Page 210 of Vexatious Queen

He held up his finger as he continued, the sarcasm dripping from his words.

“Oh no, wait. How about you do tell her, and then her mother is actually dead, and you have to backtrack. Oops, sorry, I thought the mother you wanted to be alive more than anything might be, but I’ll take that back now. Go ahead and grieve again,” Nash said with a snarl.

“Don’t fucking judge me. I saved you from having to go through that. But don’t worry, your perfect retriever image is still intact.”

“Go feck yerself,” Myles grumbled, crossing his arms.

“Enough! I don’t need you two fighting,” I said sharply, drawing everyone’s attention back to me. “Nash, tell me what you know.”

He stepped closer, his eyes pleading with me to understand.

“Something happened that baffled your father. Without getting into a ton of specifics, some of his bank accounts showed money going out and then mysteriously coming back in. Transactions he hadn’t made. He spoke to me about it one night when we were here for your speech therapy session. And trust me, his first thought wasn’t that your mother was actually alive. He believed he was being set up for money laundering or another form of fraud. But…yes, it came up as an option.”

He ran his hand through his hair and yanked his tie off, tossing it across the room.

“Fuck…”

“Just tell me what happened,” I said, softer this time.

“Your father asked me not to say anything until he had concrete answers. And before you decide to hate me, I agreed because honestly…” He lifted his hands toward me. “This. This moment right here. How the hell do I tell you that there is a tiny chance your mother is alive? How do I see the pain in your eyes over what that means, and then in the next breath yank that rug out from under you if it’s not true? Trust me, I wanted to say something, but I couldn’t hurt you like that. I’m sorry if that makes me an overprotective asshole. And I am so sorry that you were blindsided tonight. None of this is right.”

“How long,” I asked, softly, torn between feeling betrayed and understanding. I was walking a very thin ledge.

“Not long, I swear. That was why Edmundo left on business for the week. He went looking for proof but couldn’t find what he was after. He said he had a few more leads to run and asked me to stay quiet a little longer. He was just as concerned as I was about what this would do to you if we made such a large claim and couldn’t back it up. I know what it’s like to want to chase a ghost.” Nash said.

Without saying a word, I walked over to the closet to get my warm, fuzzy pajamas. I wore them when I was sad or hurt. As I turned back, I noticed the guys watching me like they were waiting for me to break, and I hated it.

It would be so easy to cry my eyes out and feel sorry for myself. To curl up in a ball and hide from the reality that my mother abandoned me. I choked back a sob as the night she died—no—staged her death flashed through my mind.

Covering my mouth, I took a moment and then composed myself before clutching the soft clothes to my chest like a comforting shield.

“Nash…I’m not angry.”

His eyebrow raised.

“I’m serious. I understand, and I would do the same thing,” I said, knowing that if I thought North was alive, but had no proof, I’d keep it from him until I was sure. “But I don’t like it, and it doesn’t mean that I want secrets to become a habit all over again.”

He nodded.

Liam stepped up to me and placed his hand on my shoulder, sharing his quiet strength.

“What do you need us to do,” he asked.

My heart hurt, but I didn’t know where to begin.

“I want to talk about it with all of you. But first, I need a shower and a few minutes alone.”

“We’ll be here when you get out,” he said, and they all nodded.

“Myles, is Lip okay?”

“Thanks to you, Snowflake, he’s gonna be fine.”

“Ronan was right,” I said, and my lip twitched. “We have the most fucked up dinners. I don’t think any of your families will ever come back.”

The guys chuckled.

Taking a deep breath, I walked into the bathroom and closed the door. I’d meant what I said and wanted to talk to them about what happened and how I felt. But ultimately, only one person could give me the answers I needed.