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Even now, as my grandmother lies here, sedated, I feel that she’s a part of me.
And I hate the feeling.
So I choose to think of her as nothing.
“Let’s go.” I turn and walk toward the door.
Then I jerk.
“Who the hell are you?” I say to the young man entering.
Brock turns. “Lamone. What the hell?”
“I came to visit my grandmother.”
“At ten p.m.?”
“Yeah, at ten p.m. What the hell are you doing here?”
“This is my cousin Ava,” Brock says.
“Hi. So what the hell are the two of you doing here?”
I clear my throat. “It seems—”
I stop. I promised my father I wouldn’t tell anyone, other than Brendan, what he told me. I was about to spill that this woman is my grandmother too.
“It seems what?” Lamone asks.
“Nothing. We’re done here.” I leave the room.
Brock doesn’t follow me, and I listen through the door.
“You take care of everything?” Lamone says to Brock.
“I’m a man of my word.”
“I just want her comfortable. I’m going to see my mother—my birth mother—tomorrow. I hope I can get her to come visit.”
“Maybe you should be asking yourself why she doesn’t visit.”
“You’re a Steel,” Lamone says. “I thought you people were all about family.”
“If that were the case,” Brock says, “we’d be embracing you with open arms. Of course, you haven’t proved anything yet. Only that you’re the grandson of this woman. I haven’t seen any proof that you’re a Steel.”
I widen my eyes. There’s no proof?
“I’ll get proof,” Lamone says. “As soon as I talk to my mother.”
“Doesn’t matter, anyway,” Brock says. “You agreed not to make any claims against the family fortune as long as we take care of the old lady.”
“Too bad we never signed anything.”
Brock chuckles. “I should have known. Anyone who would poison an innocent young girl. You, Lamone, are not a man of your word.”
“I just want to see what my birth mother has to say. I want answers.”
“So do we all. But the answers we need are inside this sedated woman’s head.”
“My mother may know what’s going on.”
“She may. She may not. But I think it’s safe to say that if she gave a shit about her mother, she’d be here. She wouldn’t have left her in your care.”
“She didn’t. Or…I don’t know if she did. I got an anonymous tip that this woman was my grandmother, and as you know, I had our DNA run and it’s true. I’m her grandson.”
“Another anonymous tip. How convenient.”
“Look, Steel, I didn’t ask to be dragged into your family chaos, but I’m here.”
“You certainly are. I don’t give a rat’s ass if you’re a direct descendant of Brad Steel himself. You’ll get nothing. Not after you violated Rory and Callie and poisoned Diana. You can burn in hell.”
Brock is angry. I can hear the tension in his voice. I don’t blame him. I’m angry too.
“I was a kid, damn it! And all those photos of Rory and Callie have been destroyed. We’ve been through this.”
“Funny. I don’t feel like it’s over at all. Call me a skeptic, but I don’t trust you, Lamone. I’m pretty sure you’re here to stay, and let me make myself perfectly clear—you will never get a penny of Steel money. I’ll die first.”
Brock whooshes out of the room. “Let’s go, Ava.”
“What was all that about?” I ask as we walk to the elevator. “He took photos of Rory and Callie?”
“It’s a long story, cuz. Suffice it to say that ten years ago, he and Brittany Sheraton drugged the Pike sisters, disrobed them, and took incriminating photos. Then blackmailed them.”
“Why?”
“Because they had proof that he drugged Diana.”
“Oh my God…”
“He’s not a nice guy, Ava. Don’t be getting all soft just because you’re cousins or whatever.”
“Oh, God. I am his cousin. His mother and my father are both children of…” I swallow back nausea.
“Like I said…”
We get into the elevator, and as it plummets, so does my stomach.
Just like the tower.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Brendan
I’m home.
I regard the text from Ava. It’s nearing midnight, and the bar is emptying out.
I text her back.
Do you want me to come over?
She doesn’t respond for a few moments, which troubles me, and then the three dots begin to move.
If you want to.
Women. Why don’t they just say what they mean?
I’m coming.
Then I head over. She’s waiting for me at the back door of the bakery. Her hair is soft and wavy around her shoulders, and the color has come back into her beautiful face.
“Did you eat?” I ask.
She nods. “Tacos. Brock made me.”
“Brock’s a good man.” I enter and follow her up the steps to her place. Once we’re inside, “Do you want to talk? About your grandmother? Or anything else?”
“Not especially.”
“All right. Let me get you some water.”
“I’m not thirsty, Brendan.”
I sigh. “Then why am I here, Ava?”
She shrugs. “That was your choice.”
I grip her shoulders. “Damn it, don’t do this. Don’t play games with me.”
