“Nah, every kiss-ass in the state would be here to extend their sympathies to Callum. It’d be big. Not as big as mine, but it’d be good-sized.”
“Nothing’s ever as big as yours, is it, East?” Gid says dryly.
My eyes widen in surprise. I don’t think I’ve ever heard him make a joke.
Easton cackles. “You know it, bro.”
His laugh is a little too loud for Callum, who turns around to glare at us. Easton shuts up immediately, looking slightly abashed. Gideon, on the other hand, glares right back. He folds his arms across his chest as if daring his father to come over and yell at us. Callum turns back to Steve with a sigh of resignation.
“Ready to talk?” Gideon asks.
Nodding, I follow the boys out of the aisle and the three of us walk into the hallway. Everyone else is moving into the next room to take the minister up on the refreshments offer, but we stay put.
“Reed and I were talking the other night,” I start, though technically I was talking and Reed was telling me I was nuts. “We think maybe we should look into Brooke’s past, figure out if there’s anyone else who might have wanted her”—I lower my voice—“dead. I was hoping you could help with that.”
He looks startled. “How exactly can I help? I barely knew Brooke.”
Easton, however, instantly understands why I’ve come to Gideon with this. “Yeah, but you’re boning Dinah, and she knew Brooke better than anyone.”
Gideon clenches his jaw. “Are you serious right now? Are you suggesting I hop back into bed with that…that…bitch,” he hisses, “just to try to squeeze some info out of her?”
The anger reddening his face makes me take a timid step back. This is the first time I’ve seen Gideon lose his temper. He’s always been the most levelheaded of the Royals.
“I’m not asking you to sleep with her,” I protest. “Just to grill her for some details.”
He looks incredulous. “Are you really that naïve, Ella? You think I can spend a second with that woman without her trying to hump me?”
I cringe in embarrassment.
“So forget it,” he snaps. “Ever since Brooke died, Dinah’s been too upset to even pick up the phone and call me. As long as she doesn’t remember I exist, I get to live my fucking life without having to deal with her. Hopefully with Steve back, she’ll forget I ever existed.”
“I’m sorry,” I whisper. “It was a stupid idea.”
Beside me, Easton shakes his head in disapproval. “Wow, Gid. That’s harsh. You don’t want to help Reed?”
His brother’s jaw drops. “I can’t believe you just said that to me. Of course I want to help Reed.”
“Yeah? Well, we both know he’d bang every cougar in the state if it was your neck on the line. Reed would do whatever it took to save you.”
I can’t disagree with that. Reed is loyal to his core. He’d die for his family.
Hell, he might’ve even killed for it.
Stop it!
I banish the awful thought and focus on Gideon. “Look, you don’t have to do it if you’re not comfortable. All I’m asking is, if you’re around Dinah for some reason, maybe you can ask her if there’s anyone out there who may have hated Brooke? Like, what about any of these people inside?”
He goes quiet for a moment. “Fine. I’ll see what I can do.”
“Thank—”
“But only if you do something for me,” he interjects.
I wrinkle my forehead. “What?”
“When are you moving in with Steve?”
“What?” I’m even more bewildered.
“When are you moving in with Steve?” he repeats.
“Why would she move in with Steve?” Easton demands.
“Because he’s her father,” Gideon says impatiently before focusing on me again. “Dinah must keep all her blackmail shit at her place. I need you to find it and get it back for me.”
I frown. “Even if I was moving in with Steve,” which I don’t want to ever, “I wouldn’t know the first place to look.”
“There must be a safe or something,” he insists.
“Okay, and when I find this mythical safe, I’ll open it using the power of my brain or something?”
Gideon shrugs. “I’m not opposed to sledgehammering that shit out of the wall. We’ll tell Steve you and Reed got into a fight.”
I gape at him. “That’s a terrible idea and I’m not going to do it.”
Gideon grabs my arm. “I’m not the only one who you could save.” His voice is low, deadly. “Savannah’s up to her eyeballs in this. Dinah’s got a DA in her pocket. He visited me up at State and showed me two criminal complaints, one for Sav and one for me. They were going to charge us with things I didn’t even know were illegal.”
Sympathy tugs at me as I stare at his pale face. There’s a bead of sweat along the top of his forehead. “I don’t know,” I say slowly.
“At least think about it,” he begs. The fingers at my elbow are tight and desperate.
“I’ll do what I can,” I finally say. I might not be close with Gideon or Savannah, but what Dinah is doing to them isn’t right.
“Thank you.”
“But only if you return the favor,” I counter, raising one eyebrow.
“I’ll do what I can,” he mimics.
“So Savannah can actually get in trouble for sending you those naked pics?” Easton asks his brother as we walk toward the exit.
“Dinah and the DA claim she can, but I don’t know,” Gideon admits. “I didn’t want to take the risk, so I broke up with her. I was hoping it would remove her from the equation, but…” He curses softly. “Dinah never lets me forget that Sav is involved in all this. It’s her go-to threat when I’m not feeling cooperative.”
Wow. Every time I think Dinah O’Halloran can’t get any worse, the woman proves me wrong.
Hands in his pockets, he lumbers past us toward the parking lot. He pauses with his hand on his car door and looks over his shoulder. “Want to know who’s here?” He jerks his head toward the entrance. “Check the guestbook.”
Easton and I exchange a wide-eyed why-didn’t-I-think-of-that look.
“Nothing’s ever as big as yours, is it, East?” Gid says dryly.
My eyes widen in surprise. I don’t think I’ve ever heard him make a joke.
Easton cackles. “You know it, bro.”
His laugh is a little too loud for Callum, who turns around to glare at us. Easton shuts up immediately, looking slightly abashed. Gideon, on the other hand, glares right back. He folds his arms across his chest as if daring his father to come over and yell at us. Callum turns back to Steve with a sigh of resignation.
“Ready to talk?” Gideon asks.
Nodding, I follow the boys out of the aisle and the three of us walk into the hallway. Everyone else is moving into the next room to take the minister up on the refreshments offer, but we stay put.
“Reed and I were talking the other night,” I start, though technically I was talking and Reed was telling me I was nuts. “We think maybe we should look into Brooke’s past, figure out if there’s anyone else who might have wanted her”—I lower my voice—“dead. I was hoping you could help with that.”
He looks startled. “How exactly can I help? I barely knew Brooke.”
Easton, however, instantly understands why I’ve come to Gideon with this. “Yeah, but you’re boning Dinah, and she knew Brooke better than anyone.”
Gideon clenches his jaw. “Are you serious right now? Are you suggesting I hop back into bed with that…that…bitch,” he hisses, “just to try to squeeze some info out of her?”
The anger reddening his face makes me take a timid step back. This is the first time I’ve seen Gideon lose his temper. He’s always been the most levelheaded of the Royals.
“I’m not asking you to sleep with her,” I protest. “Just to grill her for some details.”
He looks incredulous. “Are you really that naïve, Ella? You think I can spend a second with that woman without her trying to hump me?”
I cringe in embarrassment.
“So forget it,” he snaps. “Ever since Brooke died, Dinah’s been too upset to even pick up the phone and call me. As long as she doesn’t remember I exist, I get to live my fucking life without having to deal with her. Hopefully with Steve back, she’ll forget I ever existed.”
“I’m sorry,” I whisper. “It was a stupid idea.”
Beside me, Easton shakes his head in disapproval. “Wow, Gid. That’s harsh. You don’t want to help Reed?”
His brother’s jaw drops. “I can’t believe you just said that to me. Of course I want to help Reed.”
“Yeah? Well, we both know he’d bang every cougar in the state if it was your neck on the line. Reed would do whatever it took to save you.”
I can’t disagree with that. Reed is loyal to his core. He’d die for his family.
Hell, he might’ve even killed for it.
Stop it!
I banish the awful thought and focus on Gideon. “Look, you don’t have to do it if you’re not comfortable. All I’m asking is, if you’re around Dinah for some reason, maybe you can ask her if there’s anyone out there who may have hated Brooke? Like, what about any of these people inside?”
He goes quiet for a moment. “Fine. I’ll see what I can do.”
“Thank—”
“But only if you do something for me,” he interjects.
I wrinkle my forehead. “What?”
“When are you moving in with Steve?”
“What?” I’m even more bewildered.
“When are you moving in with Steve?” he repeats.
“Why would she move in with Steve?” Easton demands.
“Because he’s her father,” Gideon says impatiently before focusing on me again. “Dinah must keep all her blackmail shit at her place. I need you to find it and get it back for me.”
I frown. “Even if I was moving in with Steve,” which I don’t want to ever, “I wouldn’t know the first place to look.”
“There must be a safe or something,” he insists.
“Okay, and when I find this mythical safe, I’ll open it using the power of my brain or something?”
Gideon shrugs. “I’m not opposed to sledgehammering that shit out of the wall. We’ll tell Steve you and Reed got into a fight.”
I gape at him. “That’s a terrible idea and I’m not going to do it.”
Gideon grabs my arm. “I’m not the only one who you could save.” His voice is low, deadly. “Savannah’s up to her eyeballs in this. Dinah’s got a DA in her pocket. He visited me up at State and showed me two criminal complaints, one for Sav and one for me. They were going to charge us with things I didn’t even know were illegal.”
Sympathy tugs at me as I stare at his pale face. There’s a bead of sweat along the top of his forehead. “I don’t know,” I say slowly.
“At least think about it,” he begs. The fingers at my elbow are tight and desperate.
“I’ll do what I can,” I finally say. I might not be close with Gideon or Savannah, but what Dinah is doing to them isn’t right.
“Thank you.”
“But only if you return the favor,” I counter, raising one eyebrow.
“I’ll do what I can,” he mimics.
“So Savannah can actually get in trouble for sending you those naked pics?” Easton asks his brother as we walk toward the exit.
“Dinah and the DA claim she can, but I don’t know,” Gideon admits. “I didn’t want to take the risk, so I broke up with her. I was hoping it would remove her from the equation, but…” He curses softly. “Dinah never lets me forget that Sav is involved in all this. It’s her go-to threat when I’m not feeling cooperative.”
Wow. Every time I think Dinah O’Halloran can’t get any worse, the woman proves me wrong.
Hands in his pockets, he lumbers past us toward the parking lot. He pauses with his hand on his car door and looks over his shoulder. “Want to know who’s here?” He jerks his head toward the entrance. “Check the guestbook.”
Easton and I exchange a wide-eyed why-didn’t-I-think-of-that look.
