Page 95
Theo and I share a look.
Seems we took blood money after all.
“And that’s why we stayed in hotels and moved so much?” I ask and Blaze nods.
“Y’all were on the run from him.”
“So, what changed?” Theo asks, the hard set of his eyes giving away nothing.
“When the two of you were five, Sarah knew that she couldn’t keep doing this for the rest of her life so she arranged a sit down with Dominic and made a deal with him. As long as he stayed away from the three of you, she would never turn the evidence over to the authorities.”
“He just let us go?”
Blaze nods. “You’ve had people from his organization watching over you through the years but you never knew they were there and as far as I can tell, he kept his word.”
“Then why are we here?”
“Because your mother’s death opened a door and Dominic has decided to walk through it. He wants the evidence back and he wants the two of you.”
“Stop,” I say, standing up and pulling Theo to his feet with me. “I need somewhere to talk to my brother alone.”
“Kodiak, take them to my office.”
I point to him and shake my head. “Anyone but him.”
“Smith,” Blaze says as Lincoln’s face falls. I turn away from him and Smith leads us to the next room over.
“Can I just say, none of us knew anything, Tate,” he whispers and I nod.
“I can see that. It’s okay. I don’t blame you.”
He nods and shuts the door behind us as I lock eyes with Theo.
“What the fuck is happening?” I whisper scream and he shakes his head.
“I feel like my brain is exploding. We have a brother and our dad is a criminal and our mother… Jesus, our mother is the best goddamn liar in the fucking world.”
I shake my head, plopping down in the chair in front of the desk. “My head is spinning. I don’t know how much more I can hear.”
“I know but I think we need to hear everything,” he says, crouching down in front of me and grabbing my hands.
“How much more could there possibly be?”
He shrugs. “Only one way to find out.”
After sucking in a breath, I stand and he takes my hand as we march out of the office and into the room where everyone else is gathered. It’s eerily quiet as we sit down and Theo gives my hand a squeeze. The other side of the table is empty and I glance over my shoulder, searching for Nix and the brunette but they’re gone.
“Is there anything else we need to know?”
“Look, Tate,” Blaze sighs. “I just want to apologize for the way I handled things. Since her death, I haven’t been in a good place and I haven’t been thinking clearly.”
I study him for a moment before nodding. “I can understand that but if you’d just come to me in the first place, this could have been so much simpler.”
“I’ve been keeping life altering lies from my son for his entire life. There is no simple in this situation.”
“Then why do it?”
He sighs, running his hand over his face. “Because it’s what she wanted and I would have done absolutely anything for her. She got it in her head that if Dominic ever knew about Nix or me, he would hurt us as a way to get back at her and maybe he would have, I don’t know.”
