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Noah falls onto the cushion on my right side while Ry steals the one on the left. Declan places his hand on my shoulder and stays standing at my back. His eyes roving over the others, a silent threat to all of them not to push me. The silent warning wafts off him in palpable waves.
Charles is the first to break the silence. “What do you need from me?”
Straight to the point. I like it. Makes it easier to know where to start.
“Where is your father staying currently and where has he been recently?” Start with something easy. Just because he was there that night, doesn’t mean he was the one Romano turned to.
“We’re staying at the Fairmore house for the next month or so. We came a week before the gala but Father had business he wanted to stay in the area for.”
“Do you know what?” I interject but he’s already shaking his head.
“I’m running most of the meetings on our legitimate business while we are in town.” He doesn’t have to verbalize what he means. Whatever his father is here for, it isn’t legal. Sure, they have their businesses here that do need their attention and in-person meetings, but Charles is taking care of it on his own.
“I wasn’t supposed to stay longer than a week here though,” he continues. “I met him in Cherry Hill and we flew out here together. That was when he asked for me to take over his meetings that he had set up because he had other important matters to attend to. He did say he wouldn’t be traveling far from Fairmore so I know he will be around.”
I hesitate to ask my next question. It’s important but even saying the name of my hometown after so long feels wrong.
Charles doesn’t miss a beat even as I struggle to ask. “Our base is still Eastvale,” he answers without making me ask. I can’t suppress the shudder at hearing that name. I don’t think I ever will. “He spends most of the year there, with only brief trips here and there. A trip of this length is unusual.”
I look at Declan to get his thoughts on the matter before turning to Luca. I think the two of them would have the same line of thought that I’m thinking. If his father changed his plans after being in Cherry Hill, there’s a good chance it’s because of Romano.
“Do you know Arthur Romano?”
“The name Romano,” he stops. “I’ve heard it over the years, but I couldn’t even begin to point you in the right direction. He’s connected to my father, but I don’t know how.”
I continue to ask him questions, trying to find out if he’s heard the name recently but we don’t get far. It seems his father really does keep him out of the shady dwellings he likes to reside in. I have to wonder why. He must believe he has Charles firmly under his thumb, yet never has tried to bring him into the seedier aspects of where their money and power really comes from.
“Have you ever met him?” I ask, more on a whim than anything. Maybe he’s seen him recently and didn’t even realize it.
“I can’t put a face to the name, no,” he answers readily.
Noah is already handing a tablet over to me, a picture of Romano already enlarged on the screen. I hand it to Charles who takes his time studying it.
“I’ve seen this man before.” He says the words slowly, like he isn’t entirely sure of them even as they come out of his mouth. “I can’t place him though.” His frustration starts to burn through. “I feel like I should know.”
“Recently?” Noah asks as he takes the tablet back. Charles hands it back with one last begrudging look towards the photo.
“No. Definitely not recent.”
I sigh, we could have been so close. I guess it doesn’t matter anyways. I still believe we are on the right track. I lean back against the couch and close my eyes as I think over the implications of the information I have now.
Noah takes over interrogating Charles for any bit of seemingly useless information that can point us in the right direction. I continue to listen as they compile a list of properties, aliases, bank accounts, associates, businesses, and every other possible thread that Noah and I will be able to pick at until we unravel his entire life.
Charles is as forthcoming with the information as he can be. Even giving details Noah hadn’t gotten around to asking yet.
I need to decide just how much to tell him before sending him back. If we can find where Romano is staying, wiping him off the board will be as easy as breathing. I just need to be careful to not give anything else away when I give Charles his instructions.
Chapter Five Noah
While it may seemlike Scar is being too trusting of this man that’s virtually a stranger to her now, I can still see the shrewd calculation in her eyes. She takes everything with a grain of salt and I know we can trust her to make the right decisions. Even the ones as emotionally charged as this one.
Luca and Kade know it too, even if they don’t agree with her.
I finish gathering the intel that will help me get into all the right places and know where to look. Charles gave me more to work with than I thought he would. I’m wary of how much he knows even though he isn’t involved. It’s clear he’s been watching his father for a long time, or he’s close to the man.
Leaning back into the couch, I squeeze Scar’s knee and her eyes pop open, shining a vibrant green as her mind races with thoughts and plans.
“How suspicious will your father be about you not coming home last night?” she asks.
