Meg was in the house.
Alaric paused inside the doorway and took in the room with his sharp blue eyes. “Love what you’ve done with the place.”
Theo gave his politician’s grin. “You know I couldn’t stay here without it being up to my exacting standards.”
“Of course not, Prince Theo.” Alaric smirked. “I got your stuff in the car.”
Galen had watched him pull up and back as close to the kitchen door as possible, so it was unlikely that he had any nasty surprises waiting. Still, it never hurt to assume the worst. He nodded at Theo. “I’ll help him.”
“Galen Mikos.” If anything, Alaric’s grin widened. “What are they feeding you Greek boys? You’re positively huge.”
He knew better than to let this little shit get under his skin. Alaric was a spoiled bastard who’d had everything handed to him from birth, the pampered youngest son of one of Theo’s aunts. And he still turned out to be an asshole who fucked over everyone who crossed his path. Theo thought because family didn’t number among his victims that it meant he could be an asset.
Galen knew better.
If the price was high enough, Alaric would turn over his own goddamn mother.
He shouldered past the blond man and walked to the car to pop the trunk. It was filled to the brim with groceries.Galen grabbed as many as he could and hauled them back into the kitchen. Three trips and the counter disappeared beneath reusable grocery bags. Theo handed Alaric a wad of cash that would have made Meg shit bricks. “Thanks, cousin.”
Alaric, the piece of shit, flipped through the bills. Counting. He pocketed the stack, apparently satisfied that they hadn’t tried to get one over on him. “Lot of groceries for the two of you.”
Galen went still, but nothing showed on Theo’s face—not even a flicker in his charming smile. “Galen eats enough for four men. As you said, he’s… massive.” He sank enough innuendo into the last word to make his cousin blush a deep red. Theo kept talking, every inch of his filled with a studied casualness. “And the other thing I asked you to look into?”
“I went to the village. It’s old school, so they only have electronic records from ’01 forward.” Alaric hesitated. “It’s likeheclaimed—it burned down last year. Whole thing. They lost a couple decades worth of birth certificates, including hers.”
Galen crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the counter. Watching. The truth was there in Alaric’s restless hands and the tension in his back. He couldn’t see the kid’s face, but he’d bet his last dollar that he was having a hard time meeting Theo’s gaze. He lifted his hands and let them drop. “Sorry, cousin.”
“It’s no matter.” Theo pulled him into a quick hug. “If I need anything further, I’ll call.”
Alaric took a touch too long to walk out of the room, and seemed to have some trouble with his car. Theo joined Galen at the window, watching until the man finally drove away—peering out at the house the entire time. “Trouble.”
Galen nodded. “He’s lying. There was a fire—the papers confirmed Phillip’s story—but he’s holding something back.”
“I know.” Theo sighed and rubbed a hand over his face, suddenly looking years older. “We’ll drive down there tomorrow and see what we can find. Even if the clinic burned down, there should have been backup records stored in a secondary location. We just have to find them.”
“Lot of trouble for someone to go through.”
“That’s what I’m thinking.” Theo gave himself a shake. “Looks like we’re on the right track.”
A floorboard creaked just outside the kitchen and every instinct Galen had went on red alert. He held up a hand and motioned for Theo to keep talking.
Theo’s brows drew together but he nodded. “We’ll get the groceries unloaded and figure out the next step tonight.” He kept going, rattling off menu ideas and other nonsense.
Galen crept around the kitchen island. He touched his gun, but he didn’t think for a second that it was an enemy on the other side of the wall. No, it was a nosey little woman who didn’t know how to follow orders. Sure enough, when he burst into the formal dining room, he was greeted with a startled yip and the sight of Meg landing on her ass.
Amusement crept through him as she climbed to her feet, as dignified as a queen, and brushed imaginary dust from her jeans. Meg lifted her chin. “Galen.”
“Meg.” He raised his eyebrows at her audacity. She was just going to brazen through this, and hell if that didn’t have him fighting a smile. “I could have sworn you were ordered to go upstairs.”
She raised her eyebrows in response, a perfect mirroring of his expression. “How am I supposed to know what’s going on if you send me away every time you’re about to have an important conversation?”
“You could ask.”
She opened her mouth, seemed to reconsider, and shut it. Those witchy hazel eyes flashed. “You wouldn’t tell me.”
“Too late to find out now.” He grabbed her and tossed her over his shoulder, enjoying the way she yipped again and immediately started cursing him out. He walked back into the kitchen to find Theo had made good use of his time. Half the groceries were unloaded. Galen gave Meg the tiniest of shakes. “We have an eavesdropper.”
“So I gathered.”
