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“I was told that your fathers were long time clients of John’s and Dad’s business. But it wasn’t until Luca went to Yale that something serious happened. He didn’t tell me what, but he said as soon as John knew what he recorded, he’d encrypted the servers so that only he could access them. Not even my Dad had access. There was a flash drive made—”
“That was supposed to be mailed to me,” Luca interrupts, standing from her seat again. “It was in an envelope and everything, ready to go out in the mail when your dad stole it and sent it to Governor Callahan. That happened the night my father died. Again, we’re back to my father dying and Jerry somehow being involved.”
Shane clears his throat. “Luca—”
“So tell me why protecting your dad is so important. Okay, you lost your mom, and excuse me for not being overly sympathetic because I am, but again, how do we know your father didn’t have a hand in that too? Who knows how long this shit has been going on?”
My temper flares, and Shane may have to hold me back instead of the other way around.
“My father loved my mother. How fucking dare you attempt to imply he had anything to do with her death? From all I know, it was your father who caused it. He was the one working with everyone else’s dads in this room.”
“Not mine,” Ames adds.
I glare at her, and her eyes go wide, her voice lowering to a whisper. “Sorry, just thought I’d toss that out there.”
The tension in Shane is building higher, his jaw grinding faster as he stares down Luca. “I need to tell you something…”
Luca ignores him, her eyes set squarely on me and her face a bright red. Most likely it’s because she can’t believe I’d dare speak a poor word against her precious family. “My father would never endanger someone’s life.”
Grinning at that, I have a few secrets I can enlighten her on about her dad.
“Oh yeah? So then tell me why he planted Everly at Yale, knowing good and damn well that she’d be in touch with all these assholes.”
Jase’s head snaps up from where he’d been paying attention to anything else besides the bickering. “Wait. What?”
When Jase stands up like he’s coming toward me, Shane moves to stand as well.
I put my hand on his thigh before he can, squeezing once to get his attention.
It doesn’t stop him, though. He pushes to his feet and directs his stare at Luca, his voice loud enough to be heard over everybody else when he blurts out the truth.
“Luca, I killed your dad. So you can stop blaming Brinley, and shut the fuck up about her father.”
Her blue eyes snap to him. “You what?”
Every person moves or shifts in some way, the air uncomfortable and tense. Even Jase abandons his question to sit back down and listen.
From across the room, Gabe takes a sip of his drink, holding it in for a few seconds before swallowing it down. He must know something given the way he leans his head back in his chair and briefly closes his eyes.
The rest sit or stand in place, surprise on all their faces.
“I’m going to need you to say that again, Shane. Because if you’re…” Luca can’t finish what she was saying, her voice too shaken and trembling.
Shane’s tone becomes apologetic and guilt-ridden. “I killed your dad. Not Jerry. So back the fuck off Brinley about this.”
Tanner runs a hand through his hair, anger in his features when he turns his attention from Luca to Shane.
“Explain that to me like I’m a five-year-old, Shane, and use crayons if necessary. Because I’m not understanding what you’re trying to say.”
Shane’s body is painfully tense, every muscle tight across his bones. His hands clench into fists before he stretches his fingers out just to ball them up again.
I glance up to see his jaw grinding harder, his expression a mask of defiance. But something else lingers behind his eyes, and I recognize just how heavy the guilt is that’s weighing down on him. I also recognize the touch of relief he must be feeling to have finally revealed what he’d done.
Secrets are like poison.
Especially bad ones.
They destroy you from the inside out. Not immediately, nothing humane nor merciful such as that.
