“Stop fighting!” Jenny’s voice echoed in the room. “I’ll go with you! Just stop!”
“No!” I pushed up—Jenny’s voice set off a surge of adrenaline.
“Don’t…” Pennington rose to his feet with me, and he was holding a piece of the shattered vase. “It’s over, Damien.”
“It’s fine.” Jenny held up her hands as she walked towards me. “We both knew he was going to come for me eventually.”
“You’re not leaving.” I reached for Jenny, but Pennington stopped me in my tracks with the piece of glass.
“Damien, you’re a tough mother fucker—I’ll give you that.” Martinez chuckled and took a step back. “I’ll be sure and tell your dad that you put up a fight.”
“This isn’t over.” I stared Martinez down and searched for some sort of advantage—there just wasn’t one.
“It is.” Pennington threw down the piece of glass.
As much as I hated to admit it, he was right. Jenny was already too close for me to try something stupid. My head was spinning. I was pretty sure I had a mild concussion that wasn’t going to go away with Tylenol. My father’s bodyguards were going home with a few wounds, but they were leaving with my sister. There wasn’t a damn thing I could do. I needed to regroup and figure out what my next play was going to be—it certainly wasn’t going to be a fistfight with a behemoth and a giant.
“I’m sorry, Jenny.” My body tensed up as she walked towards the door. “I’m going to come get you—I promise.”
“Please don’t do anything stupid.” Jenny turned back towards me. “I’ll be okay. I’ve lived there seventeen years—another one won’t kill me.”
I was forced to watch as Jenny walked to the waiting car. Pennington and Martinez climbed in after her. The car pulled out of sight, and the wall became my outlet for the rage that was still coursing through my veins. I left two holes and several bloody fist prints on my way to get something to put on my head—and the stiffest fucking drink I could find. I was defeated, but I wasn’t done fighting—not by a long shot. I called Addison to ask what kind of options I had, but her response wasn’t the one I was looking for.
I need to go to my aunt’s house. My mom must listen to reason now—he just basically kidnapped her fucking daughter.
My head was hurting too bad for me to drive, and I fully intended to finish the drink in my hand. I also looked like I had just been through a war. I had blood on my shirt and part of it was ripped. I needed to take care of myself before I even thought about going to see her, so I arranged for a car and headed upstairs to the bathroom. My jaw felt like it could be cracked from the right hook Martinez laid on it. It hurt when I tried to squeeze it shut. I was going to have a knot on the back of my head, and my ribs were going to be bruise when the pain finally settled into muscles that covered them.
Leigh needs to get the fuck out of Sinn Manor. I can’t have both of them there—if my father is willing to resort to this, then he might be more dangerous than I realized.
I took a quick shower and then sent a message to Leigh. She didn’t respond immediately, so I finished getting ready to leave. My aunt’s house was several hours away. It would be late by the time I got there, but I couldn’t wait. Leigh could walk out of Sinn Manor on her own, but it was going to take a legal battle to get Jenny out of the devil’s lair. My father had plans for her based on what Leigh overheard, so while Jenny thought she could survive another year underneath his iron-fisted rule, I didn’t want to chance it.
“Mr. Sinn?” The driver stared at my door with concern on his face as he approached.
“Yes, I’m ready.” I nodded and walked towards him.
“Your door…” He blinked a couple of times in surprise.
“Girl Scouts are really pushy with their cookies this time of year.” I patted him on the back. “Let’s go.”
I need to call someone to fix that on the way—otherwise my house may get pillaged worse than Sinn Manor before I get back.
The adrenaline officially started to wear off once we were on the road, and the pain turned into a splitting headache instead of a mild one. Thankfully, it was just pain. It wasn’t serious enough for me to go to the hospital—not that I would have unless they wheeled me in against my will. I had one destination—one mission—and nothing was going to stop me. My mother was going to sign the paperwork. My father didn’t bother with an emergency hearing—he took Jenny by force. That meant we could flip it on him and call for the hearing ourselves. If we could get Jenny in front of a judge, she could tell the court that she didn’t want to live with our father. She was old enough to make that decision.
My father said I hadn’t been a problem for quite some time—he’s about to find out that is the furthest thing from the fucking truth.
Chapter Fifteen
Leigh
“Mom, what is going on?” I walked downstairs when I heard what sounded like yelling coming from the living room.
“Don’t worry about it, sweetheart. Go back upstairs.” My mother motioned to me.
“Is there a problem?” I ignored what she said and walked towards her.
“Edgar’s daughter just arrived. It’s a complicated situation.” She took my hand and squeezed it. “It isn’t our concern.”
The way they’re yelling at each other, it sounds like it’s going to be a concern for everyone in a ten-mile radius.
“It isn’t?” I raised my eyebrows. “She’s your stepdaughter now, right?”
“Edgar hasn’t told me much.” My mother sighed. “I’m not sure where Jenny has been staying, but apparently her mother left town, so Edgar had to send Pennington and Martinez to make her come back home.”
Oh god. Damien!
“On second thought, I will wait upstairs.” I pulled away from my mother and scurried up the steps.
My phone had been on the charger since I got home from work, and I had been so focused on my schoolwork that I hadn’t even checked it. I wasn’t expecting to hear from Damien after I told him I wasn’t able to meet him at the villa. Obviously, his afternoon hadn’t been as quiet as mine. I couldn’t help but fear the worst. Damien wouldn’t have just let them walk into his house and take Jenny—which meant something could have happened to him. I slammed my door as soon as I got to my room and immediately grabbed my phone. I had a message from Damien waiting on me.
Damien: You need to leave. Now!
Leigh: Hey, are you okay? Your sister is here.
Damien: I’m fine. I’m getting her out of there. You don’t need to spend another minute under that roof.
Leigh: I can’t leave right now. There’s too much going on downstairs. I think Jenny is having it out with your father.
Damien: I’m going to put a stop to whatever he has planned.
Leigh: He has no idea that I’m anything other than his new wife’s daughter. Let me use that to my advantage. Maybe I can find out more—something that could help.
Damien: It’s too dangerous. I don’t think it’s safe.
Leigh: If he’s doing something illegal, then my mother will have to listen to reason. Then we can all leave this place for good.
Damien: You might be surprised. Mine didn’t…
Leigh: She left town, right? My mother just told me.
Damien: My father knows she’s gone?
Leigh: Apparently so.
Damien: Be careful, Leigh. I have a bad feeling about this, and I think it may be much worse than we thought.
Leigh: I will.
I didn’t take Damien’s warning lightly. I was starting to get rather concerned as well. Jenny was very important to Damien, which meant she was important to me—even if I had never actually met her. I needed to figure out what Edgar had planned. If it was something illegal, I could go straight to the police and end it once and for all. If nothing else, I could keep an eye on Damien’s sister until he could figure out how to get her out of Sinn Manor. Edgar wasn’t going to let her leave without putting up a fight—she was part of his
plan—whatever it was.
I’ve never considered myself much of a hero, but I may be the only one with enough access to figure this out.
I exchanged a few more messages with Damien until the screaming downstairs finally stopped. A few seconds later, there were footsteps on the stairs. I opened my door just in time to see a girl with blonde hair stomp by. She made eye contact with me, but she didn’t stop. She kept walking until she got to one of the other bedroom doors—then she slammed it hard enough to make the new pictures my mom had bought rattle against the wall. I heard more footsteps and turned to see my mother walking up the stairs.
“I guess that was Jenny?” I motioned towards the door that was just slammed.
“Yes.” My mother nodded. “I think she got it all out of her system.”
“She looked old enough to decide where she wants to live.” I raised an eyebrow. “Why is Edgar so determined to make her stay here?”
“She was…” My mother exhaled sharply. “She was staying with Damien. It wasn’t a good environment. Edgar didn’t want to cause any problems as long as his ex-wife was there too, but when she left, he couldn’t let his daughter stay there any longer.”
“So, what Edgar said about Damien lashing out at everyone around him.” I tilted my head inquisitively. “It sounds to me like Edgar is the only one that has a problem with his son.”
I probably shouldn’t have said that, but I couldn’t help myself.
“It’s very complicated and none of our business.” My mother turned back towards the stairs. “Edgar wants us all to have dinner here tomorrow night—as a family. Please make sure you’re home in time.”
A family? What a joke… If we were a family, it would be our business.
I spent the rest of my evening trying to focus on schoolwork and constantly checking my phone for messages from Damien. Eventually, I fell asleep with my phone in my hand. I woke up the next morning to more yelling—this time it was coming from the room down the hall from mine. I peeked out my door to see if I could tell what was going on, but Jenny’s door was closed. A few minutes later, it opened, and Edgar stomped out of Jenny’s room. I quickly closed my door and ran back to my bed. I didn’t want him to think that I was trying to spy on their family drama—I was, but I didn’t want to get caught doing that when I needed to do a lot more digging into matters that were much more important than a screaming match with his daughter. I picked up my phone and still didn’t have a message from Damien, so I decided to text him.
Leigh: Hey, did you talk to your mother?
Damien: No. I made it to my aunt’s house, but my mother isn’t here.
Leigh: I thought that was where she went?
Damien: So did I. My aunt knows something, but she doesn’t want to tell me.
Leigh: It’s kind of important that she does…
Damien: I know. I’m not leaving without an answer.
Damien was on his mission, and I was on one of my own. I got dressed and went downstairs to see if I could do a little snooping but was greeted by the sight of Edgar’s two security guys standing by the front door. They didn’t look like they had the best night. Pennington had a cut on the side of his face and a swollen knot on his head. Martinez had his arm bandaged, and I could see speckles of blood on the gauze.
Being Edgar’s bodyguard is a lot more dangerous than I thought…
The wounds were fresh, and my heart dropped into my stomach when the realization struck me—Damien must have put up a fight when they came to get his sister. I was scared for Damien’s safety when my mother told me that Edgar’s bodyguards went to pick Jenny up—obviously I had a reason to be. I wanted to see Damien and make sure he was okay, but there was no way to do that if he was hours away—I would just have to trust that his version of okay wasn’t much different from mine.
“Are you leaving for work?” Pennington reached for the door to open it for me.
“Uh, no.” I shook my head back and forth. “I was just going to grab some breakfast.”
I wasn’t going to be able to do any snooping with the two of them standing guard by the front door. I walked into the kitchen, fixed a bowl of cereal, and ate it at the dining room table. I wasn’t really that hungry—my stomach was twisted in a knot—but it was better to go through with the lie I told Edgar’s bodyguards than run back upstairs the moment I saw them. Edgar was in his office—I could hear him on the phone, but I couldn’t make out what he was saying. I was just about to finish up my bowl of cereal when he walked out and spotted me. I hoped he would ignore me, but instead, he started walking towards the dining room.
“I’m sorry about last night.” He leaned against the door frame. “And this morning… Did we wake you up?”
“It’s no big deal.” I shrugged. “It was time for me to get up anyway.”
“Obviously you have realized by now that my daughter and I don’t have the best relationship.” He exhaled sharply and walked over to sit down.
Oh wow, this is going to turn into a whole conversation…
“I definitely got that impression.” I nodded and took another bite of my cereal.
“Jenny hasn’t had the best influences growing up.” He shook his head back and forth. “That’s my fault, but I’m trying to do what’s best for her.”
“My mother did the same for me.” I looked down at my cereal bowl.
That’s not entirely true, but she always thought she was even when she missed the mark by a mile.
“I wish my daughter was more like you.” His eyes clouded over, and it looked like there was an actual hint of pain in them. “Hopefully it’s not too late for her to see that I’ve always had her best interests in mind.”
Edgar got up and left the dining room. I wasn’t sure what to make of the conversation. He sounded genuine—his body language suggested that he meant every word he said—but it was a contradiction to everything that Damien had told me. Edgar stole Jenny’s trust fund—that didn’t sound like best interest to me. The fact that he apparently married my mother just to get rid of his ex-wife didn’t seem like it was in anyone’s best interest—except for Edgar—and whatever plan he had concocted.
He underestimated Damien—and me. I hope.
It was hard to focus on work with everything else that was going on. I was really, really looking forward to the weekend because I needed a break. With any luck, I would have more time to do some snooping around Sinn Manor. I doubted that Pennington and Martinez were going to stand guard by the door forever. It wasn’t like Edgar could keep Jenny hostage in her room. She was a high school student, and we were closing in on the end of the school year. Like me, she could probably leave Sinn Manor if she wanted, but she had to come back—otherwise Edgar would send his bodyguards to retrieve her. I was the one that kept walking right back into the devil’s lair voluntarily. I hoped I was making the right decision. I practically sprinted to the employee break room when it was time for my lunch break so that I could check in with Damien.
Leigh: Anything?
Damien: Yeah, I found out where my mother is.
Leigh: Where?
Damien: I’ll tell you later. She’s not going to be able to help.
Leigh: That means it’s up to me.
Damien: I would prefer if you just left.
Leigh: You know I can’t do that.
Damien: I’m headed back to Carson Cove. Can I see you tonight?
Leigh: Your father has decided that we’re going to have a family dinner. My attendance is mandatory. I don’t think you’re invited…
Damien: You really need to be careful.
Leigh: I will.
The rest of the day was spent tending to customers and dreading the evening at Sinn Manor. I expected the atmosphere to be rather tense. I didn’t know how Edgar would handle things if Jenny didn’t agree to sit down and go through his charade of a family dinner. I was going to have to be on my best behavior and pretend that I was supportive of the oddest dynamic anyone could create. There was a chan
ce some of Edgar’s lies would unravel once we were seated at the table—because Jenny knew enough about his history with Damien to start correcting him if he was dishonest. In a way, it would be better if the cloud of lies stayed in place until I was able to do more digging—otherwise I might be forced to take sides. If I was going to have a long-term relationship with Damien, I didn’t want Jenny to hate me—she was too important to Damien.
“We’re getting drinks tonight.” Hank walked up to me as I was clocking out for the evening. “You’re in, right?”
“I’m sorry.” I grimaced. “I have plans…”
“Damien Sinn?” Hank chuckled under his breath.
“Nah, it’s a family thing.” I shook my head back and forth.
Which is basically the same thing right now, except that he won’t be there.
I ran into Rosa on the way out—she tried to convince me that I should at least stay for one drink. I was tempted, but I needed a clear head, so I politely declined. I probably did need a drink because my stomach was in a knot the entire drive to Sinn Manor. Music could normally relax me, but my favorite Post Malone songs were just noise in my ears. I couldn’t focus on the lyrics with my thoughts spinning out of control. I finally decided to just turn the radio off and make the rest of the drive in silence. That didn’t help any, but at least I could play out a few scenarios in my head so that I would be prepared for them if they came up.
Who am I kidding? There’s no way to prepare for this.
“You’re here. Good.” My mother met me at the door. “Go upstairs and get changed—put on something nice.”
“For dinner at home?” I raised an eyebrow.
“Pretend you’re going to a restaurant.” She shooed me towards the stairs.
I could hear stuff going on in the dining room and kitchen as I walked up the stairs. Edgar didn’t have a live-in butler like I always imagined someone as well off as him would have, but he did have a crew to come and prepare the meals. I rarely ate at Sinn Manor unless I was grabbing a quick breakfast on the way out, but I had seen them around a few times. Jenny’s door was closed, and I didn’t know if she was in her room or already downstairs. I got my answer while I was getting ready—she walked by in a dress that looked like it cost more than everything in my closet. She might not have been happy to be there, but she was dressing the part.
Devious Intentions (Carson Cove Sandals Book 3) Page 16
