Chapter 5 - THE LIE BENEATH THE LIE
Damien hit Corbin before anyone could react.
One second Corbin was smiling.
The next he was on the floor.
Blood ran from his mouth.
Briar flinched.
“Stop!”
Damien grabbed Corbin by the collar.
“My wife’s father died before she did.”
Corbin laughed through bloody teeth.
“The man she called Dad did.”
Damien’s fist tightened.
“But he wasn’t her father.”
Victor took the flash drive.
“We verify this first.”
Damien released Corbin.
“Put him downstairs.”
Corbin looked at Briar.
“You still hate loud rooms?”
Her breathing stopped.
Damien noticed.
Corbin smiled wider.
“Still sleep with the bathroom light on?”
“Shut up.”
“Still wake up when somebody touches your wrist?”
Briar’s eyes burned.
Damien stepped toward Corbin.
Briar grabbed his arm again.
“No.”
Corbin laughed.
“Look at that. You found another control freak.”
Damien slowly turned his head.
“Victor.”
“Yeah?”
“If he speaks to her again without permission, break his jaw.”
Victor nodded.
“Gladly.”
They dragged Corbin away.
Briar stood frozen.
Damien said nothing.
That helped.
After a minute, Caesar pressed his head against her hip.
She crouched and buried her fingers in his fur.
“I hate him,” she whispered.
Damien heard.
“Good.”
She looked up.
“I used to love him.”
Damien’s face remained unreadable.
“That doesn’t mean you owe him anything.”
“Easy for you to say.”
“No.”
His eyes darkened.
“It isn’t.”
Briar remembered the photograph.
“Elena?”
Damien walked toward the windows.
“I loved her enough to ignore what I should have seen.”
“What did you ignore?”
“That she was afraid.”
Briar looked at him.
“She never told me why.”
His jaw flexed.
“I thought if I gave her guards, money, houses, whatever she wanted, I could keep her safe.”
“You can’t protect somebody by building a bigger cage.”
Damien looked at her sharply.
Briar regretted saying it.
Then he nodded.
“I know.”
Victor returned carrying a laptop.
“We checked the drive.”
Damien turned.
“And?”
“There’s a video.”
They gathered around the screen.
The footage was grainy.
A warehouse.
Elena.
Alive.
Arguing with a man whose back faced the camera.
Then the man turned.
Briar’s heart stopped.
She knew that face.
Not well.
But she had seen it in old photos Corbin kept hidden in a drawer.
Damien whispered, “Who is he?”
Briar couldn’t answer.
Victor looked at her.
“You know him?”
Briar forced air into her lungs.
“Yes.”
Damien’s gaze shifted to her.
“Who?”
She swallowed.
“Corbin’s father.”
The room fell silent.
Then the man in the video turned toward the camera.
And Briar saw the same tattoo Corbin had.
Three black crowns.
Damien reached for his phone.
“Bring Corbin back.”
Victor didn’t move.
“Boss.”
“What?”
May you like
Victor’s face had gone pale.
“He’s gone.”
