Clearing his throat, Mr. Covington attempts to speak, but Bianca cuts him off. “Wait…you spent the night with her? In Mom’s bed?” Her lower lip wobbles. “How could you do that?”

Understandably, the woman in question looks absolutely mortified.

Truth be told, I feel terrible. Unbeknownst to her, she just walked into a full-on warzone.

And the sinister look on Jace’s face tells me this is only the beginning.

Mr. Covington blows out a heavy breath. “I know you guys are upset, but I think we all need to calm—”

“Fuck you,” Jace yells. “You don’t know a goddamn thing about what this family needs.” He laughs, but there’s not an ounce of humor. “Christ, you can’t spend time with your kids, but you have time to fuck her?”

His father bristles. “Excuse me—”

“No.” Jace pins him with a menacing look. “You haven’t talked in over seven years, why start now?” His gaze flicks to the woman behind him. “I’ll tell you what though. I’d love to talk to your girl. Tell her all about the man she’s screwing.”

Shaking, the shy woman buries her head against her lover’s shoulder.

“That’s enough,” Mr. Covington barks. “Leave Nadia alone.”

Whatever composure Jace was hanging on to snaps and he advances on his dad. “Wrong time to find your balls, Jason.” He shoves him. “It’s enough when I fucking say it is.” Flashing some teeth, he crooks a finger at Nadia. “Don’t be scared, sweetheart. I don’t bite.”

She cowers.

I don’t blame her. Jace is acting like an unhinged maniac.

It’s been a long time coming though. Sooner or later all volcanoes erupt.

Jace squeezes his father’s shoulder. “I also don’t cheat on my wife or ignore my kids like he does.”

Mr. Covington’s pale skin turns white as a sheet.

“You told me your wife died,” the woman whispers.

All three siblings leer at her, but it’s Jace who speaks.

“She did, so don’t worry.” The look he gives his father makes my blood run cold. “You’re not the one he cheated on my mom with. That was a different whore.”

The sick feeling in my stomach intensifies when Cole and Bianca rear back in shock.

“You cheated on Mom?” Cole bites out

“Oh my God.” Bianca looks at her dad. “How could you?”

“I did not cheat on your mother!” Mr. Covington shouts.

Jace’s eyes become tiny slits and he gets close to his father’s face. “Liar, liar pants on fire.”

Mr. Covington shakes his head profusely. “No—”

“Mom told me about you and your secretary,” he grits out. “So don’t you dare fucking stand there and tell me she lied.”

He sucks in a sharp breath, no doubt realizing he’s caught in a catch-22 and needs to tread carefully. “There are a lot of things I’ve done wrong in my life, but cheating on your mother wasn’t one of them.” He looks at all three of his children. “I loved her more than anything.”

Even more than his own kids.

His gaze drifts back to Jace. “I loved your mother dearly, but she had a lot of issues. There were times her manic-depressive episodes were so bad she believed things that weren’t true—”

I gasp when Jace punches him. “Shut your mouth. Mom wasn’t a liar.”

Stumbling back, Mr. Covington holds his jaw. “Jace, I—”

Jace bares his teeth. “Shut the fuck up.” He focuses his attention on Nadia again. “You want to know what kind of man Jason Covington really is?”

Without waiting for an answer, he spreads his arms wide and says, “He’s the kind of man who will marry you and whisk you away to a new country to start your lives together…but then never let you see your family again. No matter how sad you are or how much you miss them.”

I hear his teeth clack. “He’s the kind of man who ignores his children for years.” He punches his chest. “The kind of man who couldn’t be bothered with his own flesh and blood, so I had to step in and raise them.” He shrugs. “I didn’t do a bad job though, right? I mean, only one out of four died.” His laugh is cruel and ominous. “Who knows? Maybe—just maybe—Liam would still be alive if you were there. Perhaps if you paid a little bit of attention to your son, he wouldn’t have died. Ever think of that, Dad?”

My heart sinks. Considering his company manufactured the drug responsible for killing him, that was the lowest of the low blows.

Mr. Covington’s green eyes fill with sadness. “Ja—”

“No.” There’s a dark note in Jace’s voice I’ve never heard before. “Of course, you didn’t.” Pure agony—the kind that twists my guts and makes the tiny hairs on my arms stand on end—contorts his expression as he grabs his father by the collar and looks him in the eyes.

“After all, you’re the man who made me take my little brother down from the closet door and cut the rope off his neck…because you couldn’t fucking do it!”

A whirlwind of emotions forms one giant knot in my stomach.

I shake my head as if the action alone will erase Jace’s horrible words.

“What?” I try to draw air into my lungs, but it’s impossible. “Liam…killed himself?”

Their expressions tell me I’m insane and I hope to God I am, because I can’t make any sense out of this.

Something passes in Jace’s gaze and he opens his mouth to speak, but he doesn’t get the chance, because Bianca snaps, “Don’t act like you didn’t know.”

Pressure tightens against my ribs. Of course, I didn’t know.

My head spins. “Tommy to—”

“Save it,” she grits out through clenched teeth. “We already know about you and Tommy.” A scowl twists her mouth as she takes a step forward. “And how you took advantage of Liam so you could get back at Jace for being with Britney.”

The implication hits me like a brick. Liam and I were friends.

I would never use him to hurt Jace. I’d never use Liam, period.

I shake my head. “I didn’t—”

“Bianca,” Jace growls and she glares at him.

“You promised Liam you wouldn’t tell Dylan he was in love with her…not me.” She turns her furious gaze my way again. “Besides, it’s not like the bitch didn’t know. It was all part of her master plan, remember? Take Liam to the dance, make him think he actually stood a chance with her…and then boom…crush you both like bugs.” Her eyes become glassy. “How do you live with yourself? How do you wake up every day knowing you’re responsible for taking someone so amazing out of this world?”

I try to take a breath past the ache in my ribs, but it hurts too much. This can’t be real.

“I didn’t...I’m so sorry,” I choke out, my legs buckling.

I didn’t intentionally hurt Liam, but it doesn’t matter.

He died because of me.

A rush of emotion squeezes my heart, catching me by the throat.

Oh, God. I killed my friend.