Page 92 of Kill Your Darlings

“You kept your head,” he said quietly.“I’m not happy about it, but it was a gutsy move.”

I sat up, rubbing my eyes.“I’m just tired.”As I gazed around the room, I belatedly noticed Finn’s suitcase standing by the dining room table.“Did you move in with me?”

His breath came out in a half-laugh.“Is that all right?I thought it was easier than running back and forth between floors every time I need to brush my teeth.”

“Of course.That was the original plan before…”

Before everything had blown up.Before Finn had suspected I was keeping secrets and that getting more deeply involved with me was liable to drag him into a whole lotta trouble.

And now, when he knew forsureI’d been keeping secrets, and getting more deeply involved with me haddefinitelydragged him into ahugefucking mess, we were closer than ever.

Life was strange.

I said, “The thing is, Colby’s too young.”

“Too young for what?”

“He can’t be a lot older than Kyle.He’d have been a child when everything happened between Milo and Dominic and me.”

“He may have grown up listening to speculation and rumor.Or he may simply be an opportunist, and your original idea that he might accept a publishing contract as a blackmail payoff wasn’t so far off mark.”

“Maybe Colby is just the messenger.Maybe U.N.Owen is someone else.Maybe U.N.Owen is Milo.”

“I don’t think Milo is U.N.Owen.”

It had been difficult for me to accept the idea, but once reconciled to it, I’d felt it was an inevitable conclusion.Milo had the most to gain by pinning Dom’s death on me.He was the only person who knew for sure I’d been at the graveyard that night.

So, Finn’s grim certainty surprised me.“You don’t?”

“No.While you were gallivanting around old Monterey with Adrien English—”

“Droll.”

His mouth twitched, but he continued, “I was checking up on a few things.”

“Miloisdead?”

“I don’t think Milo is dead, no.But I also don’t think he’s behind this attempt to wreck you.”

“Wreck me?”I echoed uneasily.“You don’t think it’s just blackmail?”

“Unfortunately, no.If that tire had blown on the coast road, there’s a good chance you’d have been killed.You said it yourself.Killing their victims is not the blackmailer’s usual business model.”

I digested that unwelcome news.

“You remember I asked you about the Devlin Family Trust?”

I nodded mechanically.Even though the thought had already occurred to me, it’s not easy to accept that someone hates you enough to kill you.

Finn said, “A family trust is a legal entity used to hold and manage assets—typically for things like estate planning, tax efficiency, privacy, and control of assets after death.”

“Right.The Devlin Family Trust owns the Cadillac DeVille that followed me.I’m still not sure—”

“The Devlin Family Trust also holds the deed to the house Colby rents.”

Hell.That was where I’d heard the name before.When I’d first tried to find out who U.N.Owen was.

“Not a coincidence, obviously.”

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