Classified ☑

[ chapter 34 ]

He ignored my accusation against our grandmother. "She's not apart of TIA anymore. How could she have known all that?" Joseph was angry and annoyed, that much was obvious in his tone.

"Joseph, her parents came up with TIA. There's no way she's never not been apart of it. Just because she retired doesn't me she still isn't in it somehow it. She owns it, she had to." I pleaded with him, trying to get him to see the situation as I saw it. "She is TIA."

Before Joseph could respond, the kitchen door swung open and Dante and Thomas walked out. By the looks on both of their faces, I could tell they had a tough conversation, one that was probably needed. They looked exhausted but content with whatever conversation they had between the two of them.

Joseph nudged his knee with mine and whispered, "Don't say anything to them."

I wanted to ask him why, but I had a feeling he wanted it to stay between us. There was a reason I'd voiced my opinion about Lucille to only him. Thomas and Dante might think I've lost it if they heard what I was thinking.

Maybe I had lost it. Maybe I was going crazy. Maybe a bit of both. My life flipped upside down when I lost my dad. And now I was learning truths that were slowly making me crumble and stripping away the identity that I had before all of this mess.

Joseph was my brother. My mom and dad were apart of an agency that tortured people. Dante accidentally killed my dad. Cole had been a liar all this time, even kidnapped his two closest friends. There was only so much I could take before I cracked.

Dante looked at me and he could tell I needed out of the room. "Want to talk outside?"

Joseph stood up and crossed his arms over his chest. "Like we'd leave you alone with her. You could be just like your brother." I could tell by the look Thomas gave him that he was over Joseph's attitude as much as I was. "A traitor ready to-"

"Shut up," I said, raising my voice. The looks that came from Dante and Joseph showed their surprise. Thomas on the other hand just smiled and shook his head. He was used to me talking to him like that every now and then. "I know you're my big brother and you want to protect me, but I am more than capable of making my own decisions."

"Really? Are you really?" Joseph drawled out, silencing all of us. Thomas and Dante could tell there was a meaning behind his words, but only I knew the real one. Joseph was asking if I was sane in the head.

After killing Angel, I hadn't been the same. I knew that and I'd been ignoring the part of me that was changing.

I'd been acting without thinking. I made sure I got Mark and Shelly to safety, but I left Cole behind. Who knew if Cole was even alive. I should've told him to come with us when we left, but I also didn't think about what could happen if he stayed. All I had thought about was how badly I'd wanted out of there.

I also trusted Dante a lot more than I probably should. He did kill my dad after all, even if it was on accident. But he also helped me run away.

Maybe I'd been losing it since my dad died. Nothing made sense to me anymore, especially people's intentions around me. My emotions were all over the place and I didn't know who I could trust.

I didn't know what to do anymore. My dad had always known. He always known what his next move was going to be before he did it.

And now, I was blaming our grandma for our mother's death. Voicing my thought to him is what was making him question my judgement right now.

"You're the one who told me to call her," I said meekly.

"I thought she'd give you answers you needed. I didn't think you'd go and blame her for kill our mom," Joseph spat. He was angry, that much was clear. He knew Lucille way better than I did, she raised him in the TIA. He had every right to be upset with me.