A look of relief crossed his face that was so sweet it made me smile. “Right.” He just shook his head and laughed. “Oh man, I’ve been terrified to say that to you since we were at the hospital. I was so afraid that if I told you that you were free to go, that you would go.”
I kissed him gently and said, “I’m not going anywhere.”
He gave me a kiss on the forehead and smiled. “Good.” He glanced at his watch and let out a groan. “Damn, it’s already after midnight.”
“We could both probably use some rest.”
“I’m gonna work a little more. We’re on a short window to figure things out.” He rubbed my cheek before letting me go so I could leave. “You get some rest. I’ll see you in the morning.”
I nodded. “Yeah, okay.” I turned and started to leave, but then I stopped and turned back. “Hey, um… About that stuff I said about Milli, you’re not--”
“Based on the circumstances, the conclusion you came to is understandable, but I know Milli. He’d never turn on me.”
I offered an awkward half-nod. “Okay. So we’re good.”
A smile grew on his face. “We’re more than good.”
With that relief hanging on me, I left Gio in his office to work and turned towards the elevator. My whole body was electrified from the night’s events and I honestly didn’t feel like going to sleep. I’d probably regret that when I was exhausted during training with Tamryn in the morning, but I still hadn’t totally emptied out my desire to bedoingsomething. I’d saved my father and gotten the upper hand on my brothers, but this Milli thing just wouldn’t leave my brain.
Maybe it was going to be a mistake, but I wanted to tick that box before going to bed.
When I got to the elevator, rather than taking it up to the top floor, I took it down one level to where Milli, Punk, Kelly, and the Raines’ bedrooms were. The door to Merrick and Tamryn’s room was open and the light was still on.
Clearly Gio and I weren’t the only ones unable to sleep.
I peeked my head into the room and Tamryn was sitting on the bed reading while Merrick was sitting at the dining table on one side of the room working at a computer.
I cleared my throat and they both looked up at me, earning me a big, wide smile from Tamryn. “Welcome home, wayward wanderer.”
“Yeah,” I said. “I just wanted to apologize for any chaos I caused. I’m back and I won’t do that again, I promise.”
Tamryn shrugged. “I think you should do whatever you think is best.”
“Thanks,” I said, then my eyes moved across the room to Merrick. “Um… can I talk to you for a second?”
Both Tamryn and Merrick looked at me like I’d lost my mind, and in their defense I wasn’t entirely certain I hadn’t.
“Come in,” Merrick said.
“Actually,” I eyed Tamryn and then looked back to him. “Can we speak in private?”
Merrick and Tamryn exchanged a deeply confused and concerned look, but Merrick stood up from the table nonetheless and we walked down the hall to one of the home’s studies. I opened the door and let Merrick walk past me. I followed him in and shut the door behind me.
“Um, so… what I’m about to say is going to sound really crazy, and I know you already don’t like me, but believe it or not, I think you’re the only person here who will listen to me partially. I need to convince Gio that a bad feeling I have may actually hold some merit, but he won’t hear it, and I was hoping you could hear me out, and then if you think it holds weight, you could help me convince him.”
Merrick crossed his arms. “Interesting. What is this feeling?”
“I think that Milli might be a traitor,” I said.
Merrick’s eyes went as wide as grapefruits. “Do you have any idea what you’re saying or who you’re saying it to? Milli was my right-hand before he was Gio’s. I trusted that man with my own son.”
“I’m aware of that, and because you’re a smart man, that should be enough for you to know I wouldn’t bring this to you without being sure.”
That seemed to register with him. “What do you know?”
“When I left here, I went to talk to my brothers about why they killed my father,” I said. “They didn’t.”
Merrick furrowed his brow. “What do you mean they didn’t?”
