Page 60 of Always A Villain
“Positive.” His jaw tics. “Got my hands on the files. The official report is a joke—barely a page long. And Conrad made sure there was no autopsy.”
A slow, violent realization settles in my gut. “You think he had her killed?”
“It’s a possibility. Either way, he covered it up.” His voice drops even lower. “But the coroner had already started an examination.”
“What?”
“Maybe he got Conrad’s orders too late,” he says, pulling out his phone. “But there’s a preliminary report. Toxicology, blood work—tests were already in motion.” He sends me a file, and my phone buzzes in my pocket.
I scroll through the document.
What the fuck.
“She was pregnant?”
“Almost four months,” Griffen confirms, watching my reaction.
“And there was no record of it?” My grip tightens on the phone.
“Not in her medical history.”
“So, she was hiding it.” The pieces click together. “From him.”
I keep scrolling. No drugs, no alcohol. But the coroner noted multiple injuries—broken ribs, fractured eye socket, cracked jaw, several broken fingers, vaginal trauma, and three gunshot wounds to the chest.
Jesus.
My teeth clench so hard my jaw aches. Rory had to listen to that—to her mother being raped and beaten to death. And Conrad let it happen.
“I can’t believe there wasn’t an investigation,” Griffen mutters.
“Because Conrad didn’t want one. Too many questions. Especially if he was involved; he hired the Italians to kill her.”
But why threaten Rory? Why tell her they’d come back for her?
That question has my head pounding.
“If Conrad orchestrated it, then why let her think it was her fault?” I murmur, staring blankly at the report.
“Maybe she saw something. Overheard something.” He runs a hand down his face. “Could be why he shipped her off to boarding school.”
“Fuck.” I shut my eyes, pressing my fingers against my temples. “I have to talk to her about it.”
Not tonight. She’s been through enough.
Standing, I glance into the exam room. Rory lies on the table, the nurse working carefully on her wounds. She flinches when the antiseptic touches her skin. I clench my fists.
She shouldn’t have been hurt.
“Axe.” Griffen’s voice drags me back.
“This shouldn’t have happened,” I mutter, stalking away, my knuckles cracking.
“You planning to keep her somewhere else?”
The logical answer isyes—she’d be safer away from me. But that’s not an option. She’s mine.
“No,” I say flatly. “She stays with me.”
