Chapter Thirty One
Isighed and took another sip of water as I opened up another browser. In the background, I was dimly aware of the football game Nate and Bast were watching, and the flickering lights in the room made me feel slightly queasy again. I reached out, turning on the lamp next to me.
“Found anything?” asked Bast, his eyes flicking from the screen over to me.
”Nothing.” The word came out laced with frustration. “It”s like she doesn’t exist, except for that fake social media account her mother runs for her. Which, by the way, we haven’t actually acknowledged yet is totally twisted.”
“I get the feeling there’s quite a bit about Pauline Tremaine that is twisted,” said Bast, his voice icy. “Did you know she controls what meals Paige eats?”
I stared at him in shock. “No… how?”
“She sends her calorie controlled diet meals every week, so Paige doesn’t put on weight,” he said darkly.
“Couldn’t she just go out and buy food though?” Nate asked.
“You’re assuming her mother sends her money,” answered Bast.
I shook my head. “She doesn”t. Paige told me she gets an allowance from her mother for makeup and beauty supplies, but that she spends most of the money on clothes from the charity shop and painting supplies.”
“The sooner she moves in with us, the better,” growled Nate.
“Damn right,” I muttered.
“Have you tried searching for her friends?” suggested Bast, bringing my attention back to the job I was supposed to be doing. ”They look about as close as sharks circling prey.”
“No, but good idea, hang on.” I chased down public links, and delved into private ones, using my skills to navigate my way through the web, looking for anything on the girls in Paige”s photos. Distant. Detached. There was no intimacy in these connections, nothing that screamed confidant or partner-in-crime. Nothing that screamed enemy either.
”Dead ends everywhere,” I growled, pushing back from the desk and running a hand through my hair. ”This is useless.”
“What about someone related to her parents?” said Nate. “Bast wanted to ruin her for vengeance, maybe someone else did too. And they’re bound to have enemies.”
I couldn’t help but glance over at Bast who rolled his eyes. “Cute, Tris, but no. Not my father’s style. He”d just bankrupt them.”
I shrugged. ”True. What about yours?” I looked over at Nate who’s eyes narrowed.
“Doubt it. I mean, obviously he was involved in the scandal at the time, but he doesn’t tend to bear grudges. If he’d wanted revenge back then, he’d have taken it. It’s not like anyone could have proved anything, and even if they had, he pretty much owns the High Court.”
“And I highly doubt my dad would, he just sounded sad when I asked him about it,” I said, frowning at the memory.
“What did he say?” asked Nate. “Carver wouldn’t give me any details.”
“Not much,” I said. “Only that Pauline Tremaine was Persephone their year and Neil Matthews was a Reaper. Pauline did something that caused a huge scandal, and it costs a lot of money to cover it up. Her family kicked her out, and suddenly Neil and her were married.”
“That’s not exactly true,” Bast said quietly, and I turned to look at him.
“Do you know more?”
“My father told me, but it stays between us,” he said, his face serious. “It was the third trial, the night of the hunt. Pauline as Persephone, and the other hired girls were sent out into the woods at night, and the Reapers went to hunt them down. When they caught up with Pauline and one of the other girls, they found them at the bottom of a small ravine. Pauline claimed they’d both been raped and thrown down there. She had serious injuries, and the other girl was dead.”
“Holy shit!” I stared at Bast in horror. “Who the hell would do that?”
“My father wouldn’t say, but then they didn’t believe Pauline. Turns out the other girl was my mother. He’d got her pregnant a couple of years before and had been keeping her in a house in town with me. He adored her, and was planning to marry her once they graduated. He told me Pauline had always been jealous and that night she found out about the relationship and about me. He told me Pauline persuaded her to come along on the hunt for a fun night out, and she could spend some time with him. He thinks they fought and Pauline pushed my mother down that cliff, then faked her own injuries and lied about it just to cause a scandal and get away with killing her. It was all over the news, but their families intervened, Pauline was married off, and my father claimed me publicly.”
“Shit, Bast. That’s fucked up,” said Nate in a low voice. “I’m sorry mate.”
Bast shrugged. “I never knew her, but my father never got over her. Her death destroyed him. So yeah, I can imagine him out of all of them would have the most reason to seek revenge, but he’s not a cruel man, and he wouldn’t have set an innocent girl up like that.”
“What if it’s true though?” I asked. “What if Pauline was attacked? Who did she accuse?”
Bast sighed. “Carver and Matthews.”
I looked over at Nate. “I mean, Carver’s a violent piece of shit, but rape and murder? Is he really capable of that?”
“Oh, he’s capable,” said Nate darkly. “But Matthews? If it’s true and they raped her, why would she marry him?”
“Family pressure?” I asked. “Or maybe she thought he loved her? I don”t know. Let me look into them as well.”
It took me over an hour to track down all the information I needed. I combed through each database with a meticulous attention to detail, hacking my way into news reports and court files, scanning personal emails and confidential records. Bast and Nate waited in silence, the room heavy with a grim anticipation. There was something rotten at the core of this mystery, something that reeked of old blood and well-kept secrets. The very same secrets that were slowly clawing their way to the surface.
“So, Neil Matthews, as it turns out, has a long rap sheet,” I said. ”Arrested several times for assault, once for attempted murder, but nothing ever stuck. No arrests for any kind of sexual assault either. Works now as an enforcer for one of the local gangs. Looks like his life was one big downward spiral,” I reported, my eyes scanning over the numerous entries highlighting his slow demise. ”He used to work in finance but lost his job due to a gambling addiction, hence working for the gang. I’d guess he owed them money and is working it off that way.”
”And Paige”s mother?” Nate asked.
”She fell off the grid after marrying Matthews,” I said, clicking through tabs on my screen. ”But then about eight years ago, she showed back up again. She’s at every charity event or social scene you can think of, and she took Paige to every one.”
“That doesn’t surprise me,” said Bast. “Paige told me that her mother is obsessed with her marrying into society. She’s like some fucking social climber from the regency period or something. That”s why Pauline sends her calorie controlled meals, and controls her spending. She’s grooming her to be the perfect society wife. High-end boutiques, spa treatments, couture labels. Those social events? It’s a fucking cattle market, and Paige was the prize heifer.”
“I mean, I guess,” I said slowly. “But Paige wears hippy clothes from charity shops, she’s hardly dressing to impress, even if she does look so fucking cute in them.”
Bast nodded. “Charity shop clothes, but her backpack is Hermes.”
“Fuck, never noticed that,” I said. ”So she might be prepping Paige for a comeback, pushing her back into the high society limelight? Score her a good husband, and give her the life she was supposed to have, but lost?”
”Yeah, but she”s choosing a life that Paige doesn”t want,” Nate said, shaking his head. ”Paige is happiest in her art studio, not at some society function.”
I rubbed my eyes, feeling more tired than I could remember. “Ok, we’re getting off track here guys. Clearly, her father is involved in some dark shit, so maybe that’s the place to be looking. Some enemy he’s made there with very few morals possibly. I’ll keep looking but I’m unlikely to find much online.” I looked over at Nate. “We need some feet on the street.”
Nate nodded. “I can sort it tomorrow.”
“And you can carry on searching tomorrow,” said Bast, standing and putting his hand on my shoulder. “You’re exhausted, Tris. You can”t push yourself this hard after being so ill.”
“You didn”t tell Paige I was ill, did you?” I asked, closing the laptop and looking up at him. “I don’t want her worrying about me.”
“Just that you had food poisoning. Exactly what you told us. Though for fuck’s sake, Tris, if I’d known how bad it was, I would have come straight here instead of calling at Paige’s.”
I cringed. “Yeah, sorry about that.” I hadn’t wanted to worry anyone, but secretly, I’d been so fucking relieved when Nate had walked through the door that day. I’d gone out for a couple of drinks with some guys on my course, and I could have sworn I hadn’t drunk that much, but I’d get really sick and headed home early. I’d spent the next twenty four hours throwing up or retching, and I honestly felt like I was going to die. I”d had hangovers before, but nothing had ever come close to that. Nate had arrived and taken over, forcing energy drinks and salt water into my body by the teaspoon just so I could keep it down. When Bast had arrived to take over, Nate had called in a cleaning crew, and I could have kissed them both, I was so grateful.
I grinned up at Bast. “Who are we kidding? You were at Paige’s well over two hours, so I’m assuming it was more than worth it going there first.”
Bast smiled slyly. “Oh, definitely worth it. Watching her lie there naked on the bed, touching her sweet pussy…”
”Fuck off, Bast,” I said, shoving him. He barely swayed, I was so fucking weak.
He ruffled my hair like when we were kids. “Don”t worry, Tris. I have plans for tomorrow night that you both are really going to enjoy.”
“I can’t fucking wait,” I said, getting up from my chair. The world swayed a little, and I gripped the back, steadying myself. “Just hope I’m up to the job,” I muttered.
“Oh, you’ll be fine. All you have to do is sit there.” Bast winked at me and I groaned.
“Thanks mate, now I need a cold shower.” I walked out of the room and headed upstairs, Bast’s laugh following me.
I was only winding him up about needing a cold shower, but Paige was still on my mind. The ways we’d discovered that her mother liked to control her were disturbing to say the least, and something told me we hadn’t even scratched the surface. It was funny, it had been Bast and Nate who’d gone away for a week, and yet I hadn’t seen Paige for nearly all of that time either. I was surprised to find that I’d really missed her.
I headed down the hallway and into my room, fighting the urge to sit in my normal place at my computer and instead dropping down onto my bed. I didn’t miss girls. Well, except my sister, Rosa. I’d never really met anyone I’d felt I could form a friendship with, let alone a relationship. My looks had appeared at a fairly young age, and by the time I was fifteen, I learned girls either liked me for my looks or my money, and usually both. As a teenager not knowing any better, I’d taken full advantage of this, and built myself quite the reputation, but in all honesty, it was a lonely life.
It was probably one of the reasons Bast, Nate and I were close. The other guys didn’t date either. Oh, Bast usually had some stunner on his arm for every social event he was expected to attend, but that was as far as it went. And Nate, well, we knew he was a regular patron at a certain club in London that catered for extreme tastes, but he never spoke about any woman, and we didn’t ask. Our friendship relied on loyalty and honesty, but there was room for secrets as long as it didn’t affect anyone else.
Paige was like a breath of fresh air, though. Or maybe a tornado, I hadn’t decided which yet. I hadn’t been joking that afternoon in the coffee shop. I had really enjoyed myself just hanging out and chatting about everything. It had been Nate’s idea, suggesting Paige might be more amenable to grabbing a quick coffee rather than a dinner at a swanky restaurant, and I realised my silent mountain of a friend might be a damn sight more insightful that we often gave him credit for. I had underestimated how nice it was to just sit and talk, and actually get to know each other. The more I got to know Paige though, the more I wanted to know. I was fast becoming obsessed with this woman, and it both scared me and intrigued me, because of course, the more I got to know her, the more she got to know me and that was completely terrifying.
It wasn’t like I had any deep, dark secrets - well, apart from the one Bast and Nate shared - it was just… I wasn’t used to being vulnerable. When I was with Paige, I felt like she could see right through the whole playboy image I’d spent years creating. It just crumbled at her touch. What if she got to know the real me and realised there was nothing of any substance underneath my charm and my smile.
I took out my phone and fired off a text to Rosa.
Hey Thorny.
It only took a couple of seconds before she messaged back.
No
No what?
Whatever you wanted to ask me to do. Still in Dobinson”s bad books after last time.
I grinned. Back in the summer I”d been really bored and had dared Rosa to play a trick on our rather stern housekeeper. Rosa had snuck downstairs one night and glued all of the cutlery and utensils to the kitchen ceiling. I tapped back a reply.
That was all you. I just dared you. And you got your own back.
She had, daring me to add bubble mixture to the ornate fountain right outside the front of our rather large house - just before guests started arriving for my parent”s traditional Christmas ball. I”d gone one better and added coloured glow sticks to really add to the effect.
True. What do you want?
Can I ask you a serious question?
I don”t know - can you?
Thorny!
Ok ok, what do you want to know?
Am I an ok person?
There was a pause that seemed to last forever, the three little dots appeared as my sister typed. Shit, how long was the message? It felt like she was typing forever.
You”re not bad, why?
I exhaled and started typing again.
I just want to know if you think I”m ok. When I”m not acting up, I mean.
Tris, have you met someone?
Maybe. Answer the question.
Another long pause.
If you avoid being your normal dickish self, then underneath, yeah, you”re pretty decent. Question really is, would I think she is good enough for you?
I grinned as I wrote back, feeling a little lighter at her words.
Yeah, I really think you would like her.
Then treat her well and don”t cheat!
She followed up with a gif of pepe le pew running after the female cat and I replied with another of Donald Duck with his heart pumping out of his chest before sticking my phone on charge.
I had to admit, her words had given me some relief. At least there was someone out there who thought I wasn”t a complete jerk. I just hoped Paige agreed, because there was something between us, and I had the feeling the other guys felt the same, even if they wouldn’t admit it yet. Persephone might be under contract to Hades and his DeathKnights, but I knew the truth that Nate and Bast hadn’t even realised yet.
Paige Matthews was ours.