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I’ve known for a long time now that Noah Spellman is capable of deviousness, but Vaughn’s findings have blown me away.
* * *
“Neither of the North twins were the father of that baby.”
My breathing starts to falter, each inhalation isn’t enough, and I frantically gasp for air. How had I not known she was sleeping with someone else?
“Breathe, sweetheart. I’m only getting started.”
Oh, shit!
I sink lower onto the bathroom tiles until my forehead is flush with the pristine white, and I’m once again breathing at a normal-ish level. I inhale heavily, filling my lungs.
“Okay?”
Vaughn’s voice comes down the line, and I whisper, “Okay.”
I can hear his own deep breath just before he drops the next bomb.
“Layla’s sponsor for rehab—the very first time at eighteen—it wasn’t Caden. It was Spellman. He had access to all her records, having paid for everything. He’s named as her legal guardian on the paperwork, as a matter of fact.However, during the process of sifting through her records from another rehab stint following the birth of her child, my guy came across the goods.”
I blow out a breath when he pauses, mentally steeling myself for whatever is about to come out of his mouth.
“In her required therapy sessions, she mentions her regret for past transgressions and how the drugs and meaningless sex were her way to quiet the voices. She mentions—and this is verbatim, okay?”
I murmur my assent, entirely unsure of whether I want to know, but altogether certain that Ineedto.
“That day at the river should never have happened. But I was young, foolish, and believed he loved me. I was willing to do anything for him, and for years, I did. It wasn’t until recently that I’ve seen that he never cared for me. He only cared about what I could do for him. How I could manipulate people into doing whathewanted. I want to stay clean, but every time I think I can do it, he reminds me of what I did, and the cycle starts all over again.”
I pull myself up into a sitting position, incomprehension zipping through my mind. “Shecan’tbe talking about Archer. He was dead at that point. So, who’s she talking about?”
“I’m getting to it, sweetheart. Hold your damn horses.”
“Get to it faster, Burton!”
He huffs, but continues. “That was the only entry from hermanytherapy sessions that mentions anyone other than Archer. It’s ambiguous, but the timeline doesn’t add up. So, we dug even deeper. Did you know Spellman holds shares in a little-known electric company based out of London?”
“Christ, don’t ask questions youknowI don’t know the answer to!”
“This small electric company is owned by a massive corporation that handles security for the one percent of the one percent. World-fucking-wide, sweetheart. And wouldn’t you know, that security company is—”
“Holloway Security Detail?”
“Bingo!” He confirms my suspicions.
“Caden said HSD has run his father’s security for years. It runs his own now, for fuck’s sake.”
“Try not to have a coronary, okay, sweetheart?”
I blow out a breath. “I’ll try,” I deadpan.
“We found the financials. HSD is funded infullby Spellman Sounds. There’s no doubt that Noah Spellman is controlling and monitoring every single damn thing that goes on in every house HSD ‘protects,’ including the one you’re inside. Right. Now.”
My brain whirrs, trying to catch up with what I’ve been told. “Can they hear me now?”
“Doubtful. The water should muffle your voice, and you’re not using a device monitored by HSD, so we should, in theory, be fine.”
“Vaughn, I need you to tell me what to do.”
