“Lydia was in my room. She hid this.” I lift the bracelet to show him.
I don’t know why she would do it, but my instincts scream it was for no good reason.
His expression hardens, and he nudges me back into my room. “Wait there. I’ll go.”
“But—”
Too late, he’s out of the front door, leaving it wide open.
Chapter 17
Makhi
Igrab Lydia before she can get to her car.
She’s yelling and twisting to get free when Vonn appears, frowning as his eyes flick from me to her.
“Is there a reason you’re manhandling the maid?”
I drag her into the house. “Byrdie caught her hiding jewelry in her room. Looks like we know who was responsible for that bit of mischief,” I add bitterly, pissed not just at the maid, but at myself as well.
Lydia hid the necklace in Byrdie’s bag, but I didn’t have to believe that Byrdie would steal when I’d never gotten the impression she was anything but a woman with a dark past she was looking to escape. I should have asked myself what Byrdie had to gain by stealing from people who had helped her and would have continued to help her. I didn’t use my brain, and Byrdie nearly died because of it.
That’s not happening again.
Vonn takes over before I can stop him. He’s bigger than I am, so Lydia doesn’t even try to argue or fight back.
With one hand wrapped around the back of her neck, he pulls her into Nash’s office. Nash is on his feet behind the desk, no doubt on his way to investigate all the yelling.
Vonn pushes Lydia onto one of the two leather chairs on the other side of Nash’s desk. “Talk,” he demands.
Lydia’s expression is mulish.
Vonn drops into a crouch and gets into her face. “You hurt someone I care deeply about. That means my patience is nonexistent. If I have to do painful things to get you to talk, I will do those painful things.”
If Lydia weren’t the reason that Byrdie nearly died out in the desert, I wouldn’t believe Vonn capable of torturing information out of her. He’s not the type to put his hands on a woman. But his feelings for Byrdie run deep enough that there are lines he would cross that he wouldn’t cross with anyone else. The gardener put his hands on Byrdie, and Vonn never hesitated to snap his neck and bury his body in Nash’s backyard.
Fear flickers in Lydia’s gaze. She sits back in her chair. “But I’m a woman,” she says, licking her lips.
“I don’t discriminate,” Vonn says while staring unblinking into her eyes.
I almost feel sorry for her.
Hell, if that were me, I’d be spilling my guts, so it’s no surprise when she clears her throat and says, “Someone paid me, okay. She was cleaning all the rooms and taking her time, which meant I couldn’t search them. I needed to get rid of her.”
Considering Nash didn’t know what kicked off this craziness, he takes it in his stride and sits back down at his desk to ask, “My uncle?”
Lydia nods as the office door swings open and Byrdie slips inside.
Vonn frowns.
Byrdie lifts her chin and, looking stubborn, closes the door. “This involves me, and I need to know what’s going on.”
Nash points at a seat. “This might take a while.”
Doubtful.
With the way Vonn is glowering at Lydia, she’s going to spill everything she knows in record time.
