Mila stared, dumbfounded. “You… I contacted Esther so I could find that auction and get to Jacobs. At the funeral, he was whispering in your ear.”
Primrose huffed. “Because their empire was about to come tumbling down.”
“I thought he was influencing you.”
“Me? He could not. As Margaret Thatcher once said, the lady’s not for turning.”
She smiled. We didn’t.
Her revelations made no sense.
Our grandmother continued. “Then came that slut who followed Kane from one city to the next like a bitch in heat and tried to get between him and his sweetheart. I like Lovelyn. I approve of her. She manages him with barely a word or a look which suits him well. He needs a strong woman to keep him in line.”
I shook my head. “Wait, back to Karla again.”
“She had to be removed. I had it done.”
This was nuts.
Primrose faced me.
I shrank away. “Not Lex. You didn’t even know who I was then.”
“I have exceptional instincts. I selected him because of how he unsettled your sister. She overheard this individual talking, and Wallace could tell she was upset. Since, I’ve realised who he was talking was about. How he intended to get you back into that filthy trade. How cruel. Despicable of him.”
“So you killed him?” My voice came out high. “Wait, what do you mean Wallace could tell?”
Mila gasped and touched my arm. “Each time, Wallace was there.” She swung to Primrose. “That’s it, isn’t it? Wallace was your eyes and ears?”
Horror slunk through me. On her own, Primrose could never be a killer, but paired with Wallace, a man only motivated by money, it was a possibility.
Primrose took a breath. “My son proved himself useful in that one thing. Every time he encountered any of you, he came back with stories of people trying to cause harm. I couldn’t stand it.”
Mila choked. “You’re saying he witnessed small acts and decided to kill?”
Primrose gave a stern frown. “I made the choices. Wallace carried them out. At least in that, he did good. He removed those individuals. I considered it a debt paid to you all when I could not protect you in other ways.”
They’d killed three people, one for each grandchild.
Holy shit.
The sense of danger blared louder in my head. Primrose was no innocent. She’d been hurt and she’d never recovered. It had warped her mind.
A landline rang brightly on Primrose’s desk, and she answered it. I leaned to Mila. Caught her eye and tipped my head to her phone. Convict wouldn’t have gone far, and if anything had happened, he’d message her.
My phone was busy recording the room.
Mila clocked me and changed her position, crossing her legs so she could secretly read her screen. Her whole posture changed, and her voice came as a whisper. “They can’t get inside.”
My heart lurched. “What?”
She raised her head, fear in her eyes. “They can see two other men. Another tied up.”
Primrose settled the phone back into its cradle. “We have a visitor. I’ve ordered them brought in.”
A visitor? My stomach dropped.
Please be Tyler. Please don’t.
