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“Because my father’s an asshole.”
“That problem can be solved,” I say.
“No, Jax,” she says, and I grab her hand and kiss it. “He can sign the castle back to me sixty seconds after I sign it over to him. If I feel good about it over dinner, we’ll make it happen.”
“Yes, but—”
“It’s your money. I’m getting you your damn money.”
“It’s a shit ton of money, Emma,” Savage says. “Do you know how much?”
“I don’t want to know.” She goes to the next item on the list. “The DNA test.”
“Got that, too,” Savage says, and he holds up a folder. “There’s also proof that Hunter was being blackmailed and there are torn out journal entries that give details on the negotiations between Emma’s father and Hunter. It’s all tabbed out in this folder I have right here, all nice and organized with a labeled index.” He slides it across the table, and I open the folder, my heart thundering in my ears as I flip to the DNA test. And there the fuck it is. I glance up at Savage. “Can you confirm this is real?”
“I already shot a photo of it to my team. They’re hacking the records.” His cell phone buzzes with a text, and he glances at it and then me. “It’s real.”
The truth now exposed and confirmed seems to hang above the table and then lands like a bomb that shakes me to the core.
“It’s all true,” I say, my eyes finding Emma’s. “Hunter wasn’t my full brother. He was being blackmailed by your father. And a small part of me dares, for the first time ever, to wonder if that might have been enough to make him jump.”
“No,” Emma says. “Hunter didn’t jump. We both know that and he deserves full closure.Youdeserve closure. And we’re going to get it.” She grabs one of the journals. “My father killed him. My mother isn’t smart enough to pull that off. My father’s dead, so we’ve acted like it couldn’t have been him. He did it. We’re going to prove it.”
I don’t tell her that Hunter served her father better dead than alive. I don’t know what to think anymore. I grab one of the journals and start reading. And it’s not a gentle read. I end up stuck on passages about my mother:She lied and said he wasn’t mine. He breathes because I breathe. What’s his is mine. The end.It’s clear that he means the whiskey operation. He means our brand. Her father was evil. She’s right about one thing. Her father could have killed a man and never blinked an eye. Perhaps even his own son. He gave him breath. Did he also take it away?
Chapter one hundred twenty-three
Emma
The minute I step into the bar where Chance and I agreed to meet for coffee, we spot each other, and he’s on his feet. He stands there, watching me, gauging my mood, I think, looking Ken doll gorgeous, minus the blond hair, of course, in his khaki pants and a sweater. But the look on his handsome face is one of torment. I take a step toward him, and it’s like I’ve pulled his lever, given him a “go” sign perhaps.
He doesn’t wait for me to come to him, leaving the table behind where he’d been sitting to meet me halfway, he pulls me into a bear hug. “I love you, Bird Dog.” He pulls back to settle his hands on my shoulders. “I’m sorry.”
“You don’t have to say that again. Just don’t act like dad. You’re better than that.”
“You’re right. I am. I want to talk about that.”
“What does that mean?”
“Let’s get you a coffee, and I’ll explain.”
A few minutes later, I have an Irish Coffee, the North brand of course, with whipped cream piled on top. Chance skips the coffee for straight whiskey. I guess we really are meeting fordrinks, not coffee. “You sure you should be drinking?” Chance worries. “Weren’t you drugged?”
“Yes. It was—it is—scary. We don’t know who did it.” I lean closer. “If it was Randall, tell me. It will give me peace of mind to know no one is coming for me again.”
“I don’t know, sis. I confronted him. He denies it. I want the same peace of mind. You need protection.”
“Jax hired a bodyguard, but I can’t walk around with a bodyguard all my life.”
“Glad as fuck he did. For now, you have to have protection.”
“I know,” I agree. “I know.” I scoop up some whip cream and take a big bite.
Chance laughs and scoops a blotch of it from my nose. “Still my silly, wonderful sister. I hope Jax appreciates how wonderful you are.”
“He’s good to me. Please find a way to be family with him.”
“You really are going to move in with him?”
