A Hurt So Sweet Volume Four - Isabella Starling Page 0,14

is Pandora?"

He stares me down. "Tit for tat, Booth. What about Lily Anna?"

"She's not dead," Julian cuts in impatiently. "Now give us what we want if you want to know more."

I watch Oakes closely for his reaction. He pales instantly. His skin turns ghostly. He had no idea about this. At times during the past few years, I've wondered whether he had any suspicion about Lily Anna, but his reaction proves he was fucking clueless.

"P-Pandora... She's with her mother," he manages. "In Stormcliff."

"Her mother?" I furrow my brows. "I thought Angela was dead."

"We all have our secrets," Emilian mutters. "And she's very much alive, as one of you knows very well."

I follow his gaze to Easton, who looks guilty as fuck.

"You knew about this?" I hiss.

"I gave her the address," he mutters. "I didn't think she'd go there. I thought she'd just go to Wildwood."

"You thought wrong," I hiss in response. I'll deal with him later. There are more important issues at hand. Including finding out what happened to the two girls who shaped my life, past, present and hopefully, future. "Lily Anna is out to hurt her."

"How do you know that?" Oakes demands.

"Because I'm not a clueless fucking idiot?" I snap back, rubbing my temples. "Our first step is checking CCTV. If we can find a security camera in town... maybe we can confirm whether Lily Anna has found Pandora."

"Where was she all this time?" Emilian hisses. "Did you fucking keep her from me?"

"Of course I did," I snap. "You would've hurt her. She was fucking afraid of you, you piece of shit. You wanted her, and she knew it."

"She's not my biological daughter," he tries in vain to defend himself.

"And yet you're the one who raised her," Caspian reminds him.

"She always saw you as her father," I nod. "Too bad you didn't understand that. Either way, she was safer with me. And everyone in this room was fucking safer that way, too. I'm assuming you heard about Lai?"

"What about him?" Oakes feigns nonchalance, but I can see how pale he is. He already knows it was her. "He's gone. Dead meat."

"Because of her," I grind out. "Because of Lily Anna. She killed him, and escaped. And now she's after Pandora."

"Why would she try to hurt Pandora?" Oakes asks. "She has no motive."

"I'm the motive." I get up from the desk and pace the room until I reach the bar cart. Pouring myself a glass of expensive bourbon, I ignore Emilian's judging stare and throw the drink back. "She doesn't want to share me with anyone. And it's been that way since the beginning."

"So you know," Emilian mutters. "You know about your parents?"

"If you mean that Lily Anna killed them, yes," I hiss. "Anything else you hid from me?"

The man shrugs carelessly. "She's my priority, not you. I protect my own."

"You also fuck them up," I mutter. "You're the reason she's like this."

"Now, now, gentlemen," Easton interrupts. "Let's not point fingers. Our number one priority is finding Pandora, and Lily Anna."

"I'll make a call," Emilian grunts, pulling out his phone. "Try to get my friend to get us the CCTV feed from the train station, where she probably boarded the train for Stormcliff."

I busy myself by talking to the guys until Emilian calls us over to his desk. He's got the security feed pulled up on his computer. We all watch the stranded platform in Eden Falls. Some commuters board the train to Northcliff. There's a hooded figure on the platform, lying on a bench with their cap pulled over their face.

And then she appears.

Pandora Oakes, with a small bag in her hand, and a determined stride. She boards the train. My heart fucking stops when I see her, but the quality of the feed is too shitty for me to make out anything other than the fact it's unmistakably her.

I'm so focused on Pandora I barely notice the hooded, capped figure moving on the other end of the screen.

But Julian points to it, and we watch in silence as the person pulls their hood back and watches Pandora board.

It's Lily Anna.

There's no mistaking her frail, petite figure. I'd recognize her anywhere.

My eyes snap to Emilian's. I feel sorry for him then, seeing his fisted hands and his pale face. He does love her. As sick and as wrong as that love is, he wants the best for her. And he's starting to recognize his love of the girl is wrong. Maybe he'll even let her go after all