Peyton chuckles in my ear. “Oh, I think you know what that means, Miss Riley.”
“Tell me who you’re working for, and I’lltryto get you what you want.”
“Are you sure that’s the question you want answered, Miss Riley? Not who the rat is?”
Though I’m not really sure, I nod. “Five minutes alone with him. No weapons allowed in the room, and security will be stationed outside the door.”
“Fine,” Peyton growls.
“Who is paying you?”
Peyton leans down and whispers so quietly I almost miss it. “Vivario.”
“What?” I stammer. The word catches in my memory. The little boy. Italy. But how?
“You have thirty minutes to secure the meeting before I decide to kill him.”
He disappears around the corner, the shadows swallowing him.
“You want me to keep eyes on him?” Gray asks through my comm, having heard the entire conversation.
“Yes. Where’s Mr. Mills?”
“Right in front of me. The bar.”
I groan, and Gray chuckles.
“I’m guessing you don’t want to know how many drinks he’s had since you left his side?”
“No.”
Gray laughs again. I stomp back up the stairs.
I’m intercepted by Parker, who steps to my side while I continue toward the bar. “I take it my father got hold of him?”
I nod. “He’s a real piece of work.”
Parker chuckles nervously. “That he is, and he’s unnecessarily cruel to Owen.”
“Why?” I dare to ask.
“He blames Owen for her death.”
I halt my steps, and Parker faces me.
“He blames Owen? But Owen was a child.”
Parker nods and nervously runs a hand through his hair. “It was a car accident. No one knows what happened, but Owen’s mother took him in the car because he was throwing a tantrum. His father believes he was the distraction that caused the accident.”
“The scar on his chest…”
Parker nods again. “He almost died, too.”
I don’t know what to do with this information. It all adds up, though. His desire to follow through with the charities. To do what his mother wanted. His father’s treatment. His obsession with defiance, and yet he seeks his father's approval.
“He was a child,” I say again.
“I know. He doesn’t deserve our father's cruelty. But at this moment, I need your help. Owen is already too deep. Had too many in a short time. I’m not sure he’ll be able to make his speech. Do you have his notes for it?”
