I come to slowly. I don’t think I’ve been out long because I’m lying in Roger’s… Redmond’s… whoever-he-is’s lap. We’re still in the kitchen. His face is laced with concern and I try to block that out. He doesn’t have a right to be concerned about me. Not now. Not ever again. He gave away that right. I jerk up fast and instantly regret it because the world swims.

“Easy, sunshine,” he says.

“Stop calling me that!” I scream, and I don’t care if it does sound like a temper tantrum. He left me! He gave me away and now I find out he’s not even the man I thought he was all this time! I jerk out of his arms and stand up without his help. I back away to put distance between us. His face briefly twists with pain. He doesn’t deserve that either. He should try being a little girl and finding out her father, the only person she thought ever really loved her, gave her away. Then he’d understand pain.

“Elizabeth, time is running out.”

“If you’re a Donahue, why can’t you make Colin pull back? Why do you need me here?”

“Because your boyfriend declared war on Colin, but I’m the one who runs the family. To step back after all of the attacks he’s made will make me look weak. You can’t be weak in this line of work sun—Elizabeth. That would only sign my death warrant.”

“What are you doing?” I ask him, worried about what he’s doing to retaliate. I may have to give Skull away, but I couldn’t handle it if he dies. I just, couldn’t.

“It will be a small strike. Nowhere near what I’m capable of. But, I will pull my punches, if you work with me.”

“Work with you? Why would I do that?”

“Because I’m trying to protect you. The family is already viewing me as weak. I have to watch my steps before that bastard Colin succeeds in overthrowing me.”

“Why did I never know you were part of the Donahues? How are you kin to Edmund? Did mom know?” I ask my questions. I have so many of them now and I’m trying to hold them back, but I find I just can’t.

“I tried to retire. It’s something hardly ever done in the family. Isabel had just found out she was pregnant with twins. I wanted to take her and my babies away from all of it, to try and be… a real dad.”

Disgust rolls in my stomach because I know just how miserably he failed at it. “They wouldn’t let you?”

“For a while, but Isabel started talking to my brother. She told him the name I was using and where we were. She hated not being part of the family. She wanted the power and the prestige that came with being one of the Donahues. By the time I realized Edmund had found out where I was, it was too late.”

“Edmund was your brother? Why did it matter if he knew where you were?” I ask. It doesn’t surprise me about my mom. She’s cold, always was. She also loved everything about money.

“He was younger than I was and because of that, I inherited the throne, as it were. Edmund always resented that. Even when I stepped down and he took over, he wasn’t satisfied. The only way he would ever be happy is if I was dead and my heirs contained.”

“Contained?”

“In Katie’s case, it was a hit on her life. In yours, it was to groom you to be Colin’s bride.”

That’s always disgusted me, but now… “He’d be my cousin! My first cousin! That’s not just gross, I’m pretty sure that’s illegal!”

“That doesn’t matter to Colin. He’s trying to forge ahead with his Dad’s plans and that means claiming you to gain his position in the family. As long as you and I are alive, Colin’s chance to rule will never happen.”

This family is even more fucked up than I thought, and that’s saying something. “Let’s cut the bullshit, dad. What do you want me for?”

“Believe it or not, all I want is to save your life, Elizabeth. Help me to do that. I can’t strike out at Colin right now. He has too many on his side and I’m weak. I have targets through which they can strike out and hurt me. Help me to save your life so I can gain complete control of my empire once more… and I’ll let your boyfriend live.”

My heart stutters to a stop before pounding erratically in my chest. I don’t know why, but somehow I know his plan will destroy me. The problem is, I love Skull. I’ll do anything to save him.

“What do you want me to do?”

“Leave Skull and pretend to die.”

He says it so simply, so matter-of-factly… the words seem so benign, so easy and unassuming. They aren’t, though. Just the thought of those words rips my heart out. I keep hearing Latch tell me I need to have faith in my man. I’m already shaking my head no and backing away from this monster who wants to call himself my father. Unfortunately, I back straight into Pistol. He grabs my arms, refusing to let me leave.

“Listen to him,” whispers Pistol in my ear. “If you stay with Skull, you’re both going to die. There’s nothing to stop it.”

“Elizabeth. It’s the only way. I can save your man,” my father joins in, and my stomach is turning so much that I want to throw up.

“Why?” I whisper. “Why would I trust you, let alone help you, in this crazy scheme?”

“Because I have something you want, and proof that I can protect you and this Skull.”

“What’s that?”

“Your sister, Katie.”

“What?”

“Katie is alive, Elizabeth. Alive and happy.”

If I had it in me, I’d faint again. If I had the courage that Latch says I have, I’d run straight to Skull. Instead, I stand there as Redmond hands me pictures of a blonde who looks so much like me that we could be twins—because we are. It’s Katie. There are at least twenty pictures of her. Pictures of her growing up, pictures of her laughing, pictures of her singing, pictures of her blowing out birthday candles—all pictures of Katie. My twin. The woman I thought was lost to me forever. My best friend. My… sister.

I’m crying my eyes out, sinking slowly to the floor. I hold the pictures to my chest like you would something precious… because they are.

My sister is alive.