“Ah,shite.”Torin appears in the doorway with his laptop in one hand. He rolls his eyes. “Someone been teaching that fucking bird new words? He’s not moving in, is he?”
I like Pepper. He’s chaos with feathers. Still, I shrug. “Only if we can’t find her da.”
Tor mutters something and steps carefully as Bruiser rolls under his foot. Lola streaking after him like she’s running her own hit. Fiona barks because,why not?
“Too many fucking animals, Dec,” Tor says, dropping into the armchair opposite me.
“You and your pretty wife should get some,” I say.
He raises a brow. “We’re not even sure on kids. Animals…more animals?”
He’d be a good da. Harry would be a brilliant mam. I’d have never thought he wanted kids before her, but the way he looks at her says the thought is in there. She’s wild for all little ones, too. They both want it. They’re just scared of fucking it up.
“Adoption’s a good start to a family, if that’s what you’re thinking, Tor,” I say.
He scowls. “I’m not.”
He so is.
“Animal adoption,” I clarify. “I’m not giving Monarch back. She, Fiona, the bird—they need extra loving. Good way to dip a toe in to the whole parenting pond.”
“If I want advice, I’ll read a book,” he mutters.
“I’m always right on these things,” I say. “They’re pets, not children. Or you can adopt a fish.”
Tor’s attention moves back to the laptop. “I went over the files on that USB you got. Took a bit of time, but it’s damn clear the stalker guy was fucked up. Obsessed. I didn’t find anything we can trace, though. No addresses, no usable digital trail. I checked his place, but it was barely lived in. Wherever his shrine is, it’s not there.”
I nod, cracking each one of my knuckles.
“Let’s talk about you,” he says. “You came back quiet earlier. Why?”
The glow from the screen turns his face ghost pale. Harry probably finds it sexy. Sociopath chic.
“Because I think we need a soft approach,” I say.
He glances up. “I’m listening. Just trying new angles on Molly’s mam. I’m fairly sure she knows where her da is. Or atleast, she knows he’s safe and thinks she’s protecting him. For her own reasons.”
He saysMollylike we’re already resigned to her being ours. He heard me earlier. Torin doesn’t miss much.
“You’re not looking for her da?” I ask.
“Figure Roark’s got that covered,” he says.
“If her mam knows where he is, why pretend?” I press.
“To protect the conglomerate,” he says. “It’s worth billions. On paper, so are they. And liquid? It’s still millions. A nasty bastard could try to blackmail her.”
“Like her offering to marry Molly off to Milo Marcello?” I ask.
“No idea what her buried secrets look like yet.”
I sit forward, earning a hiss from Clawzilla and a whine from Arnold. “Got anything on her?”
“Nothing properly criminal,” Torin says. “She’s just a poor girl who used her brain. Cold from the start, from what I can tell. She could’ve married other rich lads or even mafia. She chose Heston. Love? Opportunity? No prenup. What’s his is hers, hers his. Great deal for a poor ambitious girl. Now? He’s an albatross. She can’t divorce him.”
“But could she kill him?” I ask.
He lowers the laptop lid a fraction. “Anyone could. But I don’t know if it’d be worth it. With him just remaining unseen, she holds everything. Dead, she loses half to her daughter.”
