Page 53 of Savage Grace

Usually, my intuition, my gut, was always right about someone. Perhaps I trusted it to a fault. Perhaps I trusted my own reasoning and my own feelings more than I trusted the experience of the people who loved me and were only trying to keep me safe.

I didn’t know how to convince them, or how to make them see, that these people, those men in the bar, were not bad guys.

Well, maybe they were bad guys in the normal sense of the word. Just like my father, my brothers, and everyone else involved with The Family was. But I knew deep down that they wouldn’t try to hurt me.

None of them had pressed for information about The Family, none of them had even asked about it. The only thing that had been exchanged were some playful jabs at each other’s expense, but that was a normal friend thing, right?

Even though they made it clear that they did not like my family or my brother, I never felt like they held that against me personally.

“I get where you’re coming from, Zarina. Okay? My family is a lot like yours. But I still know that they would look out for me in a situation like this.”

I wiped at the stray tear that fell from my eyes, hoping that Theo wouldn’t see. It wasn’t a sad tear, it was an angry one. But I just didn’t know who I was more angry at—them, or myself.

“What’s your family like?” I asked even though my voice cracked, desperate to lead the conversation in any other direction.

Theo took the bait, and huffed out a laugh. “Overbearing. Traditional to a fault. Involved in things that I maybe don’t understand or particularly agree with. Sound familiar?”

“Like what? Like us?”

“Mmm,” he considered, pursing his lips as he searched for the words. “I don’t think any family is quite like yours.”

“I’ll give you that,” I smiled at him.

He returned it and seemed to visibly relax a little now he wasn’t worried that I might jump out of the moving car or scream at him until we arrived.

“I guess they’re a little similar. Just without the… you know,” he chuckled, hinting at my family’s less than honourable source of wealth. “I come from generations of some of the most successful businessmen on this side of Australia.”

“So you’re a born and bred rich kid?” I quirked an eyebrow.

Now that he had brought it up, I could see it.

“Yes,” Theo admitted, seemingly a little embarrassed by it.

“So what the hell are you doing working for my brother? Shouldn’t you be living the future-CEO dream instead of following my ass around all day?”

He sighed, scrubbing at his jaw for a moment.

“There are different kinds of crime, Zar,” he said softly. “I appreciate that your family doesn’t try to pretend they’re something they’re not. They don’t feign innocence or make excuses or deny to themselves what they’re doing. They embrace it.”

I nodded, and I actually understood.

“I don’t know if you remember,” Theo cleared his throat. “But we actually went to school together.”

“We did?” I frowned, looking at Theo a little harder and trying to see if I could recall his face.

“Well, I’m a few years older than you. We didn’t really cross paths. I think I was in the same grade as Sammy. I just remember admiring your family even then. Everyone feared you, even the parents,” he chuckled. “That’s power that no amount of money could ever buy. I think it annoyed my dad a little.”

I smiled, remembering the few times my dad picked us up from school.

It had always been a mixture of annoying and amusing, watching the teachers grovel, the parents quickly shuffle away, and the other kids stare in awe like they were seeing a movie villain come to life.

“What’s your last name?” I raked my memory for any hint of Theo in my past, but found none.

“Lawe.”

My jaw dropped.

“Lawe? Like the Lawefield Shopping Centres?”

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