  “I don’t need anything from you.” Kai’s voice is as sharp as a shard of glass. “They fucking got to her, thanks to you.”

  “You know, I can’t argue with why you’d think that but you’re wrong,” Anthony says, leaning forward on his desk. “You fucked me and I don’t doubt that you’re the reason why Aliana’s dead.”

  “Fuck,” Kai mutters under his breath as I glance between the two of them.

  “Yeah.” Anthony’s eyes grow dark. “Fuck is right.” He takes another sip of his drink as Kai drops down onto one of the chairs across from him. “I could have exposed every single secret, but I didn’t. Luca is a shit father and you deserve to have someone in your corner. Every child does.”

  “I’m not a child,” Kai mutters between his clenched teeth as I sit down next to him.

  Anthony smiles and glances between the two of us. “No, no, you’re not.”

  Kai ignores what Anthony says and cuts right to why we’re here. “So, if you didn’t tell them where to find her, who did?”

  “They always knew where she was,” Anthony admits. “Luca told them to go after her when you broke things off with Aliana.”

  “I don’t get her importance in all of this,” I interject and Kai quickly glances at me with a mixed expression. “Sorry,” I add as Anthony winces.

  “It’s fine,” Anthony replies, brushing it off. “Everyone had their own motives for them being married. Aliana wanted the fortune, which I condoned, and Luca wanted us tied together as assurance that if he ever went down, I would go down with him. And Kai was only doing what he thought was right to hold up his end of our deal. As we know now, Luca and Aliana were using Kai to keep their relationship hidden from the rest of us.”

  “And Luca is the only one who can tell that story.” Kai frowns as he crosses his arms over his chest.

  Anthony’s eyes are sad as he nods. “If only the dead could talk.”

  He lost his daughter and we’ve been too ignorant to even acknowledge that.

  “I’m sorry, for what happened to her,” I offer him some type of condolence. Kai glances over me with a knowing look and grabs my hand and squeezes it lightly.

  “My father won’t get away with this,” he adds.

  Anthony takes another sip of his drink and smiles as he swallows. “Oh, I know. I’ve already made arrangements to ensure that he properly pays for what he did. Aliana may not have been a good person, but she was my daughter and for that, Luca will suffer.”

  Kai tenses beside me and clenches his jaw. “We plan on paying Luca a visit tomorrow.”

  Anthony’s brow furrows as he purses his lips and shakes his head. “That won’t be necessary; he’ll be taken care of by then.”

  “What have you done?”

  “It’s already done.” Anthony smiles. “The plan is firmly in place and being followed.”

  Kai drops my hand as he quickly jumps to his feet. “Call it off, Anthony. We’re dealing with this.”

  Hesitantly, I rise to my feet and stand next to Kai. “Anthony,” I say lightly. “With all due respect for Aliana, we can handle this. We will take care of Luca.”

  Anthony tilts his head to the side. “You two don’t get it.”

  “What’s to get, Anthony?” Kai barks. “Aliana can’t avenge her own death, but we can.”

  And he will pay for what he did to us.

  Anthony disregards Kai and refills his glass. “You know, regardless of how much you do in the world, your greatest accomplishment will always be your child. Even when they don’t turn out the way that you intended.” Anthony gives us a sad smile. “I’m sorry that the two of you never got the chance to know her. Maybe if you did, you would have a better understanding.”

  “Know who?” Dahlia demands, but her voice is fragile. “You have anothe
r daughter?”

  “Fuck, no. One was enough for me.”

  Slamming his hands on the desk, Kai leans down in Anthony’s face. “Who the fuck are you talking about?”

  He looks back and forth between us, his eyes laced with sorrow. He takes a big gulp of his drink before taking a deep breath.

  “Your daughter.”

  Kai

  Our daughter?

  We have a daughter?

  I glance over at Dahlia as the color drains from her face. My heart slams against my rib cage as my stomach drops to my feet.

  It’s not possible.

  Looking back at Anthony, I narrow my eyes at him. “You’re a fucking liar.” I bark as I slam my fists on his desk. “I don’t know what you’re trying to do here, but—”

  “Kai,” Dahlia’s voice is quiet as she cuts me off. “I don’t think he’s lying.”

  Anthony crosses his arms over his chest defensively and leans back in his chair. His expression is soft as he diverts his gaze to Dahlia.

  “You know about her?” he questions her calmly.

  Dahlia shakes her head as she sits down in the chair behind her. “I don’t, but I met a little girl and I had this feeling... I can’t explain it.”

  Anthony purses his lips as he nods slowly. “That’s right, at the coffee shop.”

  Standing in place, my body falls rigid as my eyes bounce back and forth between the two of them. “What the fuck are the two of you talking about?”

  Reaching out, Dahlia grabs my hand and squeezes it lightly. “Kai.” Her bright green eyes are damp and her voice is small and pleading. She takes me back, years ago, to the young girl who took my heart and ran with it.

  Taking a deep breath, I sit down beside her and hold her hand tightly in mine.

  “Please, just listen to what he needs to tell us,” she urges. “He has no reason to lie because there’s nothing for him to gain from fabricating a story like this one.”

  In disbelief of her ignorance, I shake my head and scoff. “And what makes you think that?”

  Dahlia stares me down with conflicted eyes. “Because, the little girl that I met at the coffee shop looked exactly like you.”

  Dahlia

  The air in the room is thick with tension and silence fills the empty space. Kai’s face pales as a wave of confusion passes through his soft brown eyes. His internal conflict is evident as his mind attempts to process my words.

  As soon as the words left my mouth, reality slapped me in the face. Reality’s a bitch and she’ll hit you harder than a freight train when you least expect it.

  Tearing his eyes and his hand from mine, Kai leans forward as he reaches behind his back. Leaning back in his seat, he pins his gaze on Anthony as he carefully rests his pistol on his lap. Anthony glances down but remains impassive and unaffected by the subtle threat.

  Kai clears his throat and cocks an eyebrow when Anthony looks back up at him. “You have ten seconds to start talking or I won’t even think twice about leaving your brains scattered on the wall.”

  Shaking his head, Anthony sighs and rolls his eyes in annoyance. “Your threats are not necessary, Kai. I have no intention of withholding any information from you.”

  Kai scoffs. “Because you didn’t in the past, right?”

  “Anything that I have ever kept from you was because it was in your best interest.”

  Glancing at the wall behind Anthony, Kai motions to the clock with his head. “Stop stalling. You have five seconds.”

  My face contorts as I spin to face him and narrow my eyes. “You will not be killing him,” I bite out before lowering my voice. “We fucking need him and we might in the future too.”

  Kai’s eyes soften at my words and he nods slightly before turning back to Anthony.

  “Talk.”

  Taking a sip of his drink, Anthony sets it on his desk and settles back in his seat.

  “After the farm was raided, Dahlia was taken to the hospital as part of their protocol to make sure that she wasn’t harmed in any way. Because of her age and stature, no one had noticed that she was pregnant until she arrived and they had to run some tests.”

  How did I not know that I was pregnant?

  “I was surprised when your parents contacted me. After I found out about what Luca was doing at the farm, I was surprised that he hadn’t taken extra precautions with any type of prevention.”

  “No,” Kai interjects. “They made sure that all the girls were on birth control. I was sure to give Dahlia hers every day.”

  The pills they were giving me… the pills that I didn’t take.

  Both men look at me at the same time and I look down at my feet as I feel the room is closing in on me.

  “Dahlia...” Kai’s voice trails off as he looks at me with a hint of suspicion in his eyes.

  Keeping my gaze on my feet, I pinch my eyes shut as the puzzle pieces fall into place. “I didn’t take them,” I whisper, feeling the tears fill my eyes

  “Fuck,” he breathes in disbelief and a pained expression forms on his face as I glance up at him.

  I completely and utterly fucked everything up.

  It all makes sense… the subtle weight that I had gained, the sickness that I experienced early on.

  “I didn’t know what they were,” I whisper, shakily as the tears fall from my eyes. “I’m so sorry.” My voice cracks. “I’m so fucking sorry.”

  Kai reaches for me and pulls me to my feet before pulling me into his arms. The tears flow freely as I cry into his shirt. “I fucked everything up,” I sob.

  “Shh,” he says quietly, stroking my hair. “It’s not your fault, bambolina. You didn’t know and I should have told you.”

  Pulling back, Kai takes my face in his hands and brushes the tears from my cheeks. “I’m the one who fucked up, not you. I was supposed to keep you safe, from everything and anything.”

  Anthony let us have our moment to collect ourselves as much as possible.

  “How did no one know?” I choke out, swallowing hard over the lump still lodged in my throat.

  Anthony shrugs lightly. “Everyone’s body is different and sometimes their bodies don’t show that they’re pregnant like they typically would.”

  The whole night plays in fast forward in my mind, although most of it is hazy and hard for me to remember the specifics.

  “How did they hide it from me?” I question him as Kai holds onto me silently.

  Clearing his throat, Anthony leans forward and rests his arms on his desk. “They had you heavily sedated after they separated you and Kai. When they got you to the hospital, you started bleeding and your water had broken, which was when they realized that you were in preterm labor.”

  “Jesus fucking Christ,” Kai breathes as he squeezes me tighter, but I can barely feel his touch. I’m numb and feel as though I’m not even in my own body as I listen to Anthony speak.

  “You were around thirty-three weeks and they found that the cord was wrapped around the baby’s neck so they rushed you in for an emergency C-section.”

  I stare at him in confusion, but also in a state of shock. “They told me that I had to have my appendix removed.”

  Anthony frowns apologetically. “They didn’t give me all of the details, only the ones that they felt were pertinent to the situation.”

  Kai shifts slightly underneath me as he clears his throat. “So, what happened with the baby then? What did you do with her?”

  Silence fills the room for a moment as Anthony’s eyes shift to mine. The little girl floats into my mind as I recall the incident at the coffee shop. She was looking for her mom, who I now realize recognized me when she found her daughter.

  “You gave her to another family,” I announce, fighting against the emotion building deep inside of me.

  Kai’s body goes rigid and his arms lock around my waist. “Who are they?” he demands loudly.

  Anthony scowls as him. “A family that I would trust my own child with.” A flash of sadness passes through h
is eyes as his last words are spoken.

  “That doesn’t answer my fucking question,” Kai growls, tightening his grip on me subconsciously.

  Running his hands over his wrinkled face, Anthony lets out a deep breath. “Dahlia’s mother knows them personally. She made the arrangements with them.”

  My brows pinch together as I shake my head at him. “That’s not possible. None of my parents’ friends had any young children. I would have seen her, she would have been around.”

  “Dahlia, you have to understand that is one thing that I cannot tell you.”

  “So, who the fuck are they?” I demand, raising my voice slightly. “What fucking family are they then?”

  “Like I said, I don’t know the specifics, but they are a good family,” Anthony explains. “You need to go talk to your parents, Dahlia.”

  “Fuck no,” I scoff. “So they can lie to me about more shit than they have already? Hard fucking pass.”

  Kai squeezes me lightly. “He’s right, bambolina,” he tells me in a hushed voice. “They are the only way that we’re going to get the full story and all of the answers that we need.”

  My mind is swimming in the overload of information that’s been fed to me and I don’t know what the fuck to do with it.

  But, Kai… he’s the only voice of reason that I have and I can’t fight him.

  I know that he’s right, even if I don’t want to admit it.

  Anthony gives me a pained look, with his eyes filled with sorrow. “Please, go talk to your parents, Dahlia and just listen to what they have to say. They can tell you more about what happened than I can.”

  Lost in the dark depths of my mind, I stare at him blankly and nod. “I will,” I assure him, the sound of my voice is foreign and distant.

  “Come on, bambolina,” Kai says in a hushed voice as he lightly squeezes my hand. He leads me across the room and pauses as we get to the door to look behind us. “Thank you, Anthony… for everything.”

  “You don’t have to thank me for anything, Kai.” Anthony smiles. “Isn’t this the part where you kill me before you leave?”