“You’reruthless.”
I rolled my eyes. “Then whathappened?”
“Then he graciously thanked his boss and gave back thebonus.”
“He gave itback?”
“Every penny, and then he asked his boss to gift him the scrawny foal of mediocre lineage which Uncle knew was supposed to be sold to a nearby stud farm for a pittance. He’d observed the foal and had discerned something in the horse’s muscle structure which both his boss and the breeder hadmissed.”
Mosquitos buzzed around the single sconce peeking out from the thick ivy climbing up the limestone, their drone interrupted by the occasional squeal of tires on the road outside Jarod’smansion.
“To my grandparents’ horror, he brought the colt home. They lived in the suburbs and only had a backyard.” Amusement flickered over his face. “They told him he couldn’t keep that creature in their home. My grandmother had a friend in a nearby village who had a big property. She enquired if she’d be willing to take in the horse. Her friend agreed but made Uncle promise to care for it. When his savings ran low, he asked the woman if she had any work for him. She found him tasks to do around the house—she had a very old house, and everything inside needed fixing. He ended up spending most of his days there. And then, the summer after the old lady’s granddaughter visited, his nights,too.”
“Why isthat?”
“He fell inlove.”
I tried to reconcile the image of the ruthless Demon Court founder I’d conjured in my head with the picture Jarod was painting of a hardworking, love-smitten, honestman.
“They trained the horse together, and once the horse turned two, my aunt, who was a slip of a woman, became the jockey. Ever heard ofLeDémon?”
I raised my brows. “Was that what he named thehorse?”
“Apparently the yearling had a fiery personality.” His lips stretched tight over his teeth. “After it won thePrix de l’Arc de Triomphe, thus becoming the greatest horse to have tread French racetracks, Uncle got a great kick out of reading the headlines:Le Démonchampion.”
“I imagine he made a lot of money with that horse.” I’d been so absorbed by his tale I hadn’t realized I’d inched closer to the free loungechair.
“A lotis an understatement. That horse enabled him to buy this place”—he tipped his head to the side—“and a stud farm inChantilly.”
I finally sat down, sensing the story couldn’t have a pleasant ending since the Adlers weren’t known for their horse-breedingskills.
“About a year later, while Uncle was away negotiating breeding rights, someone broke into their stables and put a bullet throughLe Démon’sskull and then another through my aunt’s chest when she tried to save herhorse.”
Ijolted.
“Uncle spent weeks tracking down the assassin. Turns out it was his former boss. The asshole felt like Uncle had gypped him and said my aunt was shot because she got in the way. That it was anaccident.
“Uncle went to the police with the evidence he’d amassed, but they tossed out his case as insubstantial. The thing is, it wasn’t. He’d even recorded the confession, but the chief of police told him he’d obtained it illegally, and so it was inadmissible incourt.
“That’s when he took matters into his own hands. Visited his former boss and shot him—first to wound and then to kill. He was caught and tossed in jail. The government tried to seize his assets, but he’d put everything in my father’s name . . . my father who was still a minor back then. To make a long story short, he spent the next few years collecting valuable contacts and learningskills. He was out on good behavior a decade after he was put behindbars.”
“Goodbehavior?”
Jarod shot me that murky grin ofhis.
I observed the pale walls of the house dotted by glass so shiny I imagined it was cleaned daily. “So, prison made him create thisplace?”
“No, Feather, injustice made him create this place. Prison simply gave him the tools to buildit.”
I nibbled on mylip.
“Are you thinking horrid things about me and myuncle?”
“Actually, I’m thinking what a good storyteller you are, Jarod. You’ve made me feel something other than fear and aversion for yourfamily.”
His eyes gleamed. “Careful,Feather.”
I folded my legs. “Aboutwhat?”
