The idea nearly makes my head explode because he’s right. If Hampton thought Keira and I would marry, he’d have no reason to kill my family. It still doesn’t answer the question about whether or not Hampton pushed Keira to get close to me for hisown ambitions. Did she really care for me or was it a part of her father’s grand plan?
“If Hampton broached a marriage with Dad, Dad would have told him no,” Ash points out. “Hampton would see that as the ultimate in disrespect which could have motivated him to kill.”
“This is all speculation.”
But it’s enough to bring my anger surging back. "She still could have warned me! She knew what was happening in her own house."
Blaise rolls his eyes. “He probably kept her locked up like you do.”
“She knows how to escape. I showed her how. She could have warned me.”
“Hampton wouldn’t have looped her into his plan so she wouldn’t have known to warn you, but even if she did, if Hampton suspected she was communicating with you, he would have locked her down completely."
"You don't know that."
"Neither do you," Blaise counters. "You're assuming the worst because it's easier than considering the alternative."
"Which is what?" I demand.
"That she was as much a victim as we were."
I shake my head, unwilling to relinquish the certainty that's fueled me for ten years. "She had connections. Friends. Ways to get the word out if she really wanted to."
"Phoenix—" Ash starts.
"No." I cut him off. "I knew her. She was resourceful, determined. If she wanted to warn me, nothing would have stopped her."
"She's locked in her room," Flint points out, his voice maddeningly reasonable. "If she's so resourceful and you taught her how to escape, why is she still here?"
"She did. Last night. I caught her sneaking down the hall."
Blaise's eyebrows shoot up. "And you didn't think to mention this?"
"She was going to see her lover," I snap, my anger growing at the idea of another man touching her.
"Her lover?" Ash repeats skeptically. "In our house? Under guard?"
"Yes, her lover," I growl. "Why else would she be sneaking around in the middle of the night wearing next to nothing?"
“My question would be why wasn’t she sneaking out? Escaping? Why is she staying and putting herself through the humiliation you’ve promised her?” Blaise appears intrigued by Keira’s action.
“I told you, she has a lover?—”
“Or it’s the girl,” Blaise continues, ignoring me. “When I was undercover working with the Keans, Keira spent a lot of time with her. I always got the feeling she didn’t like her parents, but she loves that kid. Maybe she was checking on her since we’d just invaded their home.”
"At three in the morning? Kids are asleep then." I shake my head. "No. She has someone here. Someone she's been with all these years while I—" I cut myself off, not wanting to articulate what a sap I am.
"While you what?" Blaise presses. "Thought she was mourning you?"
I glare at him. "While I was planning how to destroy her family."
"Phoenix," Ash says quietly. "Is this really about the Keans, or is it about her?"
The question slices through my defenses. There’s no doubt I want Hampton Kean to pay for killing my family, but I can’t deny how much I need Keira to feel my pain. "It doesn't matter. Keira Kean is the daughter of the man who tried to wipe out ourfamily. Her punishment serves a purpose beyond my personal feelings."
I face my brothers again, resolve solidifying within me. "The other families need to see what happens when someone betrays the Ifrinns. Hampton will face justice for his crimes, but Keira will be my wife. My possession. Living proof that everything the Keans had now belongs to us."
"And after?" Flint asks softly. "After you've made your point?"
