No one speaks for several seconds. Shock splays on all our faces. The tense silence is broken when Kai’s cell vibrates in his pocket, and he leaves the room to answer the call. I pull Emery into my arms and hold her close. “Guess we’re not taking a trip after all.”
“Not that I’m ungrateful,” Rick says, “but what the hell is going on, and who did this?”
“Please tell me it’s not some new asshole drinking the Kool-Aid and attempting to make a play for the presidency,” Abby says, sporting a grimace. “I literally have had my fill of evil fuckers coming out of the woodwork.”
“That was Huss,” Kai says, coming back into the room. He sinks onto the couch, pulling his wife over his lap. “He’s as much in the dark as we are. He says he has no clue who did this, and as far as the elite are concerned, it wasn’t an official hit.”
“That doesn’t mean the elite aren’t behind it,” Drew replies, looking troubled.
“He had one other piece of news.” Kai looks at Emery, and I instantly stiffen and tighten my hold on her. “He confirmed youraunt was acting on Hamilton’s instructions. It wasn’t your father who asked her to take you in, it was Hamilton all along.”
Emery nods. “We suspected as much,” she quietly says, and I figure now is as good a time as any to tell her this. I was keeping it until we returned, but there’s no reason to hold back now. “Babe.” I stare into her gorgeous eyes. “I know where your parents are. Xavier and I locked down their location.”
Emery is deathly quiet, but the vein in her neck is pulsing, and her eyes convey a multitude of emotions.
“What do you want us to do?” I ask.
Turmoil swirls in her eyes for another few seconds before it clears, and she lifts her chin. Her voice rings out loud and true. “Hand them over to the authorities.”
“Are you sure, beautiful?” I sweep her gorgeous red hair back off her face, tucking it behind her ears. “They’ll put your mom in jail too for aiding and abetting your father.”
“I’m sure. She had to know Dad’s activities weren’t legit, and she must have known about Lindsay too, yet she did nothing. She deserves to pay a price for her involvement, and I washed my hands of them last year.”
“Okay.” I nod at Hunt, and he goes off to make a call.
We are all still shell-shocked a few hours later when Keven Kennedy shows up at the door. Joaquin and Harley are here too, and we were just about to dive into our takeout when the doorbell chimed. It’s telling that none of us are in any way upset that our sperm donor is dead. The overwhelming feeling is one of relief.
“Sorry to interrupt,” he says when he notices us seated at the long table.
“Come join us,” Abby says, quickly setting a place for him. “We have plenty of food.”
“You can update us as we eat,” Kai suggests, and Keven nods.
After everyone has helped themselves to food and drinks, we eat as Keven updates us. “This doesn’t leave the room. Ever.” He eyeballs all of us, and we nod. Everyone in this room knows the score. “Before you ask, I don’t have any information on who killed your father or Hamilton, but the timing of the murders was no random coincidence. It was a targeted takedown.”
We all nod because we had surmised as much.
“The Italian authorities have confirmed they received an anonymous tip-off claiming the shooter was a hired hitman organized by Atticus Anderson’s sons.”
You could hear a pin drop in the room. “What. The. Fuck?” Kai verbalizes what we’re all feeling.
“It’s been alleged you wanted to murder your father so he couldn’t contest your claim on the family business, home, and other assets,” Keven explains. “I’m thankful you came to me about this and that we did it through official channels. That tip-off has already been discredited, and it’s obvious it was a deliberate attempt to set you up.”
“It was Hamilton.” I thump my fist on the table. “That double-crossing bastard.”
Em places her hand on my leg under the table, smoothing a comforting hand up and down my denim-clad thigh.
“He must have guessed we were working together, and he decided to use the opportunity to frame us,” Ro suggests.
“If I didn’t know better,” Drew says. “I’d think you have a guardian angel. It seems like someone was looking out for you and taking care of the last two remaining problems at the same time.”
“I think you could be right,” Keven says. “We may never know, but I’m in charge of a joint task force with the Italians, so I’ll keep you informed of anything I discover.”
“Thanks, man.” Rick tips his head at Keven.
“We owe you,” Kai adds.
“You’d do the same for me,” he says before scooping up a forkful of rice.
