“Money?” I asked.
My dad shook his head, “Rome. She loved him.”
“What?” I asked in surprise. I had always known she had a crush on him, but I thought it was harmless—thatshewas harmless.
“She has attachment issues,” my dad explained. “She was attached to you, but the moment she met Rome, she was infatuated. I had promised her that I would help her get him. I genuinely had no idea how I would do that, but she didn’t care about the semantics. She just wantedhim. Maybe it was too easy to sway her…”
“Oh my God,” I mumbled. Finally putting the pieces together. “When did she come up with the idea to hurt him?”
“That day,” he explained. “She called me, telling me she already had him. I found the two of them in some random tunnel outside of the city. He was drugged out of his mind, and she told me her idea. We were just supposed to hurt him, but I must have hit an artery or something.”
“You shot him in a tunnel?” Will asked. My dad nodded.
Will turned to me, “The blood was found in a warehouse in the city. Did she move him?”
“I-I don’t know,” I whispered. “If she loved him, why did she have him killed?”
“Come on,” Will called as he stood and left the conference room. I followed only a few steps behind.
Will strutted across the executive floor towards my office. He was a man on a mission. Malachi was sitting on Andi’s desk, and he was chatting with her. Malachi and Andi looked at us in surprise.
My hands curled into fists as I held back from pouncing at her.
“Where is he?” Will growled at Andi.
A surprised Andi leaned back, trying to put distance between her and my brother.
“What?” She asked in a shaky voice.
“Will?” Malachi asked, perplexed, and turned to me.
I shook my head, unsure of what Will was asking.
“Where is Rome?” Will asked, “I know you have him. Where is he?”
“What?” Malachi and I asked in unison.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Andi stammered. “He’s dead. I watched it.”
“Cut the act,” my dad called from the conference room doorway, seeming even more tired after his confession. “I told them everything.”
Andi’s eyes grew impossibly wide as she learned we knew the truth. Or at least part of the truth. Will seemed to believe there was more.
I had heard the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but I was watching it play out in front of me. Andi transformed. Gone was the quiet, yet brilliant assistant. She turned angry, enraged even, her eyes glowing with fury. She stood and tried to lunge. I couldn’t tell if it was towards me, Will, or my dad, but she didn’t make it very far, nonetheless. Malachi grabbed her at the waist and pulled her back towards him. He had her locked against his chest, with his long arms wrapped around her as she struggled.
“Let me go!” She screamed as she pushed against Malachi’s hold, but he was a mountain… strong and formidable.
“What the fuck, Andi?” I asked her, my own anger rising. “What did I do to you that made you want to blow up my whole life?”
She seemed surprised by the insinuation, “I didn’t want to hurt you. I wanted him.”
“So you thought killing him was the best option?!” I asked, perplexed.
She shook her head. “No! Never! I would never hurt him. He…” she practically growled, her sanity unwinding in front of my eyes. “He got confused. You confused him. He thinks he loves you, but he doesn’t! He’ll learn you’re no good for him. I am! He needs me!”
“Loves?” I whispered. “As in current tense? Right now?”
Andi realized she revealed the truth and shook her head frantically, “No! No, you can’t have him. He’s mine. You can’t have him!”
