Chapter 27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Thane
“We already know this!” Leo snaps, sounding very close to the end of his rope. “What is on the fucking footage?” he snarls, getting closer to an already trembling Curtis.
If this worm has ever made even one good decision, this has to be it. He can go around and act like a tough guy all he wants, but Leo isn’t one to mess with, not now. The aura that surrounds him is dangerous and threatening.
“She refused me! She wouldn’t let me mark her and said she wouldn’t give me a child. I offered her freedom if she helped me. I loved her, but she only loved that fucking guard!” Curtis spits out, still dancing around the subject.
“Who?” Leo barks. I’m not entirely sure where this is going, but I’m eager to learn more.
Curtis grits his teeth and his eyes return to mine. He locks his gaze with me, as if this sudden burst of confidence will help him. I didn’t mind. The guy can use his eyes however he wants, while he still has them.
“Harper. She was mine. He promised she would be mine. But once I got the chance, she refused me. She fucking rejected me. I would have taken care of her. I would have given her the world and the fucking sky if she damn well asked, but she kept refusing me. She wanted him, not me! Why? Why didn’t she want me? ” he screams at the top of his lungs.
Leo unfolds his arms as our gazes meet. I think we both know where this is going.
“Wait, Harper escaped. She ran,” I say. Curtis nods his head, averting his gaze to the floor as if ashamed by his outburst.
“Eight months later,” Curtis whispers, and I hold my breath, waiting for him to admit what I think he is about to, “Bree turned up on my doorstep. I found her in a basket,” Curtis adds.
“Is that what’s on the video? It was Harper, wasn’t it? The video is of Harper dropping Bree off. Harper is—” I glance at Leo, who is glaring at Curtis. If looks could kill, Curtis would already be six feet under.
Slowly, I turn my gaze back to Curtis. He curses and shakes his head again, as if he thinks the reality of the situation might fade, if he only keeps shaking his head. It has to be the most ridiculous attempt of a person forcing themselves into denial that I have ever witnessed.
“Harper, she… she’s Bree’s mother. And Bree is Harlow’s and Zara’s half-sister.
” Curtis swallows loudly. His eyes flicker up to me, only to look away in guilt once he notices the contempt on my face.
He is kidding himself if he thinks I am going to let him drop the subject after the bomb he just dropped.
“Keep going. Talk!” I snarl at him. My body shakes in rage. Every part of me: my muscles, body, and mind have one intention engraved in them—to kill him.
He says nothing more. In fact, he forces his lips in a thin line, as if demonstrating that I can’t get any more out of him. Ha, we will see about that.
I grab the knife and rip it out of his leg. I press the blade against his throat and snarl in his face. “What did you do?”
As adrenaline and rage boil my blood, my canines start protruding and fur grows along my arms. Curtis nods his head eagerly, obviously aware of how fucked he is.
“Hana had the footage from the laundry rooms!” Curtis cries out, trying to get further from the blade that is millimeters away from ending his pathetic life.
“Is that where she broke back in?” I growl the question. I can’t let him think he’s off the hook that easily.
Curtis shakes his head again. God, doesn’t this guy have any other way to deny something? He looks like a stupid old one-trick toy. I need fucking verbal answers, not this.
“She refused me. I couldn’t lose this place. I needed an heir.”
My stomach sinks as I realize what he refuses to say out loud. His words are pieces of a puzzle that have finally fallen into place.
“You raped her.” I stagger back, no longer caring about how much I want to slit his throat. “Bree is a product of rape?”
“I would have done anything for her! I offered her the world! Money, power, social status — everything could have been hers! I would have looked after her like no other man ever could! I loved her!” Curtis screams as I blink at him, unable to believe he is this delusional.
“But she didn’t want me. She didn’t want anything I offered.
No matter what I did, it wasn’t enough for her.
She left me no choice. She pushed me to do it.
That’s what your mother had on me. Harper still had her clothes from that night, so Hana and Sophia convinced your fathers to hack into our surveillance cameras for the video. ”
I want to show Curtis exactly what a rapist like him deserves. I want to kill him in the most painful ways I can imagine, but I have to hold back. I still need more information from him, and unfortunately, I also need him alive if I’m going to shut down these sanctuaries for good.
“Wait, how old is Bree?” I ask him.
“Five years older than Harlow and Zara.” Curtis hangs his head as the answer leaves his lips.
“Did you know? Did you have any idea who Zara and Harlow were when they came here?” I press.
Curtis shakes his head vehemently. “No, I didn’t know until their DNA results came back. We didn’t add either of their DNA to the registry until after Harlow ran and it dinged.”
“So how did they end up here?” I ask, starting to pace. I have to do something so I don’t snap this moron’s neck.
“There was a car accident, and the authorities said they received an anonymous tip about it. That two Omega girls were trapped inside a car, their parents dead. We were the closest sanctuary, so they were brought here,” he explains.
“And you didn’t recognize Harper from the accident?” I ask.
Curtis shakes his head. What is with him and all this shaking?
“No, there was nothing left of her. The car was completely burnt out. They found Zara and Harlow injured and unconscious on the side of the road. The authorities said it was a miracle they survived because they shouldn’t have been able to get out of the car.
Half of Zara's face was hanging off, and both of them were pretty banged up. Harlow had an arm and both legs broken. They thought Zara was dead when they found them,” he slowly explains.
“So, the authorities never looked into their parents?” The question leaves my lips before I can think of it.
“No, they took statements from the girls but didn’t investigate any further.
I swear I didn’t know who they were. They told us their parents’ names, but Harper was using an alias.
There was nothing left of their parents’ bodies to prove anything different.
No leads, nothing.” Curtis is clearly trying to make it seem like he didn’t have anything to do with the accident or Harlow and Zara ending up here.
I press my lips in a line, trying to make sense of everything when my phone starts ringing. It’s the security team at work. I leave Leo with Curtis as I take the call. “What’s up?”
“Ah, boss, there’s a fire, and it's bad. Merl is calling Raidon now, and the fire department is on the way. I think it was set deliberately,” he tells me. Cursing, I hang up and call Raidon.