Once again, he looked defeated. But this time, I saw anger instead of panic under that sadness.
“Morning. Glad I caught you.” I walked past him, and he shut the door. “Wanna chat for a few?”
“Yeah, I do, but I’m not sure I have time. The boss called us all to Arborwood.”
I didn’t want to tell him quite yet that I knew that already. I’d work the recent happenings between Lark and me in somewhere, but right now, I needed this to be about him. I had to see if there was anything I could do.
“Well, since I’m working for the show right now, I’m sure Dev wouldn’t mind if I tagged along. Want to carpool? You can tell me what’s going on, on the way.”
He nodded, a bit of relief crossing his features. “Yeah, that’d be great. I need to talk this out.”
“All right. Let’s go. Do you want to drive?”
“Sounds good.”
We hopped in Turner’s Camaro and headed out of town. He mentioned that the plantation was about thirty-five minutes outside of the city, but we’d likely hit some traffic.
“Okay,” I said. “Spill. What’s going on?”
“You know I went home to see Mom.”
“I do,” I said, already feeling a pit in my stomach.
“Well, when I got there, Dad cornered me. He asked me all sorts of questions about what I was doing, where I was living, how things were going. At first, I was excited. He’s never really taken an interest in me outside of me being the community leader’s son, you know?” He glanced at me. “So, without really thinking about it, I launched into the story of everything.”
He shook his head. “He listened. Engaged. He seemed genuinely interested for the first time in longer than I can remember.”
“But?” I asked.
“But he was steering me. And I didn’t realize it until it was too late. Before I even comprehended what had happened, he’d shifted the conversation to Lark. I knew immediately that he somehow knew that Lark was Starling.” He swallowed hard and glanced at me again before returning his attention to the road.
“The minute he did, all sorts of red flags flew up. I tried to backtrack. Tried to hedge. But he flipped the tables on me and really threw me off. Then, while I was off-kilter, he asked me point-blank if I knew that Lark was Starling and if I knew that she was my half sister.”
He shook his head, his hands fisting around the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white. “I lied, of course, but he knew. Called me names, insinuated that I was nothing more than his property, and then . . .” He paused, and I heard his voice break.
“What did that asshole do?” I seethed, my blood heating and my heartbeat pounding in my ears. After everything Lark had told me and now hearing this, I wanted to plant my fist in the fucker’s face.
“He wouldn’t let me see Mom, Leroy. He had Damien drag me out of his office and the house, practically at gunpoint, and make sure I left the ranch. They even took my gate remote.”
I clenched my hands in my lap, feeling my anger rising to critical levels now, bringing with it thoughts and feelings I wouldn’t normally have. I wanted to see the place burn to the ground. I wanted to make him feel the pain he’d inflicted. I wanted to take the organization down and reveal it for the fuckery it was. And I hoped in time I could. For now, I needed to reel it in because my friend needed me.
I took a deep breath. “I’m so sorry, man. We’ll find a way for you to see your mom. But given this, we need to tell Lark about who you are. Immediately.” I looked over at him, and he met my gaze before nodding. All of this needed to be brought out in the open. Lark’s safety may depend on all of us being on the same page.
“There’s something I need to tell you, too.”
“I can’t take much more, dude. If this isn’t good news, it might have to wait.”
I couldn’t blame the kid. Honestly, if I were in his shoes, I might be on my last leg, too.
“It’s actually great news.”
He flashed me a smile. “Well, in that case, share away.”
“Lark told me everything. Or, well, noteverything, she said there was more, but it was stuff that didn’t directly involve her. She told me what she told you guys, anyway. It kind of leveled me, too. I can’t believe I didn’t see it. I just keep going over and over all the years I lived there, turning events over in my head and wondering how I saw them as something they clearly weren’t, you know?”
“I know. Until I saw Dad’s true colors, I just thought he was a strict parent. They kept me far enough on the outside that all the things Lark told us seemed almost impossible. Now? I can totally see it happening. All of it . . . For fuck’s sake, Leroy. Were wereallyraised in a goddamn cult?”
“Seems like. Now there’s something I never thought to say.”