“Ever heard of bargain shopping?” He regarded me with narrowed eyes that mirrored his son. How had I not seen this before?

“Please do try not to test my patience. I assure you I won’t hesitate to hurt you; although I can’t kill you…not yet anyway.”

I nodded once and held my tongue. “Understood.”

“Good.” He uncrossed his legs and stood, heading to the dresser where a bottle of brown liquid that I knew to be alcohol waited. He poured a glass and quickly tossed it back before pouring another. “Where was I?”

“You’re broke.” He sent me a sharp look and I shrunk back against the headboard. “Sorry…old habits. So if Keiran hates you and he doesn’t inherit for another three years why are you doing this now?”

“Those debts I previously mentioned aren’t willing to wait three years.”

“But I seriously doubt he will help you.”

“No…he won’t.”

“Then how…” Realization dawned on me at the look in his eyes. “No!” I yelled, jumping from the bed. My feet were planted wide as I faced him. “I won’t let you hurt him,” I growled. If Keiran died, then his money would undoubtedly forfeit to his father as his next of kin.

He laughed which pissed me off further. “You know it astounds me that you are so ready to protect him even if it means harm to yourself –”

“If that’s what it takes,” I interrupted with steel in my voice.

“That is truly remarkably Miss Monroe. My son has done nothing but hurt you for years.” He must have noticed the surprised look on my face when he said, “Yes, I know all about that. The Reynolds boy filled me in. He was all too willing to bring my son down. It’s a shame that Keiran got to him first because I would have eventually killed him myself. I could have had the money I needed a year ago if it wasn’t for him.”

I couldn’t believe it but he was right. If Trevor hadn’t framed Keiran…he would be dead. “You were the person Trevor said wanted to meet me the night of the fair.”

“Yes, I was, Miss Monroe.”

“You’re insane.”

“Call it what you want.  I knew then you were just the pawn I needed to reel Keiran in. I need an advantage when I face him.”

“What makes you so sure Keiran would kill you? That’s a little extreme for being an absentee father.”

“No, I was much worse than that.”

“I’m not buying.”

“Keiran has killed before. Many times. Do you believe that?”

“No,” I lied but my voice wavered as I thought about the girl in the photo.

“You’re a terrible liar, Miss Monroe. One thing my son and I have in common is a lack for mercy or remorse. He’d harm his own mother if it suited him. He’s already proven that.”

“What do you mean? What happened to his mother?”

“She’d dead,” he answered. His face and voice was void of any emotion.

“Did she overdose? Keiran said she was a prostitute and a drug addict.”

He regarded me with an impatient look and a twist of his lips. “No wonder my son has such an easy time manipulating you. Your propensity for being gullible is astounding or is it my son’s cock that makes you so trusting?”

“What happened to her?” I bit out. Mitch was treating this whole situation like a puzzle that he wanted me to piece together with half-truths.

“She was murdered.” All the moisture in my mouth disappeared instantly.

“Who murdered her?” I managed to ask around my nervousness.

He watched me with an amused look. “I can tell by the look in your eyes that you already know who.”

“You’re lying!” I cried. My emotions were spilling over and overwhelming me. I was unwilling to believe that Keiran would murder his own mother in cold blood.

“Yes, he most certainly did.” he said, answering my silent question.

“How do you know that?”

“Because I was there when he put the bullet in her head. My son is a cold piece of work. I see he worked you over pretty well. Got you to fall for him, did he?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Why would he kill his own mother?”

“Because he’s a cold-blooded killer. He was trained that way. While most kids were being tucked in at night and being read bed-time stories my son was out running with the most deadliest of criminals and committing unspeakable acts.”

“But why would she let him do that? She was supposed to protect him.”

“She hardly had a say in anything he did. I was responsible for that. His mother was weak. We had some…disagreements and so she left me just after he was born without a word or trace.” His voice lowered and his eyes darkened as he spoke. “Naturally, I searched for them but came up short for a while. Her father had been her only family and but died when she was six months pregnant so it was difficult to find her. I’d almost given up until a month before his first birthday. By then I was filled with nothing but contempt for the bitch and the need for revenge so I took my son.”

“Why wasn’t there any record of his birth or a custody suit?” He looked at me in surprise as a smile spread across his face.

“I see you’ve been doing some digging. She had a home birth and there wasn’t a custody case because I wasn’t going to let a judge decide if my son belonged to me or not.”

“Oh God…you kidnapped him.”

“Yes, I did.” He watched me closely for a reaction as he took a sip of his drink.

“So there would have been a missing person’s report…”

“Not if his mother didn’t file one.”

“Why wouldn’t she file a missing person’s report for her child?”

“Why indeed. I think it might have had something to do with the fact that she was running from me. She’d never even had him registered after she left me so there was no record that he was even born so who would believe her?”

“Why would she hide from you?”

“Because she’s a selfish bitch. I offered her the chance to have money and status but it wasn’t enough,” he bit out angrily.

“So what did you do with Keiran for seven years and how did you keep quiet for so long that you had a son?” I just had to keep him talking and then maybe I could figure my way out of this and get some answers.

“I was in debt to a man who ran a very lucrative crime organization that was slightly unorthodox.”

“In what way?”

“Let’s just say they put a new meaning to the term “child slavery” because these kids weren’t thrown in a sweat shop and working for less than minimum wage. These kids were working for their lives.”

“So you gave him to them?” My heart felt like it stopped as I pictured Keiran suffering along with God knows how many other faceless children.

“No, I sold him to them.” The gasp that left my chest was heavy and full of pain and sorrow. He used to be a partner with the people who owned me. I recalled Keiran’s words from earlier today. My heart broke for him all over again.

“You sold your own son?” I wanted to punch something—preferably Mitch fucking Masters.

“My son,” he sneered, “was created to make me money, nothing more. If he couldn’t get it for me the way I planned then I had to make adjustments.”

“He’s your son!”

“He was a means to an end!” Mitch roared.  His face was now contorted with barely controlled rage. I fell silent as I pieced together what he was telling. A moment later he was the cool, unassuming man I was fooled to think he was. “I left him with a family who worked under their organization until he was old enough to work. I kept tabs on him because he was still valuable to me.”

“What is this organization called?”

“Come now,” he reproached. “You’re going to get me killed.” I wish. “Not even Keiran knows who they really are.” Could that be true? It was believable considering his age at the time.

“So how did he end up with his uncle? Did you suddenly grow a conscience?” I asked in disbelief.

“Just after he turned eight, my money ran dry again so I realized I needed to resume my old plan and marry. I coerced his bitch mother with a chance to save her son if she came away to marry me.”