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“Except for one,” he says, pointing to the top of the page. “This business, CGK Corp, has no ties to anything even though there’s been hundreds of thousands of dollars moving through it just in the last couple years.”
Where is he going with this? Surely his father has many secrets he’s unaware of.
“At first, I didn’t think much of it. But it kept popping up, over and over again. He’s hidden his tracks well. It’s a legitimate corporation. A healthy paper trail, even a good reputation. But no one knows the silent owners behind the company. The more I looked, the more I found. Business trips, conferences, expense after expense, and high enough revenues to demand a significant amount of attention and care from my father. I couldn’t believe I had never seen or heard of it before. But I couldn’t find anything at first, second, or even third glance to see how it could relate to you.”
He hesitates, flipping the pages in Scarlett’s hands. “Until I saw this. The company logo.”
The color drains from Scarlett’s face as she stares down at whatever he’s pointing at on the paper. I move Jade out of my way and she goes easily as I rush to Scarlett’s side to see what it is that’s haunting her.
“Daisies,” she whispers.
“Twined around a C,” Charles finishes for her. I trade looks with Luca and Kade but they don’t understand the significance either.
“He,” she starts, looking sick. She shakes her head. “I need a moment.”
She turns on her heel and marches out of the room, tossing the pile of papers at Noah before she leaves the room. “Start looking for the connection to us.”
As one, all five of us move to follow her. A small hand wrapped around my arm stops me. “Don’t,” Jade implores, looking at each of us in turn. “She just told you what she needs.”
“She doesn’t have to do it alone,” Kade argues.
“You’re right,” Jade concedes. “But take it from someone who knows. There are some demons you need to face on your own before you can let anyone else in to ease the burden.” She allows that to sink in. “She knows she isn’t alone anymore. She knows she has all of us to lean on. She isn’t pushing people away anymore. Don’t let your fears and your wants interfere with what she just told you she needs.”
Well shit. Little J is all grown up and putting all of us in our places.
She eyes Noah. “Are you gonna start looking into that or should I learn how to do your job too?”
Holden and Ian snicker.
She ignores them and snaps her fingers at Noah, hurrying him along.
Ouch.
He shakes his head at her, but grabs his laptop and opens it to get to work. Charles calls his name and tosses him a USB. “That’s everything I could find on it in my father’s records.”
Noah catches it easily, huffing under his breath a little. “Maybe I should teach you how to do my job.” He meets Luca’s eyes. “Can you get the girls started on going through the other financials we’ve got?”
Chapter Ten Luca
My fingers tapout a staccato beat against my thigh as I attempt to rein in my temper. Nothing about this meeting has gone the way that I had anticipated. What was meant as a chance to get all of us on the same page and plan our next steps, has left us with more questions. All thanks to our unexpected guests.
Guests.
Plural.
When the fuck did our home become a pit stop for every unwelcome motherfucker we’ve ever met? Maybe we’ve gone too soft recently. I crack my knuckles and move my attention to a prime target to reinstate our fearsome reputation.
Declan clears his throat and I have to force air into my lungs in a deep inhale before slowly exhaling. Right. Charles is off limits. As much as it pains me to admit, it is what is best for Letty.
I give a curt nod to Noah to acknowledge his request. It’s not ideal to start the work and expose our systems with an outsider here, but maybe it will give me an excuse to kill the sorry excuse of a man once and for all.
My lips twitch at the macabre thought. One Kade picks up on rather quickly based on the manic gleam in his eye.
“Are we all getting started then?” Rachel asks, a tentative hope in her voice. It immediately deflates my burgeoning bloodthirst as thoughts of Alec fill my head. She wants to find Romano as badly as we do so she can get her pound of flesh. It’ll never make up for the loss she’s had to endure, but at least it’s the first step to healing.
Many would judge her, judge us, for this need. The drive for revenge that is the anchor of our grieving process. Most people haven’t been poisoned the way we all have been though. The sick filth that was pushed on us, that flows in our very blood now makes us this way. How else can we heal than to remove the source of our downfall? The toxins that entered our bloodstream.
“Might as well,” I answer her.
