Villainy and Vigilance by Elizabeth A. Reeves

Author:Elizabeth A. Reeves [Reeves, Elizabeth A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-01-28T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

I felt guilty all the way back home. I knew it wouldn’t have made a difference if we hadn’t gone to the cabin, but I still felt like I should have been there. That, somehow, I would have prevented Moira from getting hurt.

It didn’t matter that I didn’t like Moira. It didn’t matter that I hated her.

It was my job, my duty, to keep the people in the family from taking things too far. And, if my family had done this thing, they had taken things way too far. If my mother or Clark were involved, then it was my fault for not protecting Moira. Even if it was in response to something she’d done, knowing how my mother would react.

No one deserved to experience something like this because of a dress color choice.

The details of her injuries were sickening. Whoever had done this to her and been thorough. Not just thorough. They’d gone into full overkill.

It was so unnecessary.

“This isn’t on you,” Solange said as Stern drove us back to the family estate. “You didn’t make this happen.”

I grimaced, staring out of the window so I wouldn’t have to see her face. “It may as well have been. I knew something was going to happen, and I didn’t put up any safeguards.”

“It’s not up to you to predict or control how other people act,” Stern said quietly. “You can’t keep people from doing bad things.”

I sighed. “I know. But I didn’t do enough. I should have done something. Anything would have been better than nothing. But I let it go. I didn’t think it would be this severe.” I choked on a laugh. “Part of me thought she kind of deserved anything she would get. But no one deserves this.”

“Someone did this to her,” Solange said. “Not you. Whoever did this is the one responsible for what happened.” She paused. “This family is sick, Amelia. It’s been sick for a long time. We’re villains. All of us have dirty hands.” She stared down at her own slender, pale fingers. “You are the best of us. You’re the closest thing this family has to a soul… no, not a soul. A conscience. But you can’t change the family by feeling terrible for what happens.”

“You’re the heart of the family,” I said.

Solange laughed. “Hardly. I’m barely in the family. Only my sheer audacity keeps me from being an outcast. Everybody loves me. They just don’t know why they love me.” She threw me a wink worthy of Marilyn Monroe.

She grew silent. “It’s easy to forget,” she said quietly. “Maybe it’s not the same for you. You’re involved with the daily family stuff. But it’s easy for me to forget. People get hurt. Our family hurts people. We use them. We extort them. All of our money and power comes from the terrible things we’ve done.”

“You don’t hurt people,” I said quietly.

Solange sighed. “But I don’t always speak up when someone does get hurt,” she said. Her eyes were bright with unshed tears.

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