73 - Anything else I should know?

"A truth that's told with bad intent Beats all the lies you can invent."

― William Blake, Auguries of Innocence

. . .

I was sitting in the car, curled into a ball as Xerxes drove. I was eyeing his gloves. He had been wearing them since yesterday.

Ashton was sitting beside me and Zavier was in the front with Xerxes. We were about half a day away from New York. We had driven the whole day

today, the Creeds taking turns.

We were going to stop for the night sometime soon.

I wasn't talking to them. I was mad. I was so mad at them. They had tried to talk to me but I didn't reply only nodded or shook my head when necessary.

We stopped in behind a large building. It was a big hotel.

"It's our hotel," Ashton told me quietly. "We will go in by the back entrance." We had changed our routes multiple times and now our car was different, too. There were fewer chances of us getting spotted now.

I nodded at him and we got out of the car, Xerxes helping me out.

We entered the building. The back entrance was isolated and when we moved, no staff looked at us twice. We entered an elevator and Zavier pushed the top floor button.

"Be ready at eight in the morning," Xerxes said. I nodded, folding my arms against my chest.

We stepped out of the elevator and Ashton took a card out of his pocket, handing it to me. "Master key. Gives access to every room including ours." He pointed towards the three doors and then at another which was across them. "That's yours. Your father won't be able to get inside this hotel...if you feel scared you can come to us."

I nodded taking the card and my bag from him. I walked inside the room and closed the door behind me.

It was a large modern room with a giant king-sized bed and a television. There was no phone. My anger shot up.

I took my clothes off and wore another nightgown. They had packed many of its clothes, especially the questionable underwear.

I laid on the bed and covered myself with the blankets.

Again, I couldn't sleep.

After a few hours of watching the television, the door of my room opened, and Zavier entered.

"Hey, kitten." He walked closed and got on the bed. He picked me up and sat me down between his legs

"What are you watching?"

I stayed silent. He tucked me closer to his chest. "Talk to me, baby." I stayed silent.

I wanted to scream at them, demand why they kept this from me, demand what else they were keeping from me.

"Why?" I asked finally. "Be honest."

He sighed, wrapping his arms around me tightly. He stayed quiet for a while and then he started speaking.

"I don't know." He turned me around, looking down at me in the golden light of the lamp. God, he was magnificent. "I don't know." He let out a bitter chuckle. "We didn't want you to worry, which sounds shitty, I know. We didn't want to risk you leaving us."

"You thought I'd never find out?" I asked. Secrets are not a thing you can just hide in a box. They are alive things, they escape from whatever box you put them into.

His jaw clenched, he looked angry at himself. "I am so fucking sorry, Kitten. How can I make up to you?"

"Tell me everything," I said, cupping his face because I didn't want him to hate himself but my words were steel. "And promise to never hide anything again." My thumb brushed over his cheekbone. "And I'll forgive you."

He gulped harshly. "We should probably get Ashton and Xerxes here."

I nodded.

. . .

"No laps," I said firmly as Xerxes tried to pick me up. He sighed, pressing a kiss to my forehead as grabbed a chair, pulling it closer to the edge of my bed. He sat in the middle with Ashton and Zavier on either side of him. I wrapped the blanket tightly around me.

"Whatever you want to ask, ask." Ashton ran a hand through his very messy hair, not looking me in the eye.

"Okay," I whispered. "How is my father tangled with the Bratva?"

"He was broken out of the prison." Zavier looked me in the eye. "By...Professor Deniver, which I'm sure isn't even his name. He appeared out of nowhere a few years back."

"Excuse me?"

"He is known as 'The Skull'. He breaks prisoners out for Bratva. He broke your father out and your father joined Bratva. Joining Bratva, it seems, is the price for freedom," Ashton said, drumming his long fingers on the armrest of his chair. "Your father joined and since then, the trouble between us and Bratva stirred. I suspect he works close with Alexi."

I looked down at my hands. "H-He had scars. So many of them."

Xerxes answered. "He...He was tortured in prison. The man he killed...Brian-" I shivered at his name. "He was a son of an influential man. He probably hid his injuries from you when you visited him." And they knew I visited him. Great.

Dad must have been an easy target. He had not been a man of violence. He used to love his paintbrushes and classical music.

He is like this because of you.

He must be hurting Georgia because of you.

Ten people died because of you. Cassandra's cafe shut down because of you Ashton and Zavier got hurt because of you. Brian died because of you.

I looked down at my hands. "Anything else I should know?" I looked up at them.

They shook their heads.

. . .

Fucking liars.