AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’ll make a note of it,” he mumbles, most likely writing it down at his desk.
“So, what’s up? Everything okay on your end?” I ask, wondering why he’s calling me. Is this important or is he simply being nosey? I shouldn’t think of it like that. I know he’s concerned and I need to be grateful for his care after discovering my father isn’t who I believed him to be.
“Nothing exciting here. I did happen to dig up some information on a few of the men you mentioned. Once you explained what they looked like and where you’d seen them, I was able to find some public photos of them. I have their names and unsurprisingly, they seem to still be on your father’s payroll.”
My mouth drops with a gasp. “No!” I burst, shocked. “So you think it’s all true, then?” There was a part of me still holding out hope the clues the society had shown me were false, but it’s already looking like they weren’t lying about these men still doing my father’s dirty work for him.
“The more I dig, the worse it looks. I’m so sorry, my dear.”
My vision swims as tears fill my eyes. An important piece is being ripped from my soul… my father killed my mother. I no longer need the evidence to know in my heart it’s the truth. “And my mother?”
“I’ll send you what I’ve found on her death, as well as the whereabouts of your father at the time.”
My teeth sink into my lip as I slowly breathe in through my nose and exhale, taking my grief and sense of betrayal, setting it on hold for a moment. I can’t break down right now or my grandfather won’t send us anything, too afraid to upset me. “Thank you. We’ll get to the bottom of this, I don’t care what we have to do. My mother never deserved to have her life stolen away.”
“Agreed, my dear. I don’t want you worrying. I said I’d find out everything I can, and I mean it. You take it easy and get your strength back.”
“Thank you, Grandfather. I love you.”
“I love you, and we’ll talk soon.”
“Okay, talk soon.” I repeat his words and press the end button. Once I set the phone down, I allow my tears to fall.
Chapter 13
KINGSTON
Resting my head back in the lounger, I watch the waves push and pull, fighting each other for dominance. It’s been too long since I sat on a beach and did absolutely nothing. I spent the morning ordering a new laptop and the latest phone to be delivered with Instashop. I’m waiting on the shopper now to drop it off within my two hour window so I can log on to my email and the campus website. I need to see my final scores. I know it’s one of the last things I should be concerning myself with, but my father will cut off every fucking penny I have access to if I don’t keep up on everything. My mother’s spent most my life telling him he’s too strict on me, but it never made a difference.
At least if shit goes south with my family, I have Beau and Iris. Lord knows we’ll be in heaps of shit over getting into it with the society. I can hear my father’s lecturing and bellowing in anger already and I haven’t even spoken to him yet. Not that I can’t handle him, I can, I’m a grown ass man…but in the end, I don’t want to let my family down. The family business hasn’t been my dream growing up, but it’s still ours, if we don’t fuck up too badly. I may not make it in the society, but I still need thesense of power and money associated with Banks and Beaumont Oil and Gas.
I rub my hand over my face, sighing, as I try to clear my head of the stress. I’ve been through enough ever since this fucking year started; I need to give myself a break. The fucking has definitely helped. There’s no tension between us like there was a few weeks ago and it’s one hell of a relief. Akerplunkin the water off to the side draws my attention and I find Iris walking along, tossing rocks into the water as she goes. She’s lost in her head without a care to give for her surroundings, and it makes me want to spank her perky little ass.
I thought she was in the house with Beau. I bet he thinks she’s with me and we both had no idea she’s off doing her own thing. “You have any fucking idea how dumb it is to be out here by yourself?” I ask as soon as she’s close enough to hear me. If I lose her again, I will probably go batshit crazy and burn the fucking town down. She doesn’t seem to get the fact I’m a possessive motherfucker when it comes to her.
She shrugs and when she finally meets my gaze, I notice her tear-stained cheeks. “I didn’t stop long enough to think about it,” she admits.
“So help me, I want to spank your ass for being reckless,” I mutter, then pat my leg, wanting her to sit in my lap so I can feel her near me. “Sweetheart, come talk to me. What’s going on in that pretty head of yours?” She plops down with a sniffle and I can’t help but chastise as I wrap my arms around her. “It’s too dangerous for you out here without us.”
“I know… I had too much on my mind to think about it, though.”
“You’ve seemed off since we got out of the shower,” I point out. Me and Beau gave her some space at first, thinking she was just hungry or something. We’ve eaten since then, a delicious heaping stack of pancakes, so it’s obviously not that. I’ve neverknown her to want something badly enough to cry over it… unless it was me or Beau, and we’re both here with her.
“I spoke to my grandfather. He was on the phone when I ran out of the bathroom.”
“Shit, I remember. We were washing off, giving you a minute to yourself so it didn’t click then. I was going to ask you who called, but then we got distracted making food.”
She exhales, laying her head on my shoulder. She tucks her nose against my neck and whispers, “He thinks the stuff I found out about my father is all true.”
“Thinks or knows? Big difference, babe.”
“He’s already found the men from the images the society sent me and they’re still on my father’s payroll. He’s digging for more information. The dates of certain things seem to add up though, which is creepy and heartbreaking at the same time.”
“Fuck. Definitely not what you wanted to here.”
“Nope.” She sniffles and I squeeze her, wanting to offer as much comfort as possible.
“This the infamous key the society left behind?” I finger the key she has looped with an elastic hairband around her wrist. “This elastic is too tight,” I point out, feeling her slight shrug.
