“Enough,” I snarl and Cormac beams like he’s already won. “Think about what I said. You want to save your son’s life? Then do something about it. Tell him everything I said here and get him to understand the gravity of his situation. I won’t wait long.”
“You can’t have the family that easily, Kellen,” Cormac says as I get up and walk to the door with Tara. I open it and she slips out first. “Your father gave up on you years back and it broke his damn heart. You know what he said to me? He said, My boy’s too weak to lead, but maybe your boy can handle it. Words from your old man himself, may he rest in peace. Hugh isn’t as vulnerable as you think.”
I usher Tara away from that room. Stepping into Cormac’s lair was a mistake. The old fox knows how to break people apart, and he managed to make me question everything Tara’s told me so far. I can’t help but look at Tara and wonder why she reacted that way. And what grain of truth is hiding in Cormac’s lies.
I don’t ask her until we’re back in our side of the house. She hesitates outside of our room, looking down at her feet like she can’t meet my gaze. “I need to clear my head. I’m going out.”
“Going where?”
“I have some flowers to plant and, I don’t know, I just want to do something that doesn’t involve this psychotic family.”
I grab her arm before she can leave. “What Cormac said back there. Was there any truth in it?”
She looks like an animal trapped in a cage. She wants to flee but I’m holding on too tight and I’m not about to let her run off. I lean forward, breathing in her smell, staring at her lips and into her eyes, and she stares back like she wishes she could speak, but something’s holding her tongue in check.
Finally, I release her. She takes a few steps down the hall and pauses with one hand leaning against the wall.
“Cormac’s crazy,” she says, not looking in my direction. “That’s all. Just an old man out of touch with reality.”
“Right. That’s all.”
She bows her head and her fingers curl against the wall, but she pushes off and walks away.
I watch her go. Something twists in my guts.
She’s not telling the truth.