Chapter Twenty-Six
Sabrina.
My stomach collapses through my arse and falls straight through the hardwood floors beneath me when I see not only my mother but also my Parker standing beside her.
My pink parts grow warm and tingly at the sight of him.
He looks like he hasn’t slept very well, and I probably look the same.
His mismatched eyes connect with mine, and I swear my heart stutters and stops.
He swiftly lifts a brow and lets it drop, keeping his features neutral, and I understand exactly what he’s saying— “Don’t break, baby. Just a little more.”
My knees buckle a tad at the need to run to him; to jump on him and kiss him and cradle him to my chest and hear him tell me he loves me, that he’ll never leave. I will my legs to carry me further into the den. “Mum, what are you—”
“Matilda!” Mr. Ainsworth booms from the other entrance, with a smile on his face. He makes his way towards us and opens his arms in a welcoming hug. It feels like a Judas moment.
Mother leans into it. “Alfredrick.”
I swallow my snort, and my mother’s nostrils flare in my direction in that motherly way, telling me to behave just before they pull away. Alfredrick drops his hands to his front and clasps one over the other. “So, to what do I owe the pleasure?”
“Right. Well, you’ll have to forgive me, Alfredrick. I haven’t heard from my daughter in days, and well, that’s unusual for us. She and I are close. I had to come see her for myself.”
Mr. Ainsworth nods in understanding. “Well, as you can see, she’s perfectly safe here. No harm has come to pass to your daughter. As a matter of fact, it’s been such a… joy having her here.” They both deadpan my way, and I smile my most dazzling smile.
My mother arches a groomed brow. “Right. Well, if you don't mind, I'd like to speak to her privately.”
Alfredrick’s lips form a thin line before he so graciously agrees and leaves us.
I sit on the sofa, and Mum takes my lead, sitting beside me, her knees and body twisted toward me. She places her hand on my knee and squeezes ever so gently. “Tink?”
“Yes, Mum?”
Her green eyes shine as she looks me over, reaching over and pushes my hair away from my face as mothers do, wincing when she notices the flare of hives along my neck.
“Is it bad?”
She fixes my hair to hide it again and lies to me as expertly as she can, though the sadness in her eyes overflows. “Nothing a chamomile and oat milk bath won’t fix when you’re home.”
Home. The rudimentary word feels heavy and foreign in my mind.
Granted, it’s only been but a few days since I’ve been at Barclay House, but it feels like years.
It feels like eons since I’ve been in Maksim’s arms, and it feels even longer since I’ve been in Parker’s embrace.
I can feel his eyes on me, but I know if I look up, I'll break. And I can't have that. Not now. Not when I'm so close. I lower my voice. “Please tell me there’s a plan because they’ve taken him back down to the facility he’s in, and I’m going to go in.
The nurse that’s been in charge of helping him, Alice, is going to help me break in. ”
Mum also lowers her voice. “And how do you know you can trust her?”
I lift a shoulder and let it drop. “Because she’s been helping Maksim and I… erm…” I flick my gaze to Parker and he smirks. There go my pink parts. “Get together.”
Mum lets out a soft laugh and pats my knee, leaning closer. “I hope you know I’m going to write this story, Tink. It's going to be an international bestseller. I can feel it in my bones.”
“Well, I have to survive it first. But this nurse. Her name is Alice. She says her mum was Sarah.”
Mum leans back, eyes wide. “Sarah?”
I nod. “You know her?”
She clears her throat. “Ah, yes. Well, you may not remember this; it was right before our last move from the States back to Kensington before your brother passed, you might have been nine…” She puts her fingers on her forehead as if trying to recall.
“But do you remember when I called Kane’s mother a maid-stealing cow? ”
“That was her?”
“Sarah worked for me briefly for maybe two years while you were in the States, but she was the best maid I’d ever had.
I could trust her with anything, and I did.
Good people, that one. When she left here, I thought it was for a better opportunity, but then Addabelle invited me over for tea, and Sarah was there, large and very pregnant. ”
My brows furrow. "I'm not understanding.”
Mother stammers a bit, getting flustered. “I… I believe Alice may be your half-sister. Or, not really your sister at all, seeing as Derek is your real father.”
My jaw drops to my chest. “WHAT?! What in the Jerry Springer is my life?”
“Sabrina—”
“I KNEW IT!” I stand up and flutter about. “I knew I didn't get these hips from Father's side of the family.” I shudder. “Ghastly, those Winters. Your hips are so slim—”
“-Thank you—”
“-And Derek has feminine hips—”
“Don’t say that out loud or to his face; he’s very peculiar about his hips.”
“They’re lovely. I just wear them better. And how eager he was once you got married to get to know me, but it seemed as though he already knew me—all the signs were there. My god, Mum. What a time to tell me.”
“They are very nice hips. I like grabbing them during—” She stops when I grimace then sighs. “I’m very sorry this is how you found out. Christ, I’m making a mess of things. Sit down, please, you’re making me nervous.”
I sit.
“I believe Sarah was carrying on an affair with your—David—” she corrects herself, “—and left when she realized he wasn’t going to leave me for a… a maid, which honestly, I would have understood. Sarah was a lovely woman. I was a nightmare to be around.”
“You weren’t a nightmare. You were just… miserable. Everyone could see it.”
“I was miserable. The only thing that kept me alive those years was you, Charlie, and secret rendezvous with the love of my life." She bites her lower lip. “Christ, I hope Charlie didn’t go thinking I didn’t want to be around him. You two were—are—my light.”
“Oh, Mum,” I shake my head. “Charlie wanted you to leave the old sod. As much as he adored David and wanted to follow in his footsteps, he knew there were things in adult relationships we didn’t understand at that time.
But we both wanted you happy. I’m just sad he had to go for you to find your happiness. ”
She blinks back the tears and makes a motion with her hand as though she’s willing them to go away and out of existence.
“Well, that’s not what I came here for at all.
I thought the day I told you it would be over a glass of wine with Derek present.
So many times we wanted to tell you, but it never felt like the right time. ”
I shake my head. “With or without Derek, I’m glad you told me.
But now this Alice woman. Mum,” I say, but I’m looking directly at Parker as I say it.
“She said she was tied to the Ainsworths for some reason. We need to get her out of here, too. She’s petite.
Brown eyes. Blonde. Keeps her hair in a tight bun at the nape of her neck. She’s hard to miss.”
He dips his chin once as Mum’s eyes scan the room over my shoulder.
If anyone were behind me or partially eavesdropping, either of them would have said or done something to give me a clue.
She clears her throat and lowers her voice just a tad bit again to barely above a whisper and leans closer to me.
“Seeing as that’s out of the way, the boys will be here within the hour. You’re staying?”
“I leave with Maksim or not at all.”
“Sabrina—” Parker’s voice is rough, filled with want and a layer of protection.
“I know you want to keep me safe, I know you want me away from the danger, but I have to be here. I have to slaughter Kane, and I need to leave this prison with my husband in my arms.”
Mother makes a noise in the back of her throat. I feel my back straighten and my shoulders square back.
“Mrs. Barclay…” Kane’s voice is filled with a type of malice I haven’t heard in such a long time. It slides down my back like cold slime and makes my stomach go topsy-turvy.
I swallow down the bile just as Mother stands to greet him. “Kane, how lovely to see you.”
I stand up and face him, flashing him another pretty smile, and I hear a barely discernible low growl leave Parker when Kane’s arm goes about my waist. “Kane, Mama was just here checking in on me. Seems she’s been trying to get ahold of me, but there’s no reception on my phone.
Otherwise I would have communicated that I was just fine here with you. " I nuzzle into him. He smells bitter.
I grin wickedly as the hold he has on my waist turns into a pinch.
I do my best not to grimace, but Parker glowers, jaw flexing when he catches the movement.
I try to move, but all it does is twist my skin beneath the fabric.
Christ, I’m already itchy everywhere, this is just making it feel as though my flesh is being torn apart fiber by fiber and bleeding.
“Well, you aren’t a prisoner here, darling. You could have used the phones.”
I lift a brow and look up at him. “Didn’t know there were landlines,” I lie.
But his eyes are dulling, and his pupils are widening.
My brain goes on high alert as a memory snakes its way from the recesses of my mind to the forefront.
I’ve seen Kane like this before. A long time ago.
When Charlie was still alive. When he pulverized someone for touching me.
Then I saw it again on That Night. My brain is screaming for me to run.
DANGER! it blares. The hives are crawling, and I want to scream.
I don't know how much longer I can hold on. I’m going to fucking snap.
I try my very hardest to control my breathing, but the pain is rising.
In fact, under the hot flare of pain, I think Kane is pinching harder.
Don't break, don’t break, not now, you stupid bitch. We’re so close. I disguise the whimper in my throat as a small cough.
Mother must sense my climbing unease because she exhales loudly. “Sabrina, darling, walk me to the door, yes?”
“Of course.” I giggle softly, stepping away from Kane as he reluctantly lets me go.
“Quickly, Sabrina, I’d like to show you something. The other surprise,” he emphasizes, and I smile brightly at him. He turns his attention to my mother. “Mrs. Barclay.” He nods and steps away.
“Right…” I trail off and grab my mother by the elbow, moving us swiftly into the foyer, with Parker trailing behind us. I open the large oak door for her and give her a hug. “Mum—”
She embraces me, her touch burning where the hives are screaming. I shiver in her hold. “You’re not safe here anymore, are you?”
I squeeze her a little tighter just in case it’s goodbye. “No, Mum. I’m not.” But it’s not because of them. It’s because of what I’m about to do. “My work here won’t be done until I’ve slaughtered him and I've pissed on his corpse.”
Mama’s eyes flash with pride as she swipes under my eye with her thumb, then reaches for my hand, slipping something small and metallic into it. “Then do it well, Tink.”
“Give Derek my best!” I call after them with a wave and lean against the concrete pillar, letting the freezing air cool the burning irritation under my skin and simply breathe for a few beats until the Maserati is down the elongated drive and but a speck of cherry red.
I allow Kane to lead me down the corridors of a long hallway that seems to go at a downward angle, as though we’re going underground to a morgue. Truly, I would not be surprised if that’s where he’s taking me.
The best part of this ordeal… is that we’re alone.
Perfect.
“Just through here, darling,” Kane coos, untucking a badge from his inner jacket pocket and pressing it to a scanner by a set of heavy, steel double doors. Ah, so it’s been on his person this entire time. I scold myself for not being braver and getting closer to him to swipe it.
“Erm… Kane?”
“Yes, darling?”
“Where are we going?”
“Well…” he drags it out. “Seeing as the games were canceled today, I thought you’d like to watch me kill your husband.”
I step closer to Kane and lay my hand on his bicep.
“Kane… you’re always thinking of me.” Tipping on my toes, I slip my hand to the nape of his neck and pull him down for a kiss.
He groans into my mouth as his tongue tangles with mine and I…
put my hand behind my back and into the waistband of my trousers, remove the safety from my favorite birthday gift, and thumb the hammer down.
My grasp on his hair tightens and he chuckles. “My, my Sabrina… had I known this is what you needed from me to become so rambunctious, I would have done it sooner. Taken him out back and put him down like the beast he is.”
I grin against his lips. “Call him a beast again…”
Kane moans, “Beast…”
The warmth and the weight of Pixie, my gun, makes me shiver. I tuck the barrel of Pixie under his jaw and grip his hair even tighter. “Call my husband a beast again, Kanedrew. I dare you.”
“Bea—” he grunts when I bring my foot up and stomp my heels down on his toes.
He bends forward and I bring my knee up.
“Fack! Sabrina!” His hands go up to his bloody nose, and I go in for the kill, kicking my leg up right between his legs.
He goes down to his knees, and I grasp his hair again, holding Pixie to his temple.
I tilt my head to the side, watching as crimson oozes from his nose and mouth. “You’ve never been more beautiful to me than you are now, on your knees and bleeding for me,” I tsk. “Pity that. Now, take me to my husband, and I might let you live.”
That’s a lie, of course. But he doesn’t need to know that. After all, Kanedrew Cornelious Burton must die.