Page 70 of Midnight Revelations

One of the women down there was the younger sister of Oliver’s fiancée. What the fuck was Dad doing? The notes were detailed and their internal injuries horrendous. No dick was causing that amount of damage unless it was a twelve-inch battering ram. I wanted to punch Michael all over again.

First, I needed to pay Aaron a visit. He had refused Dad’s gift, but he may have been privy to some of the conversations around theassetsand the list of potential wives.

“I’m going to check in with Aaron,” I said when we were outside. “I think he knows more than what he’s said.”

“Then we’ll join you,” Xavier replied. “This entire thing feels off to me. The fact that it has happened so soon after Malcolm’s demise makes me uneasy.”

***

Aaron stood staring at a painting in his gallery. “What have I done to deserve a group visit?”

“We need to talk.” I gave him a hard smile. “About Dad and the gifts he has been bestowing on his sons.”

Aaron glanced at Xavier and Jordan.

“We’re family,” Xavier said. “What Ash knows, we know.”

That used to be true until I had Lucrezia to protect. Now my life was getting more complicated by the day. Too many plates were being juggled and I was terrified they would start to crash around me.

“Oliver is marrying Cynthia in a few months, she’s the heiress to a diamond mine,” I said, pretending to look at the painting on the wall. “Her little sister went missing from society a few months ago.”

He stiffened beside me, which let me know that he was aware of the situation.

“Want to tell us what is going on and how this connects in with Malcolm?” I asked.

Aaron’s head lowered. “Not here,” he whispered.

“Fair enough,” Jordan replied. “Let’s take a walk.”

Every one of us carried scramblers to jam any bugs, but that wasn’t common knowledge and I wasn’t about to tip our hand. A park was about a five-minute walk from the studio and we wandered down the street, stopping to pick up a coffee along the way. To the rest of the world, we were just some friends out to catch up and enjoy nature. The fact that Jordan lit up a cigarette showed how stressed he was. He hated the habit but reverted to it in times like this.

“Spill,” I said to Aaron.

He trailed his fingers through his hair and walked further into the park. “Dad explained that he had a list of potential wives, but some of those families may need a little persuasion. We were given a list with all the pros and cons of each woman, including the value of their inheritance and what links to their family would mean.”

Xavier’s troubled gaze met mine.

“What does ‘a little persuasion’ mean?” Xavier asked. We all heard the conversation with his father when he told Xavier that he was planning a wife for him even though he was already engaged to Cassandra. That meant that all the leading members of the Council were potentially involved.

Aaron pleaded with me through his eyes. This was my brother who liked the least amount of controversy. He hated anything that looked like conflict.

“We need to know, Aaron. People’s lives are being ruined. If Cynthia is being forced to marry Oliver, that’s not okay.” I folded my arms across my chest and refused to budge.

He sank into a bench seat and Jordan discreetly moved so that if anyone was watching, he stood casually smoking in front of him so they couldn’t lipread. I sat beside him.

“This needs to end, Aaron. We both know this isn’t right.” I leaned forward to brace my arms on my knees.

He sighed and trailed his hands down his face. “Oliver took an interest in Cynthia a while ago, so imagine his reaction when she was on the list. Dad reached out to her family and a firm ‘no’ came back.”

I’d had the same reaction myself lately, so I could imagine.

“A few weeks later we’d been called home for a meeting and Dad announced that Cynthia had accepted Oliver’s offer and he was free to officially start dating her and they could name a date. He phoned me about a week later to tell me that she accused him of abducting her little sister. In his defence, he knew nothing about it and phoned to ask me if I knew anything.”

“What a fucking mess,” I ground out.

“The worst of it is that Oliver and Cynthia genuinely seem to like each other, but both are terrified of everything and are constantly looking over their shoulders.” Aaron spun in the seat to look at me. “What are we going to do?”

“Technically,” Jordan said as he stubbed out his cigarette. “You aren’t going to do anything. Oliver and Cynthia can’t know anything since a change in their behaviour will alert people higher up. Keep your head down and stop wandering off on your security patrol.”

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