Chapter 28
RAIDEN
Isit in the back of the limo with Grandma, waiting outside Needle & Muse. Grandma is withdrawn, no surprise there. Almost three full weeks since the murder at the Retreat, and still nothing.
“Oh my,” Grandma says with more excitement in her voice than I’ve heard since before the killing. I follow her gaze.
Aurora stands in the entrance to Needle, wearing a gorgeous green dress that fits her body to perfection, hugging her curvy form tightly and elegantly. She wears a studded necklace that complements her modest cleavage.
I climb from the limo, gesturing at the driver to stay put.
“Grandma knows we were a deal,” I tell her, taking her hand.
“She does?”
“She guessed it. She’s a shrewd woman.”
Aurora swallows. “I suppose that means we don’t have to kiss, then. Not yet.”
“You’re right, technically speaking,” I say, my tone dark.
Then, my world brightens. She clasps my face in her hands and stands on her tiptoes to kiss me. I wrap my arms around her, my body responding instantly.
The kiss lasts a long time. I somehow doubt Aurora meant for us to consume each other like this while Grandma waits, but weeks of longing and want bubble up just like they did earlier in the week.
She slides her hands down to my chest and pushes herself away. I love when she does this it seems to take so much effort, as though she’s always on the verge of a lust-filled collapse, always on the verge of giving herself to me even if part of her pretends she doesn’t want it.
“Aurora, darling, you look simply sublime,” Grandma says when we reach the limo.
“Thank you, Evangeline,” she replies.
“Is this your creation?”
“Yes, mine, and my grandmother’s.”
“You made this dress?” I ask.
She smiles up at me. “You don’t have to sound so shocked. It’s sort of what I do.”
I chuckle. “I don’t think I’ll ever stop being surprised by how talented you are.”
Her smile falters. Ah. I get it. I mentioned the future. What a bad, bad boy I am. I turn to the window, watching the town drift by.
“How is Margot?” Grandma asks.
“She’s doing much better, thank you,” Aurora says. “She doesn’t know how to rest, but I’ve been educating her. Sometimes with… let’s say, encouragement.”
Grandma laughs. “I don’t know Margot well, but I know her well enough to believe that. She can be fiery, as I recall.”
“Like recognizes like,” I say, winking at Grandma.
She rolls her eyes. For a few moments, it’s like the murder and the secrecy never happened.
“What are your plans when she’s able to take over the shop?” Grandma asks.
I look out of the window again. I don’t want to be part of this conversation. Petty, perhaps, but the idea of Aurora leaving isn’t exactly thrilling to me.
“I’ll return to college. In New York.”
“You live there?” Grandma asks.
“It’s a six-hour drive,” Aurora says. “Commuting would be impossible. Unless I wanted to be a zombie who never got any work done.”
“I suppose it makes relationships difficult too,” Grandma says.
I bite down, still not turning, not looking. One last job. That’s all this is supposed to be, and I need to be okay with that.
“Relationships are going to be difficult no matter where I live. I don’t know what I’m going to do after college. I might get a job abroad. I might open my own place. I don’t know. A lot is up in the air.”
I grind my teeth. I don’t want to be one of those stupid men who thinks he owns a woman because they’ve had sex and bonded a few times. I know that when I tell her I own her, it’s part of our game, our special dynamic. Nothing more.
It still hurts somehow.
“You’ve got your whole lives ahead of you, both of you,” Grandma says. “No rush.”
“Don’t forget, Grandma, one of us is younger than the other.” I wink at Aurora.
She rolls her eyes. “I’m twenty-three and you’re… what, thirty-five?”
“Thirty,” I say. “And none taken.”
She giggles and nudges me.
“You can’t pretend this is simply a deal,” Grandma says.
Aurora’s warm look vanishes from her face. She bites her lip and stares at the floor. I shoot Grandma a look… Why did she have to go there? Grandma shrugs at me as if to say, Well, it’s true…
“Aurora, don’t worry. We’ve already discussed this.”
She looks at Grandma. “Evangeline, I do like your grandson, but I’ve got… things I want to do. A life I want to live.”
“I don’t believe love is incompatible with that.”
“Love?” I say. “Take it easy. No one said anything about love.”
“You don’t need to sound so offended,” Aurora jokes.
I shake my head, laughing. “Why do I get the feeling I’m being ganged up on?”
“Is that what we’re doing?” Grandma titters, happier than I’ve seen her in weeks. “It seems we make quite the team, Aurora.”
My cell phone rings. When I see it’s Detective Drake, I almost don’t answer it. We’re nearly at the party. But it might be important.
“Hello?” I say, answering.
“Mr. Blackwell,” she says, voice tight. “I would like your complete honesty about something we’ve just learned. I’m sorry to do it like this, but I can’t risk a leak before we’ve caught him.”
“You’ve got a lead?”
“Do you know anything about a son your father had out of wedlock?”
“Stop the car,” I whisper.
“Excuse me?” the detective says.
“Stop the goddamn car,” I growl.
“Driver–please stop the car,” Grandma says, looking at me with concern.
I stumble out into the rain. My father cheated on my mother? My memories of them are always warm, loving, kisses in the kitchen, dancing through the house, laughter, pure unadulterated joy.
“Mr. Blackwell?” Detective Drake says.
“I’m here. No–I don’t know anything. I’m sorry. This is a shock.”
“Someone has made quite an effort to cover up his existence. We believe he may be living under a false identity. Can you think of anyone who might fit this description? This person, if blood-related, might have a motive. If you and your cousin were to die…”
“You think this is about money.”
“In my experience, more often than not, it is. Please think hard. Call me back if—”
“Shit,” I mutter.
“Mr. Blackwell?”
“I’ll call you back.”
The runt of the litter…
He was always so close to Grandma.
I return to the limo but keep the door open. Aurora looks at me with confusion etched on her beautiful features.
I lean forward, looking closely at Grandma, watching her for her reaction. “Sebastian is my brother.”
She gasps, tears filling her eyes. “What?”
“You heard me. Tell me I’m wrong. Tell me I’m talking out of my ass.”
She stares out the window and wipes the tears from her cheeks. “Oh, Lord help me.”
“Grandma–tell me the truth. Please. You owe me this. If I’m wrong, just say it.”
There’s a long pause.
“Think back to how he’s been behaving. You know him better than I do. If you think there’s even a one percent chance he was behind this, you owe me the truth.”
“I just… He’s…” She wipes her cheeks again. “Your father was so careful.”
The words hit me like a punch to the chest.
I massage my forehead, a headache pulsing. “This is why you’ve always been so close to him. This is why you put up with the rumors about you two being in a relationship. This is why you allowed him to be so intimately involved in our lives.”
“Your father was ashamed of his affair. Your mother knew, and they agreed to raise Sebastian in secret.” Her voice trembles.
“You’re only telling me because I guessed it.” I try to keep the anger and resentment out of my voice, but it’s difficult. “If the detective hadn’t called, and I didn’t make the connection, you wouldn’t have said a word. Would you?”
Aurora places a soothing hand on my arm.
I lower my voice. “All this time, he’s been my goddamn brother. They think he was behind the murder, Grandma. That this is about him getting the inheritance. Is he in your will?”
“Well, yes, but after you and Julian.”
“There’s his motive,” I snarl.
“I can’t, don’t, believe he would do this.”
“I’m sure he’s learned how to charm you and play on your guilt and your good nature. He’s probably hidden his dark side from you. But he’s a human being who was forced to grow up in secret, an ignored non-member of a powerful family. From where I’m sitting, it’s easy to believe he’d do it.”
Grandma takes out a handkerchief and dabs at her eyes. “He’s always been angry about being left out. I’ve tried to do right by him, tried to treat him better than his father did. But he’s always felt unjustly treated.”
“But you still can’t believe he’d do it?”
“I don’t know,” she whispers bitterly.
“You should’ve told me this a long time ago. I’m calling the detective back. If you’re right, if he had nothing to do with this, they’ll get to the truth.”
“I pray that’s what happens,” she says tearfully.
I leave the limo again, filled with nervous, furious energy.
Grandma has gone from being certain he’s not involved to hoping that’s the case, which means she was never certain at all.
She let her love cloud her judgment. Can I blame her?
He’s her grandson. She loves him as much as she loves me and Julian.
“Detective Drake,” I say when she answers. “I’ve got news.”