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It takes a while for the two of us to recover from that, lying together as we come down from our high, hearts slowing to a normal beat, sweat cooling on our skin.
Eventually, I get up and help clean us up, and we put our clothes back on. “So, what are these files you had to show me?” I ask, bending over to scoop them up from where they fell on the floor.
“It’s… it’s about Declan,” Eva confesses. “Daniel thinks he has evidence that Declan made a deal with the DeLucci Family to take Marcus out.”
As I look over the paperwork and photos, anger starts boiling under the surface. Not at Eva, though, but at Declan.
“How could that bastard?” I spit out, clenching the file so hard the edges are crumpling under my fists.
Eva sighs softly. “I was scared to show you, scared you wouldn’t believe me.”
“This is pretty compelling evidence,” I say, holding out it out to her. Part of me wants to rush over and confront Declan about this right away, but the more rational part of my brain realizes that I need to talk to my brothers first.
After we talk, we’ll figure out what to do from there. Declan isn’t going to get away with the murder of our father. Not this time.
26
THEO
As I drive through the ornate gates of Shadowvale, a heavy sense of melancholy follows me. The events of the past few hours weigh on my mind. Each rolling bump on the road only serves to deepen the sense of foreboding.
The streets of Havencrest had offered little in the way of a distraction, the bustling crowds and frenetic energy doing nothing to quell the turmoil raging inside. My thoughts had circled over and over back to one thing, Evangeline and her unborn child.
I head inside, slamming the door behind me, and march up the steps with purposeful strides. Lost in my own thoughts, I barely register Oliver's approach until his voice cuts through the silence like a knife, sharp and unyielding. "Theo," he calls out, his tone laced with an edge that catches me off guard.
Turning toward him, I find myself face to face with his piercing gaze, an unspoken accusation lingering in the air between us. For a moment, neither of us speaks. But as the seconds stretch on, Oliver breaks the silence, his voice sharp.
“Where have you been?” he demands, a fire in his eyes that has me realizing he’s already talked to Eva about the situation. “We need to talk,” he adds, reaching out to drag me by the arm.
I yank away from him, leveling him with a stern look. “I’m not a child, Oliver,” I snap. “You have something to say, say it to my face.”
“You know what I want to talk about,” Oliver says flatly. “You found out about the baby and you were pissed. I bet you fucking took off and caused trouble in town, didn’t you?”
I shake my head, not wanting to deal with this right now. Just because Oliver seems to be able to accept this life-altering news doesn’t mean the rest of us have to get on board, move on, move forward like him.
“You’re really going to stand there and deny it?” Oliver asks, his voice getting louder. I hold my hand up, turning to walk away, but Oliver’s hands shoot out, shoving me backward.
Fury erupts inside me as soon as his hands touch me, and I surge forward, shoving him toward the wall. “Don’t fucking touch me!” I shout.
Oliver glares at me from where I have him pinned, my arm at his throat. “You’re a bastard,” he says, lips curled. “You’re a giant fucking bastard, you know? If you hadn’t been an asshole to her, she wouldn’t have hidden it from you, and you know it!”
I let him go, the truth of his words hitting me like a punch to the gut, shattering the illusion of righteousness I've clung to for so long.
“Yeah,” I admit, stepping back to let Oliver go. My voice is thick as I shove my hands in my pockets. “Yeah, you’re right. It’s my fault this happened.”
“It’s not just your fault,” Oliver says, his tone dark. “It’s all our fault. I was just as much a bastard to her as we all were. But I talked to her, and we worked it out. We’re going to move forward,” he tells me.
“Fuck.” I run my hand through my hair, shaking my head. “I guess I should talk to her too.”
“There’s more,” Oliver adds. “It’s a long story, but Eva had some intel on Declan that she was scared to show us. But I took a look at it, and it’s pretty concerning, Theo.”
I tilt my head, brow furrowing. “Intel? On Declan?”
“The evidence is pretty damning,” he says, mouth set in a grim line. “Our uncle had something to do with our father’s death and the attack on the manor. I saw it with my own two eyes. He met with Sal DeLucci just days before the attack, they exchanged payment, and then the attack happened.”
My mouth falls open. “You’ve gotta be kidding me,” I mutter, this day just getting more batshit insane. “You’re telling me that Declan killed our father?”
“I don’t know if he did for sure,” Oliver says. “I only know what I saw. And he had some kind of involvement.”
