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“O-kay,” Emma says, refocusing on me. “Aside from Savage being strange,” she says, “Randall seems to be afraid of whatever it is that he says you know and can use to hurt my family. Do you have any idea what that can be?”
“It has to be the DNA test,” I say. “They must think I knew about it before tonight.”
Emma shakes her head, rejecting that idea. “That doesn’t make any sense. Assuming that Hunter really was my father’s son, which we don’t know for certain, Hunter’s gone. He had a potential claim over our family money, not you. Aside from scandal, why does that matter now?”
Assuming that Hunter really was her father’s son.
I force myself to accept that possibility and therefore let my mind go where that takes me. Emma’s father was communicating with Hunter, even visiting him, but that didn’t start until my father died. In other words, her father showed interest in Hunter, once Hunter had the ability to give away the farm, so to speak.
“Jax?” Emma prods.
“The DNA test matters,” I say, snapping back to the present. “And I say this because it establishes a motive for murder. As for who it condemns in the eyes of the law—me or your brother or someone else—we don’t know, because we don’t know why your family wants the castle.” I lift my cup. “The castle is the root of all of this.”
“Or the symptom,” Savage suggests. “Speculating here, but we need a theory to work with.What ifHunter died before Emma’sfather achieved a certain financial goal? Seems like the castle is a part of a contract not executed or some shit like that.”
“Agreed,” I say, wondering what kind of craziness Hunter had gotten himself, and us, into. “The sale of the castle must be a trigger point to terms inside an existing contract. It’s the only thing that makes sense but why the hell don’t I know about it?”
“Randall’s exact words,” Emma says, “were:The North family is our enemy. They can take everything from us. They can destroy us. Jax is using you. Seems to me,” she adds, “that he thinks you know why he and my brother want the castle.”
“I don’t think that statement says they think I already know. I think it says they’re terrified I’ll find out. And the only thing that makes me their enemy is Hunter’s murder.”
“You mean the only thing that makes youourenemy?” she asks. “I’m still a Knight, Jax.”
“You arenotmy enemy, Emma. You will never be my enemy, not unless you allow them to demonize me.”
“Bingo,” Savage says. “Team Knight needs to demonize you, before you marry her and end up running the whole two-company show.” He points at Emma. “Not that you couldn’t run it all. You could. I’m just saying that’s where I’m betting their heads are right now.”
There’s a heavy moment in the air when Emma blushes and cuts her stare, clearly reacting to the reference to me marrying her. She’s embarrassed or awkward, or perhaps both. I, on the other hand, considering my previous claim to eternal bachelorism, am not any of those things. She’s it for me.
“Whiskey’s in my blood, baby, not hotels,” I say, catching her hand, and when she looks at me, there’s a punch of awareness, between us as I add, “Just like you are. We are not about our families.”
“To them, we are,” she says. “And that means they’re going to keep coming at us as long as we’re together.”
“Then we need to get them under control.”
“And if we can’t?”
“We will.”
“Now. We have to do it now,” she says. “Because I have this nagging sensation in my gut telling me someone else is going to get hurt. Randall threatened you. Actually, as much as I hate saying this,my brotherthreatened you, because Randall does nothing without my brother’s orders or agreement.”
She doesn’t believe her brother killed Hunter, but she’s fretting over his threats against me. Some part of Emma doubts Chance more than she wants to admit, but I don’t say that. I don’t think she’s ready to hear that right now.
“Unless he did,” Savage says, going a whole different direction with this. “What if Randall killed Hunter to protect Chance? A self-serving act, of course, because protecting Chance protects his own future.”
Emma grabs her mug and holds onto it, her grip a vise, like she just needs to hold onto something or she’ll fall. “I cannot believe we’re talking about Randall killing Hunter.”
“He and Jill were whispering off in a corner tonight, too,” Savage says, snatching up another pastry. “Interesting to think about those two together, isn’t it? They’re both riding the North and Knight coattails. What if they’ve decided they want a piece of the pie for themselves and have a plan to get it?”
“I’m not saying that Randall isn’t money-hungry,” Emma replies. “I’m not even saying he wouldn’t street fight for his future, but I guess I’m more of a romantic than you men are where Jill comes into play. Assuming she loved Hunter, what if Jill left me the note? Maybe she really is afraid for my safety?” Her brows furrow. “Although she is a bitch to me.”
Savage snorts. “Randall left that note.”
Emma scowls. “You want me to believe that he accused my brother, his best friend, his ticket to money and success, of killing Hunter?”
“That’s what guilty people do,” he explains. “They point the finger at themselves because they feel like that makes them look less guilty. It’s all about getting it out there, weathering the storm of attention, and the waiting for everyone to move on, to someone else. As a bonus, he probably thought he’d scare you away from Jax and push you closer to Chance, who you’d suddenly need to protect. Sisterly love and all.”
Emma considers him a moment and then looks at me. “I don’t know, Jax. It doesn’t feel right. Why not just tell me about the DNA test and accuse you directly?”
