He pushed the folder away, laid me on the table, and kissed the dip between my breasts.“I want to start with you.”

Hanson had taken the lead on my mother’s murder which I expected since he’d been her partner when she died. He was also still the lead on, The Chameleon Killer investigation, so when he offered to keep me in the loop, I thanked him profusely. I also managed to cry like I was supposed to beside her grave. I’d stared around at the agents and stifled a laugh as I watched Cain pretend to be a janitor in the distance. If they only knew. I deserved an award for that performance.

Did I have guilt now that she was gone? No. She was a threat, as Cain would say, and threats needed to be eliminated.

Did I miss her? No. I missed what I thought we could have. I missed the fantasies of a mother-and-daughter relationship filled with love and respect. Those were things she’d never given me, things she never planned on giving me. Cain had released the beast that had always lived inside my mind. The one I never wanted to acknowledge made me different from everyone else. Cain would tell me that I was his spark, his sunshine, and he was the thing in the darkness. But to me, I felt as if we lived somewhere between the sunshine and the darkness, like a delicate and dangerous ballet.

I’d managed to talk Cain into traveling to England to meet my dad. The only way he’d agree to go was if we bought our own yacht and sailed there. Apparently, he’s really not into airports or planes. He said he doesn’t like people enough to sit in a sardine can for hours. I’d never been on a yacht before and was looking forward to the upcoming trip and alone time with him. I prayed that my dad liked him and got Cain to promise to be on his best behavior, but there was always a hint of worry when it came to Cain.

Cain and Abel were still not speaking. I had to admit that I was shocked and thought that the feud would only last a few days. As the days stretched into weeks, I secretly worried about what not having Cain in Abel’s life would lead Abel to do. Now part of my day was spent monitoring him and ensuring the if he slipped and made a mess, I was there to cover it up.