Beyond The Lies

by Abbi Cook

  My uncle smiles and begins to lead me back down the hallway to the living room where my parents wait for us. Patting my hand, he says, “I understand. I shouldn’t have mentioned it. I’m sorry about that. But I wanted you to know how fortunate you were to get out of there when you did.”

  Desperate for some shred of information to cling to, I ask as casually as I can, “So you mean all those people are dead?”

  Oh, God. Just saying that makes me feel like I’m going to black out. King can’t be dead. It’s not possible. Maybe he was still in the car driving back from my house when that all happened. It was a long drive back to the estate.

  But if that’s the case, why hasn’t he tried to contact me now that he’s no longer working for Duke? Wouldn’t he want to see me if he could?

  By the time we get back to the living room, my head is spinning and I don’t know if I can pretend to be okay for the next few hours here. I want to be at home where I can cry for the man I thought I’d see again. I didn’t know how or when, but I thought we’d be together again somehow.

  “Sophie, what’s wrong? You look as pale as a ghost!” my mother cries out as she rushes to my side to help me onto the couch.

  “I’m fine, Mom. I just felt a little lightheaded. It’s my first time out since I’m home, so maybe that’s it. I think if I can just have some water I’ll be okay.”

  A woman seems to appear out of nowhere with a glass of water for me, so I thank her and quickly down a ladylike gulp, hoping it helps my stomach settle. If only I knew the answer to the question I asked my uncle, I might feel better.

  After a few minutes of my parents worrying too much about me, my uncle returns and sits down next to me. Needing to know anything he can tell me about what happened at the estate, I quietly ask, “Did all those people die?”

  “From what I’ve heard, yes.”

  My mother begins asking questions about what we’re talking about, but I can’t seem to form a single word now. All of them dead? How?

  I want to ask so much more about what my uncle knows, but now that my mother has become curious, there’s no way I can. It feels like the world is spinning out of control around me, and all I can do is fight to keep the tears from coming at the thought that King is gone.

  Gone forever.

  My hands shake uncontrollably, and I can barely lift the glass to my lips to take another drink. I don’t want to be here. I want to go home.

  I want to see King, but I can’t. Not anymore.

  Not ever again.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Sophie

  My mother hovers around me as my uncle studies me like he can’t understand why I’d be in the least bit bothered by hearing that entire group of people I spent time around are now gone. And my father stands horrified at the mere suggestion that any part of my uncle’s world still touches me.

  “Victor, if you didn’t order that done to the people who held Sophie, then who did?” he asks pointedly, signaling he’s about a second away from blowing up.

  My uncle merely shrugs, clearly not interested in discussing the topic further. “I don’t know, but it wasn’t me. I had plans to strike at Duke for a while now, but I guess that’s been taken care of. However, that’s not why I invited you all here. Tonight is to celebrate lovely Sophie’s safe return and an offer from our brother to have her stay with him and Kaia to help out when the baby arrives.”

  I look around in shock at this news, my emotions suffering from near whiplash. I haven’t seen my father’s younger brother for years, and now he wants me to come live with him and his new wife? The man who wears the skull mask and terrified me when I was a little girl?

  “What? Uncle Ryker got married?” I ask, unsure which part of all of this stuns me more.

  My father shakes his head and smiles. “Not married, but he and Kaia are due to have a baby any day now. He asked me if you’d be interested in coming to live with them last week, but I didn’t know if you felt up to it.”

  “I’m not a nanny, Daddy. I don’t know the first thing about helping with a newborn.”

  “Not as a nanny,” Victor explains to correct me. “Ryker tells me Kaia has been sick or something the whole nine months, so I think it’s more for company. I can’t imagine he doesn’t already have someone all lined up to handle the actual baby.”

  The way he says that—the actual baby—makes me smile, and I see my mother nodding like she thinks this is all a good idea. Is this some plan to keep me safe because they all think I’m in danger?

  “I don’t know. I like my place. I know I took the summer off, but I had planned to do things at school over break,” I say, just wanting to leave this house as my emotions begin to bubble up inside me over the news that King is gone forever.

  But I can’t show any of them how I truly feel, so I push it all down and pretend to be fine.

  My mother sits down next to me and pats my hand in that way she likes to when she’s worried. “From what I’ve heard, she’s had a terrible time of it with this pregnancy. You’d be perfectly safe there, honey, and she is close to your age.”

  “Really?”

  I silently do the math in my head as I remember how much younger Ryker is than my father and his other brothers. It makes sense that he’d be with someone closer to my age than my parents or Uncle Victor’s.

  Then my mother’s words about being perfectly safe ring in my ears. But safe from what?

  “Is there something you’re all not telling me? Why would I have to worry about being safe now?”

  Victor answers abruptly before my parents can come up with something to soothe my mind. “They never found out who killed Duke and his men. Your uncle and I are concerned that you may have seen something that could put you in danger. It’s more a cautionary measure than anything else.”

  “So the whole bad pregnancy thing was a lie?” I ask the three of them.

  My mother quickly shakes her head. “Oh, no. Kaia has been sick for months, the poor thing. Her blood pressure skyrocketed, and she’s been forced to stay in bed since April. They were afraid she might lose the baby.”

  She pauses and then adds, “I think it might be nice for everyone involved. You’d get a change of scenery, and she’d get a new friend.”

  The last thing I want to do now is go live somewhere strange to me and make friends, and the idea that a pregnant woman consigned to her bed might not want to entertain a new friend or anyone else doesn’t seem to have figured into my family’s planning. A memory of all of us visiting Ryker’s home right after my grandfather died when I was a little girl flashes through my mind. The estate was big. Maybe it would be nice to go somewhere new for a few weeks.

  Somewhere I can get lost.

  Somewhere to forget.

  “I need to be back for when school starts next month, though. The semester begins the last week of August, so I want to be home by mid-August at the latest.”

  “Then it’s settled. Tonight, we’ll celebrate, and then tomorrow you can go to Ryker’s,” my uncle announces before his maid appears with a tray full of glasses of champagne.

  None of this feels like the way I wanted to spend my summer, but I can’t deny that sitting in my house watching out the front window for any sign of King isn’t how I wanted to spend the next couple months either.

  I catch myself as I think this and wince at the pain that settles into my chest. Is he really gone?

  My Uncle Ryker’s living room hides the fact that like most of the rest of our family, he’s a man involved in what my father likes to say is a life of crime. Beautiful furniture and artwork make it look like he’s a man of culture, but I know better.

  The last time I saw him I was ten years old at my grandfather’s funeral. While my father and Victor seethed at one another, Ryker stood off to the side alone, wearing that terrifying skull mask and unwilling to join in with any of the family. He looked like some angry specter amidst all those people telling stories about my grandfather and what kind of man he wa
s. Now, eleven years later, here I sit in his home waiting to see him for the first time since that day and unsure what to expect.

  As I think about that horrible day so long ago, he strolls into the room and stops dead in front of me. I look up to see him unfasten his mask, letting it drop into his hand before stuffing it into his suit pocket.

  “Sorry about that. Kaia made me promise that I’d take it off before walking in here, but old habits die hard. I’d know you anywhere, Sophie. You look like the spitting image of your mother. Thank you for coming to stay with us.”

  He extends his hand to shake mine, and I notice the tattoos that extend onto his wrist as his suitcoat and white dress shirt ride up on his arm. I’m struck by how different he is from my father.

  But he looks like my father with the dark eyes and strong jawline my mother always says makes him the most handsome man in the world. Now without the mask, I can see how my uncle could be that too for many women.

  “I’m happy to, Uncle Ryker. I was sorry to hear Kaia had such a hard time, but my mother told me the baby finally came yesterday. Congratulations!”

  The man beaming his happiness at the birth of his first child looks nothing like the surly man who wore that skull mask that day so many years ago. Smiling, he nods to thank me.

  “Maxim Dmitri Varens came into this world yesterday afternoon with all the fight I expected him to have, and now his mother gets to rest for a few days to recuperate. She tells me sleep for us is a thing of the past, but that’s all he seems to do right now. I have to admit I spend more time than I should staring into his crib, to be honest.”

  I can see why my parents like this brother better than Victor. Ryker is charming and sweet, in the way only a bad man can be, of course. The same can’t be said for my other uncle.

  “Well, I feel sort of like I’m intruding on a personal time, to be honest, Uncle Ryker,” I say, suddenly unsure I should be hanging around their house at that moment.

  Shaking his head, he continues to smile, probably more about the birth of his son than anything I’m saying. “First of all, you can just call me Ryker. We’re family, and you’re a grown woman, so no more uncle stuff. Save that for Victor, who I know still insists on that kind of thing.”

  I can’t help but laugh at how true that is. “He really does get into that uncle stuff. I guess because he’s so much older than us.”

  Ryker rolls his eyes. “Probably to get under your father’s skin, too.”

  “I know! It’s like a death match when those two are in a room. I was afraid of who was going to throw the first punch last night.”

  As much as I want to ask Ryker if he knows what the source of the bad blood is between my father and Victor, I don’t. Somehow every time anyone brings that brother into the mix, things get ugly.

  “And Sophie, please don’t feel like you’re intruding at all. Part of the reason why I invited you here is to get you away from everyone else in the family, who I suspect have been hovering over you like a bunch of mother hens since you came home. Feel free to think of this estate as your own escape from the world. If you want to go anywhere, someone will escort you since I promised your father I’d keep you safe, but other than that, go anywhere you want on the estate. Jaxon and Cason work for me, so you’ll see them around, along with my other men, but you have free run of the place. I had one of the rooms in the east wing made up for you, but if you need anything, just come find me at my office down the hall.”

  He chuckles and then says, “Or in the nursery since I spend a lot of time there too.”

  “I will. Thank you so much, Ryker. I think I’m just looking forward to some time alone after all that happened,” I say quietly as I tug on my sleeves to make sure my forearms are completely covered, suddenly embarrassed by what I went through.

  But unlike everyone else with their soft tone when they talk to me about that, Ryker says in a voice that seems downright defiant, “This world we Varens live in can be ugly, but like I told your father, not everyone is Victor. Protecting family comes first before anything else, including business.”

  I’m not sure I understand what he means, but his hard expression tells me he believes in something his brother doesn’t when it comes to family. I like that. It makes me feel safe here, something I didn’t realize I needed until I left my house today.

  When he pulls me into his arms for a hug, I can’t help but relax. I can’t place how, but he reminds me of King.

  “Okay, I have more baby gazing to do before I get to work,” he says with a smile. “Remember, do whatever makes you happy here. Think of this as a vacation from the rest of the family and the world. I’ll catch up with you later today, but in the meantime, enjoy yourself.”

  “I will. Thanks!”

  He leaves me standing there in his gorgeous living room wondering if I’ll be able to do the one thing in this place that I couldn’t do at home.

  Forget King.

  I wander out into the hallway and realize I didn’t ask Ryker where my room is. The east wing, he said. Didn’t he? Or was it west wing? Looking left and then right, I can’t even figure out where west or east is.

  Making my way toward what looks like a stairway at the end of the hall, I peek into each room to see if it’s Ryker’s office but one after another turns out not to be what I’m looking for. A dining room and then a library I instantly think I want to take a better look at are followed by what looks like another living room. Finally, I hear men’s voices and poke my head into the last room to find Ryker sitting behind an enormous cherry wood desk. He’s put on his mask again and looks like that stern man from years ago, so much so that I hesitate to intrude.

  “Sophie, you look lost,” he says with a smile in his voice.

  “I forgot to ask where my room is exactly. I’m sorry to bother you,” I say as I inch into his office.

  Three huge men turn to look at me, and I suddenly feel about as big as an ant. My reaction is to shrink even more as they stare in my direction like they’ve never seen a woman before.

  “Gentlemen, this is Sophie,” Ryker says, making all three heads snap back in his direction. “She’s going to be living here for a while, so you’ll see her around the estate. She is to be given free run of my home and the grounds.”

  After each man nods, Ryker waves his hand and sends them away. I watch as the three men dutifully file through his office door on the other side of the room, impressed with how much power he exudes from behind that desk and behind that mask.

  “I didn’t mean to interrupt your meeting, Ryker. I’m so sorry.”

  He shakes his head. “No worries. Let me take you to your room. I should have done that before.”

  I follow him toward the door out of his office the three giant men in suits just left through, but behind me I hear a noise and turn my head just as another man enters from the other door. I only get a quick glance at him, but I’m surprised at how striking he is. The last I see of him is when he stops dead in front of Ryker’s desk and I hurry into the hallway.

  “Somebody walked into your office as we were leaving,” I say when I catch up to Ryker, who’s made it halfway up the stairs before I reach him.

  Looking back at me, he nods. “You’d be surprised at how many people I have to meet with day in and day out. I’m going to have to hang a schedule on my door so people have to make appointments now that Maxim is here,” he says with a deep chuckle.

  We walk in silence until we reach a door at the far end of the hallway on the second floor. He stops and turns to look at me, a smile wrinkling the skin around his eyes. “I’m not sure how I thought you’d find this all on your own for the first time. Kaia’s right. I clearly have to work on my manners. Again, if you need anything, just let me know.”

  “Thank you, Ryker. I’m sure I won’t have to bother you anymore.”

  With a gentle pat on my shoulder, he chuckles again. “No bother. Now back to work for me, unless Kane is back, which means I can go spend some time with my son and
his mother.”

  For a second, my heart skips a beat until my brain corrects what I thought I heard. Kane, not King. God, will I ever forget him?

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Kane

  My heart slams into my chest, and I press my palms to the top of Ryker’s desk as the room feels like it’s spinning around me. This isn’t happening. It can’t.

  I must be wrong. I haven’t been able to get her out of my head for the past month and a half, so that must be it.

  Fuck, it has to be it.

  “Kane, what are you doing?” Ryker asks as he slides behind his desk and sits down like he does a hundred times a day with me standing in front of him like I do every day.

  “Who was that you were walking out with a second ago?” I ask, barely able to contain my emotions as the words rush out of me.

  For once, I wish he wasn’t wearing that fucking mask. I need to see his expression, and right now, just seeing his eyes isn’t enough.

  “Sophie. She’s staying here for a little while,” he answers, making my heart slam into my ribs again.

  “Why?” I croak out, barely able to say that one word.

  Ryker leans back in his chair and folds his arms across his chest in that way he does whenever one of his men asks him something they shouldn’t. But I’m not just one of his fucking men, so he needs to goddamned answer me now.

  “I’d think of all the people in the world, you’d understand why she could use some time away from her family and everything else.”

  “Her family? You’re her fucking family. Did you somehow forget she’s a Varens?”

  “You know what I mean. Between Victor and my brother and sister-in-law, I don’t think she’s had a moment’s peace since she got home. Here she can relax and still be safe.”

  “Why did you do this, Ryker?” I ask before stumbling back into the leather chair against the wall.

  “I think I just answered that question, didn’t I?”