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“Next time you have something on your mind, or something you’re unhappy about, come tell one of us first. You can come to your sister, my brothers or me, or even Gloria. Just don’t take it upon yourself to problem solve. It could get you killed,” I say.
Her face is crossed with terror, which I hate to inflict on someone, but if it gets the message across to this stubborn teenager, I’m good with it.
“We’re going to find out who killed your father, Evie. Mark my words,” Vadik adds.
Charleigh doesn’t look that torn up about her father, which is understandable. I mean, she looks sad, for sure, but she’s far from broken hearted. I guess resigned would be the best way to describe her, almost as if she expected him to meet his end this way.
Niko opens the library doors and lets the housekeeper enter. “Evie, go ahead and go upstairs now with Gloria. Take a bath and watch a movie or something. Okay?”
She nods and the housekeeper puts her arm around her as she leads her away, offering her something to eat like she always does.
Satisfied all is taken care of, Charleigh leans forward and buries her face in her hands. “When is this going to stop? It’s out of hand. Is Dimitri completely off his rocker?”
I hate to see our girl suffering, and it’s made all the worse knowing a fucker like Dimitri is behind it. I wish I could get my hands around his neck right now. I’d enjoy slowly choking the life out of him, watching his face turn red and then purple, his eyes bulge, and his tongue spill out of his mouth.
I try not to be a gruesome fucker, but here we are.
“I’m worried about Victoria,” Charleigh says.
The woman’s slippers sit on the floor next to Charleigh, alongside the other things she brought from her father’s apartment. It’s funny Charleigh chose those, out of all the things Victoria left behind, but I get it. Slippers are personal. Intimate.
“We’ll do what we can, but we don’t have much to go on with her. She’s kind of like a ghost. Even the first time we checked her out, before we had to confront your father, we found very little about her. Interesting person,” I say.
Most people are very easy to find out about. Too easy, even if you don’t have access to all the fact-finding tools my brothers and I do. Hell, we can find social security numbers, credit card numbers, you name it. Nothing is safe if we want it.
And yet, Victoria had little or no imprint. We found no bank accounts with her name, no credit cards—I don’t think she even had a lease for the apartment where she lived. She probably paid her rent in cash and never made a sound, so her landlord never bothered her to sign anything. It’s all very odd, but this has enabled her to slip away undetected. It’s likely that unless she contacts Charleigh, she will never be heard from again.
Under the circumstances, that’s a good thing. If she did eventually end up on Dimitri’s radar, it’s best that she not be found.
Not that that’s any comfort to Charleigh.
“We’ll do what we can, darlin’,” Vadik adds, “but I personally think she’s better off disappearing like she has. She’s much safer that way.”
Much safer than Charleigh and her sister, for sure.
* * *
CHAPTERTWENTY-THREE
Kir
My brothers go off to bed, leaving me hanging out with Charleigh in the library, a room I love at night. When we rebuilt from the fire that killed my parents, I wasn’t sure any of the magic of the house I grew up in could be replicated. But this room, my favorite, is perfect. In the evening, when it’s dark out, the room holds a sort of golden cast, perhaps because of the leather-bound books lining the wall and the dark paneled walls. I don’t know crap about decorating—I leave that to the pros—but something about the place is magical, and I am psyched to be here with Charleigh, alone.
I take a seat on the sofa next to her after pouring us each a scotch and reach for her free hand. Unfortunately, she slides hers out of mine, returning hers to her lap.
Okay. No hand holding. That’s cool.
“I’m sorry about your father, Charleigh. It sucks when both your parents are gone.”
This I know, firsthand.
It sucks to lose anyone, but losing your parents is a special kind of pain. You’ve known them literally all your life, longer than anyone else in the world. And one day, they’re gone. You might be an adult, but it does leave you hanging there, swinging in the wind, like a deserted little kid.
That shit never really goes away.
Charleigh shrugs one shoulder like she couldn’t care less.
False bravado. I see that all the time in my business.
