“Did she say anything?” Abundio asked.
“She told me Manuel was relaying instructions through her. She has the password.”
Of course she does.
Abundio belatedly realized he should have siloed those discussions and not included Miranda in any of that business, even though he had no reason to believe she would suddenly turn sneaky and start poking her nose into places it definitely did not belong.
Now, her curiosity would cause him trouble.
Or worse.
“Don’t challenge her and keep me posted as we’ve discussed,” Abundio said. “Your official orders come only through me. If or when she contacts you again, contact me immediately, no matter what time of day or night.” He hung up just as his regular cell phone rang.
Abundio sighed and answered. “Hello, sweetheart. How is your Aunt Marciella doing…?”
When that call ended a few minutes later, he stared at a picture in a frame sitting on the corner of his desk, of her as a baby, her mother holding her and smiling.
Ah, my love. I feel like I’ve failed you. I should have done a better job raising our daughter.
Because for all he’d worked to instill good business sense in his daughter, apparently he’d neglected one of the most important lessons of all?—
That you never try to fuck over family. And if you do, you definitely never do it by going behind their backs.
Because if you can’t fuck them over to their faces and win, you should be prepared to be run over.
Part 2
Now
Chapter Seven
Dewi - Now, End of May
Dewi stared across her desk to where Aisling sat slumped and sobbing in one of the chairs.
She still wasn’t certain which shocked her more—that the rock-steady, combat-hardened Irish Wolfhound shifter warrior was crying…or the reason why Aisling was crying.
Dewi took a beat to breathe, process, think.
Yes, unusual for her not to default to snark, especially with Aisling, but she blamed it on her new-mom brain still not quite running at full speed.
Except the revelation Aisling dumped on Dewi hadn’t arrived from left field, but from an entirely different fricking galaxy.
“Tamsin?” Dewi asked to verify she hadn’t misheard Aisling. “Our Tamsin?”
Aisling tearfully nodded.
“You’ve pinged on our Tamsin as your mate?”
Aisling nodded again.
In Dewi’s arms, baby Lyssa lay sound asleep, having finished nursing not long before Aisling’s arrival. Other than the baby, the two of them were alone in the house.
Fuuuuuuck.
“Let’s take this out to the living room,” Dewi suggested to buy herself another moment to process. “So I can put her down and fully focus on this. Okay?”
Aisling nodded once more. Dewi stood, leading the way. In the living room, Dewi lay Lyssa on a soft quilt they’d stationed there for just that purpose and then took a seat in a nearby comfy chair while Aisling curled up on the couch. Dewi leaned forward and nudged a box of tissues on the coffee table closer to the older woman.
