Hidden truths

"Mrs. Smart," I greet her politely. My opinion of Revean has changed since our first meeting. I don't blame her for what her father did, and I can't blame Antonia either . "You wanted to see me."

She closes the book, sets it down on the table beside her, and gestures for me to sit in the chair across from her. I walk over and sit down.

"Thank you for coming. I wasn't sure if you would." Antonia speaks clearly. There is no trace of the drug addict she was.

"You left me no choice. You said it was important information about the past and related to Revean . He's under my protection now and I'll make sure he doesn't get hurt. He's had enough of that growing up." My words are short and to the point. I just want to know why I'm here and then get back to Vegas and my fiancée.

"He did, and so did you. It should have been so different." Antonia looks out the window, lost in a fleeting memory. "I've been high for so long that I've had a hard time distinguishing fact from fiction when I come out of them. But these have helped me remember...".

He gets up and, reaching over to a wooden chest, pulls a small stack of papers out of one of the drawers and brings them over to where I'm sitting. He sets them down on the table in front of me and sits back down.

"Please, Eliot," he pleads with me. "I know I have no right to ask you. I've never been a real mother to Revean , but I want to make sure she's safe. I want him to know the truth about what happened between your family and mine. The lies have been told for so long. It's time for the truths to come out."

"Just because you've finally regained some clarity doesn't mean I'm willing to listen to what you have to say. It's probably a lie if it has anything to do with your husband."

I don't need to be here, listening to his lies. I stand up and turn to the door.

"Eliot , you have your father's stubborn temper, but you need to hear this. I loved my husband. He loved me, but there was a third person in our marriage." I've had enough, this was a mistake. I don't need to hear what a good man Jackson Smart was. I know the truth. My hand reaches out to open the door and walk out. "Eliot , that person was your mother, Amanda."

"What?" I turn around. "I don't understand, what are you saying? Keep my mother's name out of this."

"I loved her. Jackson loved her. The three of us had a relationship together." He puts his hand on the papers on the table. "They are letters that confirm the truth. I hid them after her death because I no longer wanted to believe that what we had was real. It was too painful. We both loved her, Eliot , and we planned to sell the casino, leave Las Vegas and take you and Revean with us."

I close my eyes, trying to block out what I'm hearing.

It can't be true.

Jackson Smart killed my mother.

I rush forward, grab one of the letters and begin to read the declarations of love between the Smart's and my mother and their plans to run away. Anger takes hold of me and I tear the first letter into tiny pieces.

"If he was so in love with my mother, why did he kill her?" I scream, pounding my fist on the table.

"I have no proof, but I know Jackson didn't kill Amanda . He couldn't. He loved her. It was someone else. Someone you knew your whole life. The person who molded you into the man you are now."

I close my eyes and think of the night my mother died. The muffled words between my mother and Revean's father . The sound of the gun going off. I begin to remember that night more clearly.

"Jackson , I'm scared." My mother's whispering voice floods my head.

"I know. We have to leave tonight. Now." Jackson grabs my mother's hand. "We'll be fine."

"But he knows about us. He's not going to let me leave. I'm his possession. I always will be."

"We'll leave before he realizes what's happened, and I'll hide. The casino is in my name. He can't touch any of his money. I'll sell it to support us. Come..." Jackson leans forward and presses a kiss to my mother's lips. "Let's go. We'll round up Eliot and I'll text Antonia to bring Revean .

Bang.

A gun blast sounds and my mother falls to the ground. The hole in her forehead leaves me in no doubt that she's gone.

"No!" Jackson screams and leans over her.

Another shot and Jackson falls next to her. His body shudders for a few seconds before he lies still. He too is dead.

My memories of that night are finally clear. I'm back at the window of my childhood bedroom, watching everything. Hearing everything. Smelling the scent of gun residue and death, but it's who I see next that finally unveils the buried memories I've been repressing.

My father, gun in hand, steps out into the street. His look is pure evil. I've never seen that look on his face before. It's as if the devil has risen and is walking this earth.

"My father killed them. He knew about you three and shot you." I slump in my chair, rubbing my temples as I try to dispel the horrifying memories that just hit me. "It's not true. It can't be."

"I didn't realize you had seen what happened," Antonia says as she reaches out and takes my hand. Part of me wants to reject her comforting touch, but the part of me that just lost my mother appreciates her compassion. "Eliot , I'm so sorry. If only I had known. At least you were together at the end." His voice breaks and I intertwine our fingers in a gesture of support for both of us. "I didn't know what had happened. My husband arrived at our house a week later, his body decapitated, dismembered and castrated. I was devastated. Your father told me it was Jackson's punishment for killing your mother. I knew it wasn't true. It couldn't be, and your father knew he wouldn't rest until he proved it. He held a gun to my head and I knew I was next. I was going to die, but then Revean cried. He had woken up from a nightmare. He saved my life with that cry. They stuck a needle in my neck and injected me with heroin. Your father did it. We were robbed that night, and the years that followed were a blur. I remember trying to get off the drugs, but every time I tried, your father was there, sticking the needle back in my neck." She gasps. "God, he's coming for me again." He breaks away from me, gets up and starts pacing the room. "We couldn't save you. You've turned into him. You're going to drug me and put me back in that trailer. You're going to do it, aren't you? Oh God, Revean , I'm so sorry."

"No, no, not at all," I try to reassure her.

Antonia is scared of me. She is trembling and as pale as the crisp white sheets that cover the bed in my house. I try to approach her, but she curls into a ball in the corner of the room.

"Andrew!" I call out to him, and he rushes at the sound of my distressed voice.

"Eliot," he replies.