Chapter 7
If Meg wasn’t hip to how fucked her situation was, accompanying Galen and Theo while they cleared the house would have brought the whole thing home.
They moved as a unit that barely accounted for her presence, as if they had done this kind of thing countless times before.
She kept up with them, and in her heart of hearts, she knew that if they came across someone who wanted to hurt them—to hurt her—they would dispatch that person without mercy.
It should have scared her.
It did, in a way.
But it also wrapped around her like the strangest safety net she’d ever experienced.
Knowing that anyone who wanted to get to her had to go through both of these men…
Yeah, no one was getting to her. It wasn’t enough to make her forgive them for putting her in this situation to begin with, but it softened something brittle inside her that had spent the last twelve hours on the verge of breaking.
She might be on a path she never could have anticipated, but at least she wasn’t alone.
It took longer than she could have anticipated to clear the house, but finally Galen pronounced himself satisfied.
He led the way back to the kitchen, and Meg allowed herself to take in the place without the threat of someone being there hanging over their heads.
Even knowing Theo had commissioned a renovation inside, she’d still expected to find the place in shambles based on the appearance of the outside.
She was wrong.
It was downright homey. The floors beneath her boots were hardwood that shone in the low light coming from the windows clouded with age.
The walls were a strange mix of exposed stone and a soothing off-white color that she couldn’t quite call eggshell.
All the accents were a rustic wrought iron that served as a reminder that they were in a modern-day fairytale mansion.
The only way it could get more fantastical was if there were turrets and it was an honest-to-god castle.
They congregated in the kitchen. Galen combed through the pantry and then the fridge, and cursed. “I thought he would have been here by now.”
“We didn’t give him much notice.” Theo checked his phone. “Speak of the devil. He’ll be here in ten.” He lifted his gaze and focused on Meg. “Why don’t you go make use of that monster of a tub I paid through the nose for? We won’t be long.”
She tilted her head to the side. “I didn’t invite you up.” Though, damn it, her body tingled with the possibilities to be had in the oversized tub. It could easily fit all three of them and—No, I am not here to let them bang away what little brains I have left.
Theo raised his brows with a knowing smile, as if he knew the direction of her thoughts. “Another time, then.”
“Keep your head in the game, asshole,” Galen muttered.
Cute, but Meg wasn’t about to let them sidetrack her. “Why don’t you want this person to know I’m here?”
They exchanged a look. Galen turned away, obviously lobbing that grenade to Theo, who gave her the charming smile that had her throwing her panties at him three months ago. “Meg—”
“No.” She held up a hand, hating that she had to fight not to clench her thighs together.
God, he was good. The man turned on his switch and she had to fight every instinct to keep from panting at his feet.
“Answer the question.” She paused, decided being a dick wasn’t going to get her far, and tried a smile of her own. “Please.”
“Alaric is a cousin. While I trust him enough not to betray family, I can’t guarantee that umbrella of protection will encompass your presence.”
Galen gave a harsh laugh. “What Theo’s dancing around saying is that Alaric might not fuck with family, but he’d sell his best friend for the right price. He’d use the knowledge that you’re here with us as a bargaining chip without a second thought.”
She opened her mouth to argue, reconsidered, and closed it. As much as she hated being shuttled to the side, she wasn’t stupid enough to think she understood the rules in this game they played. They were in deep water and sinking fast, and Meg only had these two men to act as her guides.
It didn’t mean she had to trust them implicitly, but fighting them every step of the way just for the sake of her pride was a stupid waste of time and energy. “Okay.”
Theo leaned against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest. “You gave in too easily.”
“Fuck, Theo, know when to quit while you’re ahead.” Galen jerked his thumb at the doorway leading deeper into the house. “Go take a bath or take a nap or count the speckles on the ceiling for all I care. Just get out of here.”
“You have such a way with words, Galen.” She left the room with a measured pace, heading in the direction of the nearest of the two staircases in the house. Meg casually glanced over her shoulder, but neither of the men had followed to ensure she obeyed. Amateur mistake.
Growing up, her mother had initially tried to hide exactly how bad their situation was.
The debt, the repeated loss of jobs, the drinking.
When Meg was small, the only way she could figure out what was going on was to eavesdrop.
Maybe she should have felt guilty for doing it, but it gave her back a sliver of control in a situation in danger of drowning her. Just like it had when she was a child.
She circled around to the formal dining room with a table large enough to feed twelve on the other side of the kitchen and pressed herself against the wall near the doorway. Theo and Galen spoke in voices so low, she couldn’t quite pick up their words. She inched closer to the opening.
Someone knocked on the back door.
Galen set himself up just inside the door as Alaric strode into the kitchen.
Theo had a truly obscene number of cousins spread across Europe—the Mortimore family seemed to have taken it upon themselves to spread their seed far and wide—but Alaric pissed him off just by breathing.
Today that feeling was a thousand times worse.
Meg was in the house.
Alaric paused inside the doorway and took in the room with his sharp blue eyes. “Love what you’ve done with the place.”
Theo gave his politician’s grin. “You know I couldn’t stay here without it being up to my exacting standards.”
“Of course not, Prince Theo.” Alaric smirked. “I got your stuff in the car.”
Galen had watched him pull up and back as close to the kitchen door as possible, so it was unlikely that he had any nasty surprises waiting. Still, it never hurt to assume the worst. He nodded at Theo. “I’ll help him.”
“Galen Mikos.” If anything, Alaric’s grin widened. “What are they feeding you Greek boys? You’re positively huge.”
He knew better than to let this little shit get under his skin.
Alaric was a spoiled bastard who’d had everything handed to him from birth, the pampered youngest son of one of Theo’s aunts.
And he still turned out to be an asshole who fucked over everyone who crossed his path.
Theo thought because family didn’t number among his victims that it meant he could be an asset.
Galen knew better.
If the price was high enough, Alaric would turn over his own goddamn mother.
He shouldered past the blond man and walked to the car to pop the trunk.
It was filled to the brim with groceries.
Galen grabbed as many as he could and hauled them back into the kitchen.
Three trips and the counter disappeared beneath reusable grocery bags.
Theo handed Alaric a wad of cash that would have made Meg shit bricks. “Thanks, cousin.”
Alaric, the piece of shit, flipped through the bills. Counting. He pocketed the stack, apparently satisfied that they hadn’t tried to get one over on him. “Lot of groceries for the two of you.”
Galen went still, but nothing showed on Theo’s face—not even a flicker in his charming smile.
“Galen eats enough for four men. As you said, he’s…
massive.” He sank enough innuendo into the last word to make his cousin blush a deep red.
Theo kept talking, every inch of his filled with a studied casualness.
“And the other thing I asked you to look into?”
“I went to the village. It’s old school, so they only have electronic records from ’01 forward.” Alaric hesitated. “It’s like he claimed—it burned down last year. Whole thing. They lost a couple decades worth of birth certificates, including hers.”
Galen crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the counter.
Watching. The truth was there in Alaric’s restless hands and the tension in his back.
He couldn’t see the kid’s face, but he’d bet his last dollar that he was having a hard time meeting Theo’s gaze.
He lifted his hands and let them drop. “Sorry, cousin.”
“It’s no matter.” Theo pulled him into a quick hug. “If I need anything further, I’ll call.”
Alaric took a touch too long to walk out of the room, and seemed to have some trouble with his car. Theo joined Galen at the window, watching until the man finally drove away—peering out at the house the entire time. “Trouble.”
Galen nodded. “He’s lying. There was a fire—the papers confirmed Phillip’s story—but he’s holding something back.”
“I know.” Theo sighed and rubbed a hand over his face, suddenly looking years older. “We’ll drive down there tomorrow and see what we can find. Even if the clinic burned down, there should have been backup records stored in a secondary location. We just have to find them.”
“Lot of trouble for someone to go through.”
“That’s what I’m thinking.” Theo gave himself a shake. “Looks like we’re on the right track.”
A floorboard creaked just outside the kitchen and every instinct Galen had went on red alert. He held up a hand and motioned for Theo to keep talking.
Theo’s brows drew together but he nodded. “We’ll get the groceries unloaded and figure out the next step tonight.” He kept going, rattling off menu ideas and other nonsense.