In our Manhattan office, Caleb and Keene are still laughing about a call to Cassidy I was privy to. Cassidy is contemplating retribution on behalf of Corinna against Phil. Due to his failure to run another scheduling decision by her, Corinna was going to be at Amaryllis Events for most of the night with the addition of a last-minute cake.

This is enormously funny because Cassidy, who would barely speak a word out of turn when I first met her, has advanced to threats about straddling Phil with scissors in hand and cutting off all his hair in chunks. Despite my worry for Corinna and what I saw at Greenwich Hospital, even I’m amused at the thought of Cassidy tackling Phil with a high-pitched “Hi-ya!” before becoming a demented stylist.

“Sucks for Cori. And it’s not like anyone can pitch in for her.” Keene shakes his head.

Caleb chuckles. “If you send Phil down, maybe she’ll whip up a special batch of her whipped cream just for him. I hope she’ll choose another color than red though. That looked so good on you.”

“Fuck you, Caleb. That shit was next to impossible to get out,” Keene grumbles.

“Corinna threw food coloring at you?” I’m actually impressed. “I thought the only person she did that to was Ali.”

Keene corrects me. “It wasn’t pure food coloring. It was dark red, strawberry-flavored whipped cream. She didn’t want to hurt me, so she diluted it.”

I chuckle. “Still sounds like what she did to Ali.” I sober suddenly. The only reason Corinna pulled that stunt on Ali was because Corinna thought Ali had eaten part of my birthday cake before my actual birthday in college. Something I’d actually done when I’d found it beneath a box after Corinna had fallen asleep. It was either that or wake up the beautiful woman sleeping in my arms and kiss her like I’d been dying to for the two years we’d been friends.

I’ve been thinking hard about Corinna since yesterday. How could I not when I know what I know? I’ve been contemplating talking about it with Caleb and Keene. I know without a doubt Corinna would never trust me ever again if I told her family without speaking with her first. Now the trick is going to be getting a few moments alone with the woman whose eyes haunt me even if she treats me like a stranger.

“Hunt, are you even listening?” Keene barks.

“If I had to hazard a guess, I’d wager he was still thinking about dessert.” Caleb’s wicked sense of humor makes an appearance.

Keene shakes his head. “Colby has zero chance getting Corinna to talk with him about more than the weather.”

I bristle. “What makes you say that?”

Keene waves a hand in the air. “Please. I watch everyone at those nightmares we call family dinners. Corinna strategically places herself so she doesn’t have to sit next to, across from, or within speaking range of you since you started showing up. She even sacrifices herself on the altar of Phil. I swear, I owe her a personal debt of gratitude for that one.”

Caleb laughs.

“We were friends,” I begin slowly.

“Right. Were is the operative word in that statement. You must have done something you never fixed. Trust me. I’ve been on the receiving end of her fury,” Keene concludes.

“Keene isn’t wrong, Colby.” Caleb stops laughing to say somberly, “Corinna is the happy-go-lucky one of that clan. If she’s mad—or, well, in Keene’s case, infuriated…” Keene tips his head in acknowledgment of Caleb’s words. I vaguely wonder what he did for a split second before Caleb continues. “Then your best course of action is not to let it fester. She’s generally an open book.” He hesitates. “I know something is hurting her deeply though. That new tattoo of hers? Keene, you saw it?”

“Oh yeah. It took me a few to translate. I hated taking Latin in school. I finally gave up and asked Alison. Never forget who you are.” Keene looks thoughtful. “I wonder if something from her past is coming up. Maybe I should give Charlie a call and see if there have been any flags.”

“Might not be a bad idea,” Caleb agrees.

“Why Charlie?” I ask.

“Charlie keeps a running tab on all of the siblings to see if their past identities have been flagged. This way, we can take steps to neutralize any threats,” Caleb explains while Keene dials. “Do you need to know their history, or do you already know it?”

“I know it,” I reply. Corinna told me. Not long before she stopped talking to me altogether.

The Freeman siblings lived through hell before they joined forces and became a family. Phil and Cassidy were both victims of child abuse. Em’s family was killed in front of her, and she was raised by an elderly aunt. The three met in a park, where Phil and Cassidy were sleeping after they’d escaped their nightmare. Living together with Em’s aunt for years, it wasn’t until she passed on that the three moved to Charleston, South Carolina. There they met Ali, Corinna, and Holly, who had just been rescued from a sex trafficking ring so egregious, it rocked the national news. It was all the more devastating for the then fifteen-year-old girls because their families had either been involved in the ring or had sold them into it to pay back lingering drug debts.

When the newly formed family of six left the South, they left behind their identities and started fresh. For Phil, it was no loss since he had no idea who his parents were. Cassidy had been kidnapped as a child. In renewing my friendship with the Freemans, I knew through Cassidy falling in love with Caleb that she’d discovered she was actually Keene’s biological sister. I found out Ali went back to South Carolina not too long ago and tied up her loose ends. She reconnected with some people who truly meant something to her birth mother, Katherine.

Corinna, or Elena before her name change, woke up to her bedroom door being busted in and men in masks gagging her right before they bound her in tape. They didn’t physically penetrate her, but in the dark, their hands covered her body. Soon, she was tossed blindfolded and bound into a truck bed. Within hours, she was in a shipping container, desperately reaching out in the dark for someone. Anyone. It was pure blind luck she found welcoming hands that were those of Ali and Holly.

I barely managed to hold it together when Corinna told me the full story of what had happened when I asked her the meaning behind the siblings’ amaryllis tattoos. Thinking of it now, I want nothing more than to break each and every bone in the bodies of the men who had touched her. Even knowing her parents are dead from an overdose, and most of the monsters are safely locked behind bars, still doesn’t curb the animalistic urge within me.

It’s Corinna. And in my mind, no one ever paid enough for what they did. No one ever could.

My thoughts are interrupted by Keene announcing, “Nothing on the flags.”

“Maybe she’ll talk during the family dinner with the siblings on Thursday, then,” Caleb mutters.

That gets my attention. “Dinner was canceled?”

Keene nods. “Phil sent out an email earlier. Sibling-only dinner. No spouses. No significant others. No friends. No kids. Corinna’s request.”

The churning in my gut reminds me of the day I got shot. It’s too coincidental. There’s no way this isn’t connected. I need to talk to Corinna about what I know. Tonight.

Jumping up from my seat, I ask, “Are we done?”

Keene rolls his eyes. “If we weren’t, I’m assuming you are.”

Caleb shakes his head. How he hasn’t murdered Keene since childhood obviously means he’s on the path toward sainthood. “You going to go see if you can make sense of a few things?” His voice is laced with concern.

“Yes.” There’s no need in beating around the bush. There are practically no secrets in this family, other than the one I’m sitting on right now.

Caleb stands. “Good luck. Knowing these women, I can honestly say you’re going to need it.”

Keene nods in agreement. “And change your shirt if you happen to like it. Cori’s got great aim.”

“Right,” I mutter. Heading out into the executive lobby, I toss a wave at Keene’s admin, Tony. Punching the Down button, I’m relieved when the elevator arrives quickly. The commute back to Connecticut is going to be tough enough. Even a few extra minutes might get me to Amaryllis Events so I can talk to Corinna on somewhat neutral ground instead of at her home.