Fanny narrowed her eyes at us.
“What?” Layla said. “We’re all injured. Your boss fucking had us shot.”
“Five times each,” Brady emphasized.
Our steps slowed even further.
By the time we reached the top floor, the formerly self-proclaimed “cool, fun aunt” was impatiently tapping a foot, the heel of her Birk flapping. She used her key-pass to access the top floor, and the elevator doors whooshed open onto an “office” that was as much focused on luxury comforts as functionality.
Magnumwas lounging in his own private hot tub, a waterproof computer console of some sort to one side of him, on the other a tray with a tumbler containing two fingers of amber and a one-person antipasto tray. His shoulders and chest were sculpted, tan, and smooth, free of any body hair. A woman behind him was hastily packing up a massage table.
“There you are,” he said by way of greeting.
“Their injuries prevented us from arriving sooner,” Fanny said, her voice terse.
Chase’s astute gaze alighted on us. “I can only imagine.”
I couldn’t decide what he meant by that, only that I probably wouldn’t like it. I scowled at him.
“How did you enjoy your tour of the campus?” he asked us as the masseuse exited through a side door. I caught sight of a stairwell before the door shut behind her.
“‘Enjoy’ isn’t the word I’d use,” Griffin said. “We reserve that for life situations we enter into willingly.”
“I understand. We still have much to discuss. I’ll uphold my end of the bargain and share what I can with you before you have to make your decision.”
“I didn’t realize it was a ‘bargain’ to be strongarmed with the choice of coming either willingly or by force,’” Hunt added.
Chase simply said, “I have someone I think you’ll be interested in meeting before you see your new home. I didn’t expect her to be in today, but she’s very dedicated to her work.
“Tracy,” he called out, raising his voice to carry. “Will you please come out here?”
Another door opened, and when I saw who emerged, I instinctively clutched Griffin’s arm.
Everything about “Tracy”was gut-wrenchingly familiar. On lean legs I’d admired in dozens of photos of Orson and his wife from before she abandoned them, Griffin’s deadbeat mom stalked across the open space between the hot tub and a large desk that bordered a wall of windows.
Griffin’s arm trembled beneath mine, and I clasped him all the harder. Layla shored up his other side, and Hunt and Brady bunched behind him, offering silent support.
“I believe you know Tracy as ‘Mitzi,’” Chase said, his intelligent stare eating up our reactions. “And as you can see, she’s very much accounted for.”
8
Not Even a Hundred of Their Sincerest Apologies Will Be Enough
As the five of us gawked at her,Tracylooked back at us, her eyes soft and compassionate. When she smiled gently, it was the exact same smile I’d observed dozens of times in the photo of her and Orson that sat in a silver frame on the bookcase by the TV: the couple entwined in each other’s arms, Griffin’s mom sitting across his dad’s lap, a gray couch the backdrop to the selfie. The jilted husband kept photos of the woman all over the house. According to him, she was the love of his life, and he’d never stop loving her, no matter that she’d abandoned him and their three-year-old son when they’d needed her most.
“Fuck,” Griffin breathed so that no one but me and maybe Layla heard.
After a glance at Chase, and a nod of encouragement from him, Tracy closed the distance between us until she stood across from the huddle of us, within arm’s reach. She wore a pristine white lab coat, currently unbuttoned to reveal a silk blouse and pencil skirt beneath, all the better to show those sculpted legs of hers. I’d heard Orson mention how beautiful her legs were on several occasions. The woman did have perfect legs, their long, lean lines accentuated by the four-inch heels she wore.
Her gaze softened further as it settled on Griffin. “Hi, Griffin. Magnum tells me you’ve been led to believe I was your mother.”
Griffin gaped at her, his jaw slack, and said nothing.
“I can only imagine how difficult it must be to find out that’s not true, and then to see me in person like this.”
Again, no comment from Griffin, but he managed to close his mouth, and the trembling was slowing down. Griffin had always been strong. I knew he’d be working furiously to pull himself together.
“When Tobias and I used to work together, we dated for a time. I’ve seen some of the pictures he’s been displaying of us, and they’re from the time we were together—though many of them have been doctored. I’ve never been pregnant, and yet there are images of me with a swollen belly that are remarkably convincing. Even I would’ve believed I carried a pregnancy to term.” With a dark chuckle, she shook her head in what looked like disbelief.
