At first, I’d told Amelia I’d change for her, but she wanted me to change for me.
I wanted that too, now more than ever. Life was more than this. Life was more than greed and wanting more money, more everything.
My life used to be get laid and get paid, get paid lots and have the finest women at my beck and call.
I shed that man I used to be from the minute I set eyes on Amelia. Right there in that restaurant as she arrested Montgomery. Then, in the weeks that followed, I took the time to get to know her, and she trusted me.
I trusted her.
I had to trust myself now to get her back. To get her back in whatever form Victor would give her to me. And… I knew he wouldn’t just hand her over either.
He’d mentionedarena, and I knew the games were just starting.
It was like some damn battle to the death.
“Millicent,” Raphael breathed, dabbing his eyes with a tissue.
I nodded. “She’s the rat, Raphael, has to be. I can’t think of anyone else who it could be. It fits. She’s not here, and there’s no mention of her.”
“Yeah. I have to confess that I suspected her after those guys broke into the library. There were no tapped phone lines, no hidden crevices for anyone to hide and see Amelia put the key in the safe in the library. Amelia and I were talking about it in the garden, and it was then I gave her the key and told her the password. She said she’d put the key in the safe in the library. At that moment, we saw Millicent, but I thought she’d just come up to us. I didn’t realize she must have been there long enough to hear what we were saying.”
“Jesus, Raphael, why didn’t you tell me that before?” Once again, he’d proven to be an asshole. Had he voiced his concerns with me, his second most trusted advisor, we could have put more eyes on Millicent. We could have stopped her from coming here.
He winced and shook his head. “It’s a hard thing to accuse someone of something like that, especially when it’s a trusted friend. Luc, she’s been in this family since before Amelia was born. I took her on to help my wife when she was pregnant with Amelia. She’s looked after Amelia ever since. It was her who came and alerted me to my wife’s affair with Tag. Why would I think she would betray me like this?” He shook his head again and wiped more tears away. “There’s no way that I could conceive that someone like her could betray me, not like this. So many have died because of her hand in this. Helping them.”
“Why do you think she did it?”
“I don’t know. I’ve sat here going over the whole thing in my mind. I knew it had to be her because of tonight. If you guys had been here, they wouldn’t have come. You, Claudius, The Four, Saul. God, even if Marcus had been here, they wouldn’t have set foot on the premises.”
Pa was at home. Claudius had called him on the way here. As far as I knew, he was on his way.
“They knew we weren’t going to be here, and the only way they knew that was by someone telling them,” I filled in.
Raphael nodded.
The idea was to take the best, and if we got Victor and a chance to get Gigi back, we’d take it, but to do that we needed the best. That damned Victor must have known we’d retaliate after that last phone call. He knew this would happen. He knew I would go after him. He knew I would fail.
We’d played right into his trap.
“Someone told them, and I realized the only someone that could have been was Millicent. The sick thing is that I was here when all this shit was happening, and I couldn’t do anything. I was asleep in my bed; my meds knock me out when I take them. Millicent usually brings me up a glass of juice before she leaves. I woke up thirsty and decided to go downstairs to get some water. That was when I saw the bloodbath. When I went to check on Amelia, she was gone. They took her right from underneath my nose. When I pieced it together, I abandoned all that shit about long-term family friends, and fucking shit. I knew, I knew it had to be her. It was all too nicely played for it not to be. Specific.”
At least we could agree on something.
“Victor wants the diamonds, Raphael.”
“In exchange for Amelia?” He looked hopeful.
“He didn’t mention anything about an exchange.”
Raphael bit the inside of his lip. “He just wants you to get the diamonds. Then what?”
“Well, that’s the part I need to work on. I won’t give him anything until he gives me Amelia and Gigi.”
“It won’t work that way.”
“I know, Raphael, but right now, you’re going to give me the details I need to get the diamonds.” I was past showing respect. It was time to start demanding.
“Of course, of course, I will give it to you.”
