I didn’t want Merrick to know my father was alive, nor that Gio and I had stored him in his house, so I went with a half-truth. “When I mentioned it to them, they were shocked. They eventually took credit for it, I guess because they decided that it was better if we thought they did it than someone else. I could see it though, me asking them was the first they’d heard that he was dead.”
“Milli said Curtis’ housekeeper told his contact that.”
“Yeah, which on its own didn’t quite seem right to me, but I actually didn’t think it was Milli until something else happened.”
“What?”
“My brothers mentioned me training with Tamryn. Without me saying anything to them about it,” I said. “How would they know that?”
It was clear in the look on Merrick’s face that he was trying to calculate the answer. “I assume that neither you nor Tamryn sat down and had an afternoon tea with them to discuss it, and Punk and Kelly just got here. They wouldn’t know it either. That only leaves one person.” Even if Merrick wanted to deny it, it seemed that he couldn’t. “Gio’s been getting all of his information about what’s been going on with my family from Milli. He could easily tailor the information to his benefit. The only thing I don’t know is … why?”
“I can think of a reason,” Merrick said.
“Really?”
“Yes, but,” he glared at me. “If it were still a grievance he had, Milli would have had a million opportunities to rectify it before now. I don’t know why he would choose right now of all times. On top of that, we know your brothers have a role in it.”
“They do. I think they’re working together,” I said. “Who else could have gotten them into Gio’s estate so easily when they took me before? It’d be pretty simple for someone like him. My brothers certainly have something to gain from Gio being gone, and they haven’t been tight-lipped about wanting that, so if you can think of a reason why Milli would benefit, then maybe they’ve gone for a partnership that is mutually beneficial.”
“Okay Avion,” Merrick said. “I’ll tell you what I’m going to do. I’ll look into it, on my own, and see if I can’t find something a little more concrete that will help Gio see the truth.”
“Really?” I asked. “You will? You believe me?”
“I think there’s stock behind this theory. If it’s true, I’ll help you,” he said, “but if it isn’t, and it turns out you’re just trying to place a wedge in this family between me and Gio and one of our most trusted advisors, then you’re gone.”
“That’s fair. If you can’t find solid evidence, I’ll leave,” I said.
“Oh no,” Merrick said, an evil smile cutting across his face. “You won’t just leave. You’re going to hurt Giovanni so much that he’ll never trust another woman again.” He walked up until he was face-to-face with me. “And then, I get to kill you.”
52
GIO
I sunk down into my office chair and let the weight of the last few hours settle over me. What I had expected to just be a pretty relaxing night enjoying a date with Avion, turned into thinking that there was a tractor in my midst, Curtis Narzand was and then wasn’t dead, and Milli thought Avion was a traitor and Avion thought Milli was one.
Things were getting more and more complicated by the second and I didn’t know the best way forward. I had to deal with the Narzand brothers, but I also had to deal with the fact that it felt like everyone in my house was turning on each other. I wanted to truly believe that no one around me would actually turn on me, but I also had to deal with the fact that it did seem as though there was someone near me who didn’t have my best interest at heart.
And I had no way to figure out who it was.
There was a knock on my door after about ten minutes of sitting in a fairly self-destructive silence. “I don’t care who it is, you have perfect timing,” I called out.
The door opened and Milli walked in. “Avion’s back, huh?”
I looked up at him with a furrowed brow. “Yeah. How’d you know that?”
“Security told me you both came back,” he replied. “Where was she?”
“She just went to talk to her brothers. She wanted to hear directly from them why they killed their father,” I said, remembering her request to not tell anyone that Curtis was actually alive.
“What’d she find out?” he asked.
“Unfortunately for her, she found out that her brothers do chaotic shit for no real reason,” I said. “Kind of a hard thing for her to learn.”
“You sure that’s it?” he asked.
“What do you mean?”
Milli walked further into the room and sat down in a chair in front of my desk. He crossed his leg and took a deep breath before looking up at me sadly. “Look, I know that Tamryn hadplentyto say about my accusation of Avion earlier, but I wanted to come and discuss it with you personally without all the extra noise.”
