Zinn
Antoni looked ancient.
That was Zinn’s first thought when the butler opened the door. The lines that had always made his face look merry had settled into deep creases. All the spark was gone from his eyes.
“Asher,” Antoni greeted him. “I saw the cars on the cameras. How on-brand for you to stay away for years and then not give me an exact arrival time.” He held a hand to his forehead, shielding his vision from the sun. And you brought—” His mouth gaped. “Zeller!? Is that you?”
“Surprise.” Asher held up his hands as Zinn said, “my name is Zinn, actually.”
Zinn stood, arms folded across his chest. Antoni stared at him, clearly stunned and disbelieving, but eager.
Antoni slipped outside onto the porch, leaving the front door open a crack as he admonished Asher, “When you said you were bringing a surprise, I never dreamed you meant Zeller.”
“Zinn.”
“Sorry—Zinn.”
Asher shook Antoni’s hand, but Zinn stepped away.
“No, Antoni. I won’t shake your hand. Because that would imply that everything you did was okay. And it’s not. I have the whole story now. Asher told me. I’ll always be grateful that you helped make sure my baby went to a good home, but I’ll never forgive you for going along with my parents’ lies, and for everything you helped them do to Valentin.”
Antoni dipped his head sadly, as though he’d expected this. “I’m sorry. It’s only recently that I’ve realized I could have—should have—behaved differently.” His face scrunched in confusion. “Wait. Who told you about Valentin? Asher never knew.”
“Asher not knowing about Valentin is the only reason I could forgive him for what happened with my baby. That, and the fact that he was the one person who refused to try to gaslight me into believing I’d never been pregnant.”
Antoni cast his eyes downward. “I’m truly regretful. I honestly thought I was making the best decisions I could.” Exhaling, his focus shifted to Asher. “Did you know where your brother was the whole time?”
“No,” Asher replied. “I only found out he was in Bellwether Province last year.”
“Because of the investigator?”
“Yes.”
“I never told your parents about that. They might have found out some other way, like from the hospital, but I didn’t tell them that the PI who snooped around was from Bellwether.”
“Well, they obviously didn’t look too hard for him if they knew.”
Antoni frowned. “You’re right. But everything is different now.”
“That’s why I’m here,” Asher stated.
“To take Jem’s place as your parents’ heir?”
“Definitely not.” It was Zinn who answered. “We came to make sure they can’t do to Lanni and Bevin what they did to me.”
“We also aren’t alone,” Asher added.
“I saw on the cameras,” Antoni said. “Who are they?”
“My family.” Zinn replied, not elaborating.
He and Asher had asked the others to stay in the staff parking area until they could assess the situation. There had been a chance they would arrive to find his parents hosting a cabal of rich and powerful assholes. He would not have risked exposing Jordie, Ked, Ryde, or Lachie to anything like that.
But so far, the estate seemed more than safe. It seemed deserted.
“Are our fathers here?” Asher asked.
“They are,” Antoni said, “and it’s probably good you came now because the other staff have the day off. They had to work overtime these past few weeks to make all the arrangements, so I thought they needed a break. Plus, your daddy has been…unwell, since Jem died. He needed a quiet house.”
