Chapter 32
THIRTY-TWO
Every step toward the motel room felt like another step toward my execution. After confirming the room number with Tomas, my heart started pounding in my chest, trying to keep up my calm facade, not wanting to alert Gray to my rising stress.
Maybe I was being dramatic, considering we were meeting with my older sister and close friend, but I felt it all the same, at least about seeing Laurel. I was pretty excited to see Tomas and make sure he was okay. For years, we were a two-man team, and even though we’d brought more people into the fold, he was still someone I trusted. Laurel, on the other hand, was a different story.
Maybe it was hypocritical to be angry at Laurel after I forgave Gray so easily. But Gray had worked hard to earn back my trust, and there was a lifetime of moments to back it up. Most of all—I knew if he were given the chance, Gray would never do it again.
As much as I wanted to say the same for Laurel, I didn’t really know her. I knew her public-facing persona, the doting daughter and wife she pretended to be. But this vigilante, determined to take David down at any cost? She was a stranger.
As I brought my fist up to knock on the motel room door, Gray reached out, placing his hand on my elbow. I furrowed my brow as I turned to look at him. “Remember what I said, Ace. One word, and we’re gone.”
“You sound like you’re expecting bloodshed,” I chuckled, trying to hide my nerves. But Gray didn’t laugh, didn’t even crack a smile. Instead, he continued to glare at the door, as if it offended him.
“The Laurel you and I know are very different people. She’s a lot harsher when she doesn’t have her mask in place. I just want you to be prepared.”
I placed my free hand on top of his, stroking it with my thumb. “I’ve handled worse, I’m sure. Have faith in me, husband.”
“Fuck,” Gray groaned, pulling me in for a quick kiss. “You can’t say that shit to me, Devyn. Gets me hard.”
“Good,” I chuckled. “I like having that control over you.”
“You always have,” he muttered, reluctantly releasing me. As I started to push the door open, Gray called out, “I do.” When I turned around, he continued, “I do have faith in you, more than anyone else in the world. You’ve been slaying dragons by yourself for a long time, Ace, and I know you can handle anything life throws at you alone.” He walked closer and took my hand in his. “But you don’t have to, not while I’m around.”
I could only nod, not sure how to articulate what that meant to me. For so long, I felt like a one-woman army, refusing to let anyone see how lonely I felt. It was worth it to know if any of this went south, the blowback would be on me—and me alone. But hearing Gray say those words made my chest lurch, wanting to gift him words of my own. Three words, to be exact, ones that had been on the top of my tongue for days.
There was no doubt in my mind. I loved Grayson Anders more than anything else in this world. It was the kind of love that had the power to destroy me, but despite our past, I trusted my heart in his hands.
But now was not the time for confession, not with my sister waiting on us. So, instead, I lifted onto the tips of my toes and kissed him. “Thank you.”
Being around Laurel was strange. When I spent time with Calla, I instantly relaxed, knowing she was practically the other half of my heart. But standing around Laurel…it was almost unnerving.
I didn’t realize how far we’d drifted apart until this moment, when we stood on opposite sides of the room, staring at each other. Looking at the two of us, there was no question we were related. We had the same sharp lines on our faces, the same curve to our nose. We even had the same careful, blank expressions.
But that was where the similarities ended.
The air was tense inside the small room, little more than a bed and a couple of end tables filling it. The walls were covered in a beige, patterned wallpaper, the edges starting to curl with either age, neglect, or both. There was a large window that faced the parking lot, and that was where Gray stood while the rest of us stood more in the middle. Laurel hadn’t stopped pacing since we walked in, taking up the back of the room with her annoyed steps. Tomas laid on the bed, the only one of us who didn’t seemed phased by all the frenetic energy filling the air around us.
As Tomas turned his laptop toward me, I stepped forward and started to talk. “This is where we last left off. We’ve been trying to tie different off-shore payments from shell companies to David’s funds. This last one here…The Condor Account, that was the last one we tracked before I left the firm.”
“That’s great, Ace,” Gray said, his eyes sparkling with pride.
“ Great ,” Laurel huffed. “I cannot believe you are allowing her to get involved in all this. Have you thought about the risks? Have you thought about what could happen to her?”
“I’m right here,” I insisted, ready to say more, but Gray beat me to it.
“I’m not telling Devyn what to do. She’s a grown woman, and like it or not, we need her. Besides, you might feel comfortable manipulating people to get your way, but I’m not doing that to her. Ever.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m following her lead from now on, and either we all work together, or we walk out that door and take our findings with us.”
I think I fell a little more in love with him.
Laurel stared at my husband, her eyes narrowed to a lethal point. I reached out and took his hand, not willing to let her target all her rage at him. “You’ve done enough behind my back, Laurel. We’ve both been at this for years separately. It's time we try something new.”
Laurel’s eyes widened, as if she was seeing me for the first time and I was finally seeing her. Gone was the air of propriety, her perfectly crafted attire and smile. I hadn’t seen any emotion but quiet contentment from Laurel for years. But now, the mask was eviscerated, and despite the hostility, I liked seeing this side of her. It was better than thinking she was an unfeeling clone of my mother, worshipping at my tormentor’s feet.
“Fine,” Laurel snapped. “We’ll try your approach.”
“Oh, good,” Tomas said as he sat up. “As far as team-up speeches, it wasn’t the best, but hopefully it got the point across. Now, can we finally end the pissing match and get to work?”
Laurel narrowed her eyes in his direction. “She can stay, but I still have my doubts about you. Who exactly are you?”
“Tomas Molina, best Private Investigator on the east coast,” His eyes traced her form, and he smirked when he looked up at her scowl. “Does that work for you, gorgeous?”
“Not in the least,” she said as she turned back to face me. “Any other surprises, or is the Scooby Gang all here?”
“Ouch,” Tomas said, bringing his hand to his chest. “I think you wounded me.” As he walked to the boxes lined up along the wall, he leaned down and smirked at the detailed work. Over the years, we’d made copies of everything as a fail-safe, nervous digital copies could go missing if someone caught on to what we were doing. As he reached the last one, he smirked over at Laurel. “Luckily for you, I like my women mean. Turns me on.”
I rubbed the bridge of my nose. I was used to Tomas’ antics, but it was a very different story when he was hitting on my sister. My married sister. “Tomas, leave my sister alone. I’m pretty sure Laurel would eat you alive.”
“Sister, huh?” He looked between the two of us. “Those are some good genes.”
“Watch it,” Gray growled.
I placed a hand on his chest, stopping him from approaching Tomas. My friend just laughed, unfazed by the six-three giant glaring at him. “Glad I finally get to meet the husband.” He winked at me. “Devyn’s told me a lot about you over the last couple of months.”
Gray’s eyes flicked to mine, all the hostility fading to warmth. “You told him about me?”
“Maybe.”
“If you two are going to act like horny teenagers, you’re going to need to rent another room,” Laurel said, her tone even and almost cold. She knelt next to the boxes, searching through the first one. “But the rest of us would like to destroy David, so either scurry off or help.”
Tomas stared up at her with stars in his eyes. Maybe he wasn’t kidding about the whole mean kink. He chuckled as he looked back at me. “Never thought you’d be the cuddly one in your family, querida.”
“You should meet our younger sister,” I said, joining his side. “She practically exudes rainbows and sunshine.”
“He’s not meeting her,” Laurel said as she stood back up. She dusted off her hands before moving further down the line. Her focus was on the documents, but she said, “Calla is not getting involved in this, and that’s final.”
My jaw tensed, and I took a step forward. “And what gives you the right to make that call? Just because you’re older doesn’t mean?—”
“I said no.”
I shook my head. “That’s something you are going to have to learn, Laurel. You are not in charge here. Yes, you work the closest with David, but that does not mean you get to make all the rules.” My anger bit at my heels, a tangible beast. Maybe it was her attitude. Maybe it was finally being so happy after years of misery. But I was done playing nice, even if we were sisters. “Your rules already cost me—” I took Gray’s hand in mine. “Cost us too much. ”
Her eyes widened, and for a moment, she looked truly remorseful. She shook her head and said, “I’m not going to apologize for trying to keep you safe. I’ve failed you and Calla plenty of times, but you need to know I’ve had your best interests at heart.”
“Then you should have talked to us!” I yelled. “Instead of becoming someone we didn’t even recognize!”
“You think I don’t know that,” Laurel bit back. “If I could take it back, I would. I would have never agreed to any of this, not if I knew this was how my life was going to turn out. If I knew it meant sacrificing you and Calla, meant leaving home and never coming back...” She slammed her hand down on the box. “But this investigation—this is my entire life, Devyn. I need him to pay. I need to make sure he doesn’t hurt anyone else the way he has hurt us. I can’t—” Her voice broke, and she turned away from me, bringing her shaking hand to her mouth. When she turned back around, the crack in her veneer was gone. “I need him to pay for what he did to our family.”
As I watched her, a cold sense of dread crept into my veins. While I hated David, this was so much more, a deep-seated need for vengeance. I searched through my memories, trying to think of anything David had done to my sister, at least in front of us. But there was nothing, not a single snide comment or uneasy situation. She was his perfect protégé, unlike Calla and I, who were thorns in his side.
“What did he do?” I asked, trying to keep my voice strong.
Laurel shook her head. “Trust me, you don’t want to know.”
“Tell me.”
She stared at me, trying to read my expression. But stubbornness ran in our blood, and there was no way I was leaving here without some answers.
Laurel broke first, sighing as she turned toward the door. She reached down, pulling out a file folder sealed with a thick rubber band around the center. She passed it over to me, but before I could open it, she placed her hand on top of mine. “You wanted to know, but be prepared. Once you see what’s in this file, you’re not going to be able to walk away from this. So this is your chance, Devyn. Take your husband, and go live your life.” She smiled softly at me. “All I’ve ever wanted was for you and Calla to move on past our crappy childhoods. So please, Devyn. Walk away.”
I shook my head. “I can’t do that.”
Laurel sighed but lifted her hand, letting me pull the rubber band off the file. As I lifted the cover, the first thing I saw were photographs of different people, all attached to death certificates or missing person reports. My hands shook as I flipped through each one, and my throat dried out. My words came whispered when I asked, “Who are all of these people?”
“They are people who have either been killed or gone missing after interfering with one of David’s businesses. Most of their deaths looked like accidents or natural causes, but it’s too much of a coincidence to be true. People in David’s orbit tend to die when they piss him off, and he has enough power and resources to keep them buried.”
I reached the end of the file, and my hand stalled on the last picture. It wasn’t a headshot, but instead, it looked like the scene of a car accident. Gray sucked in a sharp breath at my side. “Is that…”
But the rest of their words were warped as I looked down at the car, recognizing the frame despite all the damage inflicted—the same silver sedan that had been parked in our driveway when I got home from school, making me run a little faster to the door. The one I would wait up for on nights he worked late, hoping to get one last story before bed. The ringing in my ears almost pulled me under as I kept staring at the photo until I saw the red stain on the driver’s seat. A vicious roar sounded in my ears as I stared at the dried blood covering the fabric.
It was only then that I noticed the name attached in the corner.
Peter Winters.
Our father.
When I let out a soft gasp, Gray took my shaking hand. It was frozen to the image, unable to let go. As he lifted my hand, he closed the folder, sealing the image away, but I already knew it would be seared in my brain for the rest of my days.
“That can’t be—” I croaked out, my eyes still stuck on the place the photographs just sat. “Laurel…”
She looked up at me and nodded, the movement so subtle, I almost didn’t see it. “David’s been eliminating any threats for a long time, and I think our dad was one of the first.”