Total pages in book: 132
Estimated words: 124923 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 625(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 416(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 124923 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 625(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 416(@300wpm)
Damn. I hoped my public callout would force his hand and he’d have to explain where Christian went, but I didn’t consider the ripple effect it might have. Even better.
“Shayne and Valen aren’t his family,” Thayer reminds him.
“And we’ve seen how he treats his own flesh and blood, so forgive me if I don’t feel reassured by the sentiment,” I add. “If anything, now he has more of a reason to fuck with us.”
“I’ve asked you both multiple times to stand down and let me handle this. If only you had this much interest in the family business.”
He’s baiting us into changing the subject. He counted on Danny to take over AmesAir as the oldest and most business-minded, but then he died and responsibility fell to us. Unfortunately for him, Thayer has zero interest, and as far as my dad’s concerned, I’m too much of a fuck up. A loose cannon and last resort. Fine with me.
“You’ve had a year to handle it. If you want us to sit back and do nothing, you’re going to have to give us something here.” I try to reason with him.
“He indirectly went after Shayne once,” Thayer says. “If you think I’ll stand by—”
“There is a plan in place,” he interrupts through gritted teeth, clearly losing his patience with us. “But if he knows people are looking into him, he’s going to cover his tracks before I have a chance to get what I need. You can see how your latest stunt might pose a problem. It might be too late as it is.”
Thayer and I exchange looks. I didn’t see that coming, and judging by the look on his face, neither did he. My dad is working against his own brother? Well, color me surprised. I didn’t think he had it in him.
“What exactly are you planning?” I ask, still unconvinced. Who’s to say this isn’t simply lip service to shut us up? “And what about William?” My dad taking down Samuel is enough of a stretch, but my grandfather? I have a hard time believing that. Then again, William Ames is nothing if not mercenary.
“That’s not for you to worry about. But if you have incriminating evidence—I’m talking hard evidence, not this circumstantial shit—you send it to me. Other than that, if you have even a lick of sense, you won’t speak a word of this to anyone else. You want to keep Shayne and her friend safe? Then keep them out of it, too.”
“You mean like video evidence of him covering up a crime?” I ask pointedly. “Because we’ve had that in our pockets for a year now.”
“And look what good turning it in did. We need to be smart about this. All of our futures depend on it.”
“Answer me one thing,” I say, dread crawling up my spine.
He dips his chin, gesturing with his hand for me to get on with it.
“Do you know what happened to Christian?”
“No.” His answer comes without hesitation.
I work my jaw, glancing over at Thayer before looking back to my dad. “Do you think he hurt him?”
He sighs, his gaze flicking back and forth between us. “I don’t know,” he says, but the haunted look in his eyes makes me think otherwise. “We’ll find out. I can promise you that as long as you—”
“Let you handle it,” Thayer finishes for him. “I think we’ve got it.”
“Good.” He walks over to the door, a clear indication that our visit is over.
Knowing that we won’t get anything more out of him tonight, we allow him to kick us out, following behind him.
“Oh, and boys?” he says as we’re leaving. “Next time you want to stop by, call first.”
Holden
“You staying at Shayne’s tonight?” I ask my brother. We’re walking back to Hawthorne Hall after being stuck in the car all day.
“Yeah, probably. Fuckin’ sick of driving.”
Getting back from Boston took a lot longer than it took to get there. Traffic in the city is bad on any given day, but throw in a Celtics game and you’re fucked. I can tell he’s anxious to get back to Shayne, especially after tonight’s revelations. Something that feels a lot like jealousy twists inside my stomach. How would it feel to have that? To have Valen every night, not only to sleep with, but to talk to. To touch. To call mine. What the fuck is wrong with me? Of all my fucked-up fantasies, the one about having a girlfriend has to be the most demented.
“You think Dad’s full of shit, or do you think he actually plans on doing something about Samuel?” Thayer asks, pulling me from my thoughts.
“Hard to tell. Usually, I’d say that the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. But if what he says is true and they’re digging into Samuel, he’ll want to separate himself to save his own ass.”