Page 304 of Darling Venom
Stripping a man of his wealth, dignity, and happiness was an art form, and like all art forms, it required a great deal of patience and suffering. I had the patience, but I refused to suffer any more.
Emery Winthrop, on the other hand, made perfect collateral damage.
I could break her spirit in half and not feel a lick of guilt.
Sin number one.
She’d known about her dad’s extracurricular activities. I’d overheard her parents discussing it the night Reed almost went to jail.
Reed had run to the cottage, and Emery had hidden in her room, but I’d found myself against the tiger sculpture’s ass again, leaning behind Dionysus, listening in on Virginia, Gideon, and Able Small Dick Cartwright’s dad argue.
“If Emery finds out, I will cut you off, Virginia, and I will sue you for everything you own, Cartwright,” Gideon had warned, his voice steady and threat real.
“Please,” Virginia scoffed, unladylike without an audience, “she already knows. Why do you think I sent her to that shrink to set her straight?”
The ledger had only left my suit’s breast pocket once since I’d stolen it, and I felt the heat of it burn my chest. Emery Winthrop knew about her parents’ scam, and I… I’d made two mistakes tonight that I couldn’t take back.
Sin number two.
The day the F.B.I. and S.E.C. had raided Emery’s McMansion, she’d led an agent to my parents’ cottage, covering for her dad as she listed our names—Betty. Hank. Reed. Nash. They stood in front of the mailbox, staring at the door, but I’d heard enough.
I dipped into the maze and retrieved the ledger I’d hidden before some government smuck found it.
I had a plan to atone for my sins.
I had a plan to fix my parents, Eastridge, everything.
I had a plan.
Then, Dad died.
And I was just as guilty as the Winthrops.
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