Chapter 251
Alistair grinned. It was the grin of a wolf.
“I’ll drive.”
The venue for the “Welcome Home” party was a private club in Manhattan—the kind that didn’t have a sign, just a heavy brass door and a list of names that controlled half the world’s GDP.
I arrived with Harper. Alistair had gone in through the back to secure the perimeter. I needed to walk in the front door. I needed to be the target.
“You sure about this?” Harper whispered, adjusting my dress.
I wasn’t wearing red or black today. I was wearing white.
Innocent. Pure. Psychological warfare.
“I’m sure,” I said.
We walked up to the VIP room. Two massive Thorne guards blocked the way.
“Search her,” one grunted.
“Excuse me?” Harper stepped forward. “She’s Skye Sterling. You don’t touch her!”
“Let them in,” a voice called from inside.
The doors opened.
Seraphina sat on a velvet sofa like she was Catherine the Great. Dominic Thorne sat next to her, swirling a glass of scotch.
Seraphina looked at me. She wore the Thorne family jewels—diamonds worth more than my entire liquidated company.
“Skye,” she said with a smile. “So glad you could come. You should bow, you know. It’s tradition when addressing a Thorne.”
I didn’t bow. I walked straight to the table and poured myself a drink.
“Hello, Seraphina,” I said. “Or is it Eleanor today? I lose track of your aliases. Is Inmate 8940 still active?”
Dominic slammed his glass down. “Watch your mouth. That is my cousin.”
“Your cousin?” I looked at Dominic. “Dominic, I knew you were desperate to stop Alistair, but really? Picking up a baby trafficker from federal custody? That’s low, even for you.”
Seraphina stood up. Her face flushed. “I am Eleanor! I have the DNA test!”
“A test conducted by Dominic’s private doctor,” I noted. “Let’s do one right now. I have a swab in my purse.”
𝗔l𝗹 n𝘰𝗏e𝘭ѕ 𝗳𝘳eе 𝗈𝗻 𝗯e𝗹𝗻𝗼v𝗲𝗅s.𝘤о𝗆
Seraphina’s eyes darted to Dominic. Panic.
Dominic rose. He was imposing, almost as big as Alistair, but without the grace. He was a thug in a suit.
“You are disrespectful,” Dominic said. “Teach her a lesson.”
He nodded to the guard behind me.
I saw the movement in the reflection of the window. I could have ducked. I knew self-defense.
But I didn’t move.
Smack.
The back of the guard’s hand connected with my cheek. It was a heavy blow. My head snapped to the side. I tasted copper.
Blood.
Harper screamed. “Oh my God! Skye!”
She rushed toward me, but the guards shoved her back.
I touched my cheek. It stung like fire. My lip was split.
Slowly, I turned to look at them.
Seraphina was grinning—pure, unadulterated joy. She’d waited years to see me hit.
“That,” Seraphina sneered, “is for the prison cell.”