Page 69 of Broken Truths

I shake my head. “Her mother should pay for that one.”

He shrugs. “I can see why she wouldn’t want to disturb his body if she felt like he really did kill himself.”

“But we live in this world,” I grind out.

“Exactly the reason why he could have killed himself, too.” Alaric’s gaze darts up the stairs as well. “He didn’t,” he reaffirms. “But he could have.”

I sigh in relief. At least we’re all on the same page on that front. Alistair Astor most definitely did not kill himself. He was murdered, and my money is on the Forbeses. The way I see it, they had more of a reason to than any other, including my grandfather. He’s a heartless man and is totally up to killing one of his fellow Knights, but unless he suspected Alistair was asking questions about Delilah, I don’t think he did it. He’d have no reason to.

“Do you get jealous of Oliver?” I ask, my fingers gripping the counter.

“Jesus Christ, did you forget to take your meds this morning, Leo?”

“What?”

“First, we’re talking about Eden’s dad dying, now you’re asking me about…relationship stuff.” He gestures toward the upstairs.

“So, you are?”

He stands from the stool. “Actually, if you must know, no. I’m not. And neither are you, so don’t talk yourself into doing something stupid.”

I get to my own feet. “I’m not going to do anything stupid.”

He eyes me as he pours himself another cup of coffee. Whatever he sees on my face must placate him. “Our relationship definitely isn’t conventional, but the way I see it, none of us could live without her. Especially not your crazy ass.”

I smirk. Wait… Should I be offended by that?

Nah.

He moves away from the counter, and I go and pour myself a cup. “For the record, I’m not jealous,” I inform him. “But I also think it’s weird that I’m not.”

“I think that means what we’re doing is the way it’s supposed to be. She’s like our queen, and we’re the—”

“Servants?”

“I was going to say sex slaves.”

I chuckle, then take a large sip of coffee. Oliver buys the expensive shit, but I couldn’t care less. I need something in my belly in the morning, especially on a cold day like this one. “We have to extract us all from the Knights safely,” I say, my brain working overtime, filtering through my flickering thoughts.

Alaric shakes his head. “Have you been tested for ADHD?”

“Not in a while.”

There’s a long silence before Alaric asks, “Have you been thinking about that? Yeah, finding out whoever killed Delilah Astor is our goal, but what about the part where we’re all free? The way I see it, we don’t have many options.” His brow furrows. “At least Eden’s out. She’s your fiancée, so we don’t have to worry about her mom intervening again. Oliver will be fine. He can just say something about the queen, and your grandfather will eat that shit up. But what about us? You’re in deeper than you ever were.”

“But I’m not a full-fledged Knight,” I tell him. I have thought about this. In fact, I stayed up half the night thinking about how we were going to do this. Maybe Alaric’s right. I probably do have ADHD. “You’ll be the hardest.”

He gives me a look. “You think? I think it’s you. You’re a Jarvis. Your grandfather isn’t going to let you go easily.”

“He did once.”

He watches me, but I get the feeling that he’s not really looking at me—he’s thinking about something else. “But he has plans for you now,” he says softly. “You and Eden. You’ll have control over the Astor finances and businesses. Tell me you understand that’s why he wants you to marry Eden, right? It’s not because he saw you were in love with her.”

“I know,” I snap. I’m not an idiot. “We’ll have to figure out how to keep those holdings with us. I should probably see if I can get a look at whatever contract Eden’s mom signed with him. Who knows what they have in there?” I nibble the inside of my cheek but turn my attention to Alaric again. “You’re an only child.”

He shrugs. “He’s been mad at me once this year. I’m sure I only have one more strike before he disinherits me, and I’ll have the freedom to do whatever I want.”

“You’ll give it up?”

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