35. Nolan #2
Why would a mother do that to a daughter?
Almost as soon as that question enters my mind, I almost laugh out loud.
Why do parents do any of the shit they do?
Why do fathers beat their sons? Why do they break their arms?
Some people should never be allowed to procreate, not if they’re just going to cause more fucked-up adults.
“That hasn’t been determined yet,” Viks says, answering my statement about Denise Donovan. “All we have is that her accounts are in motion. It appears there was a massive withdrawal right before they went inactive and now there’s been another.”
“How massive?”
“Just under ten thousand.”
One doesn’t have to be a finance wizard to understand what that means. “Enough for something big, but not so much that they’d tip off the Bank Secrecy Act.”
Viks tips his head in my direction. “Smart,” he states. “Yes. That’s exactly it.”
I don’t relax back into the front seat of his vehicle so much as I press the flat of my back so hard into it that I can feel my spine going straighter and my legs lock into place beneath the dash. I grit my teeth and hiss out a long breath.
“Juliet’s with Calloway,” I say. “She went back to him—said some shit about not wanting to suffer anymore in the gutter with the rest of us.”
The hum from the driver’s side makes my head ache. “Is that so?” Viks’ voice is quiet, thoughtful. “She never struck me as the type to go for the easy road. It’s a bit odd that she’d go for it now, don’t you think? Right after your mom had that accident.”
My eyes flash to him. “How the fuck do you—” I cut myself off before I finish the questioning demand.
Of course he knows. Silverwood is like every other small town in America.
Everyone is always in everyone else’s business.
Viks might not live here anymore, but he has proven himself to be a man with many contacts.
No doubt he’s been keeping an eye on us since before he stepped foot back into town.
“Who’s on your payroll at the hospital?” I ask instead.
Viks’ lips quirk up. “Don’t worry about it,” he replies. “But they’re not on a payroll.”
My hands clench into fists against my thighs.
“You think she went back to Morpheus because he threatened us?” God, I’m an idiot because that makes so much more sense.
It would explain everything. All of the words that made no sense.
Fuck, I could spank the shit out of her—I will, I decide.
The second I get to her, I’m going to put her over my knee and she won’t sit right for a goddamn week.
“That would be my best bet,” Viks says. “But it’s more complicated than that. Calloway’s obsession with her makes no sense. I can understand a man feeling protective over a younger female relative, and he’s been business partners with her father since before she was born, but it goes beyond that.”
“He’s been trying to place her under a conservatorship since she’s aged out of needing a guardian,” I tell him.
Viks nods. “I’m aware. He actually did file the paperwork.
Though Juliet’s recent record of offenses isn’t a good look for her.
” He pauses and gives me a sidelong glance before continuing.
As if I have any control of that woman. Please .
If I could control her ass, she’d be in my bed right now, tied up and well pleasured.
The fact that she’s not speaks for itself.
“He doesn’t have a leg to stand on and he knows it.
It’s probably why he went this route. He knew the conservatorship attempt would fail.
Despite what some people would have you believe, it’s not that easy to take control of someone’s entire life if they don’t have a record of mental illness or dangerous actions, and until the past year, Juliet’s been clean. ”
We pull off the back road and onto a well-lit one as small rural houses begin to crop up the closer we get to town. “You think the fact that he threatened her to go back to him and Denise Donovan’s accounts going active again are connected,” I guess.
“Exactly,” he agrees.
Unclenching my hands, I scrub one down my face. “The guys are a mess right now,” I admit. “They’re not answering me, especially Lex.”
“You worry about getting Gio,” Viks says. “I’ll get Lex.”
My eyes snap to his face. “I know you think he’s your nephew, but he’s my man,” I say sharply, a warning in my tone. “You don’t know him the way I do.”
“You’re right,” Viks says. “And I understand that Lex doesn’t have a whole lot of trust when it comes to people who should’ve been there to take care of him, but I also am not the type of man to back down from a challenge, Nolan.
I don’t think Alexio is my nephew, I know he is.
I don’t leave those I consider family behind, and something tells me Lex has needed me for a long damn time. ”
I narrow my eyes on the man next to me as he drives with one hand on the wheel and the other to the side, propped with an elbow on the windowsill. “Lex isn’t going to come easily,” I tell him.
“Nothing good in life ever does,” is Viks’ only reply.
Much as I don’t want to, that simple response is the exact thing that someone who might be able to understand the most fucked up of us would say. I sit back in the passenger seat and watch as the lights and buildings of Silverwood grow steadily closer.
Trust him or not, Viks might just be what we need to get the fuck out of this hellhole.