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Shit.
It looked a lot like Rock’s gun…that was the same model as the one that killed Derek Wolfe.
Damn.
I was face to face with Derek Wolfe’s killer.
Maybe.
Would a son off his father? Rock had tried the same thing at fourteen, but he’d been a hotheaded adolescent trying to protect his baby sister.
“Then answer,” I said. “If the answer is anything but simple, help me understand.”
“Nice try.”
“What do you expect me to do? I’m going on trial, and you and I both know I’m innocent. I don’t even have a motive, unlike the thousands of others who wanted to see your father dead. Why me? Why me?”
“How would I know?”
“You just intimated that you know who killed him. Not that I want to see any of them go down, but all of his children have motives. Why was I arrested?”
He didn’t reply. Silenced loomed for a few minutes, until—
“Fonda let him stick his dirty dick in her for the last three years, and he didn’t leave her anything.”
“That’s no reason to kill the guy.”
“I didn’t say she killed him.”
“What exactly are you saying, then?”
“I’m saying my father fucked us all over, Mrs. Wolfe. Every single one of us, you included.”
“Hey, I just wrote his will. He paid his bills. He never fucked me over. Not until he was dead, that is.”
“Didn’t you think it was slightly odd that he put his estranged son in charge of everything?”
Interesting. This son—who, I just realized, was Derek’s only legal child—knew about the will.
“Yeah, it was more than odd. I tried hard to talk him out of it, but he was adamant.”
“Apparently you didn’t try hard enough.”
“I did my duty, which is to represent my client zealously, whether his desires are in his best interest or not. Did you even know your father?”
“Unfortunately, yes, I did.”
“Then you undoubtedly know that once he sets his mind to something, there’s no changing it. I did my duty. I wrote the will he wanted, and I was compensated for my time. I had no motive to kill the man. Unlike you.”
He didn’t reply, not that I expected him to. He was clearly smart enough to know I wouldn’t believe him if he said he didn’t have a motive.
“Put the gun away,” I said to him.
“Not likely.”
“I’m no threat to you. I’m going down for something you probably did.”
No reply. Innocent people usually got real pissed when they were accused of something. Still, this was Derek Wolfe’s son. He could be as icy as the man who’d fathered him.
“It was all supposed to be mine,” he finally said. “Mine and Mom’s.”
“What do you mean? All of Derek’s assets?”
“Sort of. It’s a long story.”
“He had four other children, you know.”
“Bastards.”
“Apparently, but still children of his body.”
Jordan pressed his lips together, and his eyes sank slightly. Was he sad? Sad that he’d been denied a relationship with his siblings? That he’d been denied the New York billionaire privilege?
Or had he?
“Look,” I said. “You’ve got issues with your father. Who doesn’t? He wasn’t a nice man.”
“He was once,” Jordan said.
“Oh?”
“According to my mother, anyway.”
“Where is your mother?”
He scoffed. “Nice try. I’m not your husband. I’m not falling for your ‘I’m a nice and understanding woman’ routine.”
“What routine? I genuinely want to know.”
“My mother had nothing to do with any of this.”
“Then you should have no issue with telling me where she is.”
“She’s safe. Protected.”
“Good. That’s good. Where?”
“If you haven’t found her by now, you never will.”
“Don’t bet on it. My husband will find her.”
Jordan met my gaze with ice-blue eyes. “If he lives that long.”
47
Zee
“Who the fuck offed Derek Wolfe?”
Diamond didn’t reply right away. Finally, she cleared her throat. “I did.”
My jaw dropped. So did Reid and Rock’s.
“You’re kidding,” Rock said.
“I’m not.”
“But you said yourself you’re a prisoner here,” Reid said. “How could you have gotten to New York, gotten inside his penthouse, and killed him? Do you even know how to handle a gun?”
“And you’re letting my wife take the fall?” Rock said, his voice taking on an angry edge. “I ought to kill you right now.”
“I wouldn’t blame you,” Diamond said.
I met her gaze. She was old and tired. Life clearly didn’t mean anything to her anymore. She’d lost her husband. She’d lost her son. She’d been forced to take part in this horror for the last—well, only God knew how long.
“I don’t believe you,” I said softly.
“You should,” she said. “I did it.”
“You cared for me when I was scared and alone. You said yourself how you cared for the girls here. You’re not a killer.”
“Zee’s right,” Reid agreed. “You’re not a killer. Give her your piece, Rock.”
“Fuck no.”
“Give it to her. See if she even knows how to hold it.”
Rock sighed and pulled his pistol out of his ankle holster. He handed it to Diamond.
She visibly cringed.
“See?” Reid said. “You don’t even want to touch it. You did not kill Derek Wolfe, but you know who did, and you’re covering for him.”
