My heart starts to pound at his words.
“It was an accident,” she says defensively.
“Don’t lie,” he growls.
“You what?” I ask wide-eyed. “Why would you …”
“At first, everyone suspected Liam or Bruce, but no one could figure out why they would kill her at nine months along. If they were going to do it, they would have done it the moment they found out she was pregnant. But when Celeste found out she was pregnant, she was pissed. She wanted a baby. She wanted to have Bruce’s child.” He looks me up and down with disgust. “But Bruce didn’t want kids. So Celeste went over to her house and confronted her. Said that she wanted joint custody of Lilly, and when Betty said no, she pushed her down the stairs.”
All this time, Cole thought it was an accident.
“I told you all of this in confidence,” she barks at him.
He ignores her, staring right at me. “Then she called 911 and said she heard her fall down the stairs. As if she cared about her pathetic life.” He shakes his head.
“No!” I say slowly. “Cole said she fell and died in surgery due to complications.”
He laughs. “Cole only knows what Celeste told him.”
She had gone to his school and pulled him out of class. Told Cole that his father had called her and said his mother passed …
She grabs his sleeve and starts to yank on it. He doesn’t budge, and his brown eyes don’t leave mine. “She waited thirty minutes before she called for help. Lilly was delivered in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. Betty was dead by the time they arrived at the hospital.”
I look at her with wide eyes, hoping for her to give me some sign that he is lying. That he’s being the Kellan I know and trying to mind fuck me. But she starts pounding her fists into his arm. “You son of a bitch!” she shouts at him.
He reaches out and grabs her arm. “And now you’re gonna see history repeat itself.” He pulls her across the grand foyer, and I stay planted where I’m at, trying to wrap my head around all of this. He starts dragging her up the stairs, and when she cries out, it pulls me out of my trance.
I run up after them and grab her free arm. Kellan spins around at the top of the stairs and pulls a gun out of the back of his jeans and points it at me. My stomach drops as I stare into the barrel. I throw my hands up in the air, my breathing picking up.
“Back up!” he orders.
I take one step at a time, slowly descending the stairs backward and swallow. What the hell is he doing? I feel my phone in my back pocket and go to grab it, planning to call 911.
“Keep them up!” he snaps, and I flinch at his tone.
“Okay, okay, okay,” I say, and my voice shakes.
“See …” He goes on. “Celeste is pregnant.” She starts to sob. “With my child.” He rolls his eyes. “After getting Betty pregnant, Bruce had that situation fixed so it would never happen again. That rules him out. And I’m the only other guy you’ve fucked, right, baby?” he asks, pressing the gun to her temple.
She sobs but nods her head.
He goes on, satisfied with her answer. “And just like Bruce and Liam, I don’t want a child. But unlike them, I plan on doing something about it.”
“Please, Kellan,” she begs. “I love you.” She sobs.
He smiles. “You were nothing to me.” Then he shoves her forward. And she falls down the long staircase like a ragdoll. I run over to her as she hits the marble floor and slide on my knees to her side. Her head is tilted to the side and blood pours from her nose and mouth. I feel for a pulse, but there’s nothing.
“You killed her.” I begin chest compressions. I’ve never done it before, but I’ve seen enough medical shows to have an idea.
He comes down the stairs slowly, looking at me strangely.
“You killed her,” I cry out, stopping to pull my cell out to call the police.
“You are trying to save her? She killed the love of your life’s mother. Who just happened to be your half-sister’s mother as well.”
“She’s pregnant,” I say frantically. My hands shake uncontrollably. “The baby didn’t do anything to you.”
“Oh, but it will. That’s why it’s got to go.” He grabs my hair and yanks me back from her. My cell falls to the floor. I twist and turn in his grip as he drags me across the marble floor in the grand foyer.
He yanks me to my feet, and I’m gasping for a breath when he slams my back into the wall. He wraps his hands around my throat and leans in. “You’ve been playing a game all along, Austin, but it’s been my game. My rules. And now it’s over.” He shoves me away, and I slide on my knees, hitting the floor once again. When I turn around, he has a knife in his hand. He twirls it around. “Cole has always been fascinated with blood. And I gotta say, I didn’t understand it until I watched him smear it with his hands all over your skin.”