patio floor. I retook my seat and my gaze landed on the devil’s side bitch sitting across the table from me.
“Mr. Vallin, I don’t know the details of what was done to you, but I think I got the gist of it. When you leave today, take Arlo with you, so my sister and I can…talk,” Gemini stated and there was no mistaking the deadly gleam that flashed in his gaze.
“The hell he—”
Gemini’s hell-raising gaze instantly stopped whatever protest Sophia was about to launch. He truly had no idea what his sister had done. I nodded at his suggestion, but his focus was back on Patrena. They resumed their conversation about her mother.
Patrena hung on to every word, desperate for more details about what her mother was like and Gemini, after all this time, couldn’t deny that he still held a deep affection for her. I waited on Arlo, concentrating on the hypnotic sway of the ocean to avoid glancing across the table. Also, I didn’t want to ruin the good mood my son had put me.
Sophia was the worst revelation I could have encountered because all I wanted to do was strangle that bitch. However, the little boy who had run into my arms with unconditional love was all that was keeping me seated.
Like the first time Sophia and I had come together, my abduction and rape were one of the worst experiences I had suffered, followed up by the best surprise I could have asked for—Arlo, my son.
What were Gemini’s plans for his sister now that he had discovered her dirty little secret?
36
Patrena
It was hard to miss that Gemini was staring at me the same way Tywin looked at Arlo. There was a contented twinkle in his eyes and his unwavering smile was so infectious it lured mine to the surface every time. The way his gaze was keyed into my every motion spoke a thousand words.
The knowledge that I had a real blood family put my processing capacity on overload. The idea that Tywin’s son was my cousin was a jaw dropper, but a pleasant discovery. I was also struggling to grasp that I was the daughter of the most powerful man in the syndicate.
Gemini gave me the impression that even though he may hold a lot of power, he was fair in the way he wielded it. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy the expressions he’d flashed Sophia when he had mentioned them having to talk. She’d appeared afraid, her body tensing and losing that high-handed sass she had stepped out carrying.
“So, I was named Payton?” I asked for clarity.
“Yes. You were born right here in this house. You got that tattoo when you were three months old. I have all of your birth papers. I had you for six and a half months, the best of my life, before your mother left. I searched for you everywhere, but your mother…” he paused, shaking off an image of her, I supposed.
“Your mother was clever, calculating, and so good at her job that it took me months to find a trail that grew cold. When I learned years later that she’d been murdered, I prayed that you were okay. I never stopped searching for you. I knew that your mother would have had a backup plan for her backup plan, so I kept searching. By the time we located the bodies of your caregivers, you were gone. I thought the government had placed you in witness protection, but when that avenue didn’t give us any insight into your whereabouts, I didn’t know what to think.”
His smile grew wider, but it wasn’t a happy one. “You were so young and alone and so much like your mother in how you managed to keep yourself hidden until a search for our family crest from a member of our syndicate alerted us. However, we also knew that if it had alerted us, it probably also got the attention of others. I’m sorry you had to endure the things they did to you in that facility.”
“I’m okay now. They had really done a number on me mentally and physically. Also, remembering my mother’s promise that if I ever believed my life was in serious jeopardy this tattoo would save me. In that case, it slowed them down, but now, I’m beginning to think it was also a way for your people to identify me.”
“Smart. Your mother thought of everything. A way to keep you hidden from two of