She puts the gun in her lap, starting the car.
“You know,” she murmurs casually, “I never liked you. Whiny, ungrateful, little brat. It was bad enough I had to tolerate your miserable brother pawing at me, but you were just annoying.”
She hums under her breath, tapping her manicured nails against the wheel. “And then you went and got that damned bird that wouldn’t shut up. Not only did I have to tolerate sleeping inthe same house as your nosy mother and you, but to have to listen to that bird harping on and on?”
A memory stirs, one I hadn’t recalled from back then. Lucas didn’t come home alone that day. Rose was with him. That’s why he was so pissed I hadn’t cleaned his room. And when I had found TeeTee and screamed the house down, Rose just smiled.
Why didn’t I remember that?
I should have remembered that.
“You did that to TeeTee,” I breathe. “You killed my parrot.”
She scoffs. “Oh, don’t get so sentimental about it now. You had it coming. Because of you, I had to clean Lucas’s filthy room. Me, the heiress to the Carrington fortune! You little brat!”
With renewed anger, she lifts the gun and slams it against my cheek.
I cry out in pain, and she laughs. “You’re going to be screaming very soon. I promise you. And I’m going to enjoy every minute of it. You and Lucas have always been a thorn in my side. I never liked him,” Rose says, like she’s admitting a mild inconvenience. “He was just... the easiest path.”
My mouth goes dry.
“What path?”
“To Ethan.”
The words land like a slap.
I blink at her, stunned, my heart hammering against my ribcage.
“You think I wasted all those years on Lucas because Ilovedhim?” she sneers. “Please. Lucas was pathetic. But Ethan... Ethan was always different. Special. Powerful. And I wanted him. I deserved to have him, and—” She smiles now. “—deep down he knew we were meant to be together. He just had a tough time admitting the truth to himself. Once that restraining order expired, I was going to come back. I was going to convince him. And when I saw him at the fundraiser,I just knew he was there for me. He could feel me in the room.”
She spares me a glance, her eyes glittering with hate. “But you came along, forcing yourself on him, trying to trap him. I knew I had to convince you to let him go. But you siblings are so stubborn. I thought if I told you he had feelings for me, you would let him go, but you’re just a desperate little tramp, like your brother, clawing for glory and power that you don’t deserve. You and your brother have the same problem. You keep forgetting your place!”
I grip the seat, my nails digging into the worn leather.
“You’re sick,” I whisper.
Her grin widens. “I’m determined.”
The city blurs past the windows, the world outside too fast, too far away. Gray clouds hang low over the buildings, and I can see people hunched in their coats on the sidewalks. No one sees me. No one knows. I'm a captive in plain sight, the weak afternoon sun doing nothing to warm the chill that has settled deep in my bones.
“You dumped Lucas,” I rasp, needing her to keep talking.
To stall.
To survive.
She shrugs. “Had to. Once Ethan got that ridiculous restraining order, there was no point pretending anymore. I tried to talk to him. I told him I was willing to leave Lucas for him at my engagement party. I even tried to drug him. I thought if he tasted what I had to offer, he would never be able to let go, but he just didn’t understand what I was giving him. That stupid shadow of his, dragging him out of the party. Jake.”
Her lips curl.
“Lucas was furious, of course, when I finally dumped him. Like it wasmyfault he was never enough. But none of it mattered. Not really. Because I knew—one day—I’d find a way back to Ethan.”
“And now?” I manage to choke out. “You think kidnapping me is going to—what—make him love you?”
Rose’s hands tighten around the steering wheel, her nails digging into the hard leather. Her smile slips, the rage boiling under the surface breaking through.
“Ithink,” she says in a low, vicious voice, “that you stole something from me. Something that was supposed to be mine.”
