Beneath This Ink (Beneath #2)(69)

I let the realization sink in. I don’t know him at all.

He’d arranged for people to be murdered to benefit the foundation. My stomach roiled, my late lunch churning and rising. I turned to run for the bathroom, but Lucas’s words froze me mid-step.

“I don’t think Vanessa is going to be taking directions from you when you’re behind bars. And what’s more, she’s in love with someone else. A man whose parents I’m pretty sure you had killed. She’ll never forgive you for that.”

I gagged as vomit rose. I bolted from the hallway and ran around the corner, slamming through the bathroom door and banging open a stall. I dropped to my knees and heaved until I had nothing left.

I didn’t even hear the sound of the bathroom door opening or recognize the presence of another person until my hair was lifted off the back of my neck. I jerked my head out of the toilet to see Lucas Titan holding out a piece of paper towel.

“You’re lucky Archer didn’t hear you,” he said.

Stomach still twisting into knots, tears streaming down my face, I took the paper towel with a shaky hand and tried to stifle my sobs.



I found myself ensconced in Lucas’s Aston Martin, and I didn’t know what to do. What to think. What to feel… beyond betrayal, outrage, and utter disbelief.

“What now? Is Archer packing his bags? Is he going to run for the border?”

Lucas shook his head as he changed lanes. “No. He told me to do whatever I felt I must, and that I should know that if I breathed a word of what I knew, the entire foundation would crumble, and I’d be hurting thousands of people.”

“You’d be hurting thousands of people? He’s the one who did this.” The sick bastard, I added silently. In the space of a few moments, he’d gone from mentor to monster.

Lucas glanced over at me. “I hate to say it, but your uncle is severely disturbed. He needs help. And he needs to be stopped. So what we do from here on out is up to you.”

“Me?”

“This is your heritage, your legacy. Ergo, your decision.”

The burden was a heavy one, but I would find the strength to bear it. Testing Titan, I asked, “And if I said I wanted you to keep it quiet?”

His jaw tightened. “I’d think you were a heartless bitch who deserved a cell alongside your doting uncle. But I wouldn’t put you there.”

That worked. “Good. Just wanted to make sure we’re on the same page. Because there’s no way I can let this stand.” I took a deep breath and asked the question I was terrified to confirm. “Did Archer have Con’s parents killed?”

Titan’s attention stayed on the road as he replied, “It fits the M.O. and the timeline. They left almost ten million in a bequest. Archer needed a particularly big bump that year to stay on the list. And there was one other donor who was also murdered during a home invasion. About two years before Con’s parents. Cases were damn near identical. Both unsolved. Similar evidence.” His eyes shifted to me for a beat. “So yeah, I think he did.”

“How do you know all that? The evidence? The other case?”

“I called in a favor today from a mutual friend of ours: Detective Hennessy.”

Does everyone know that man?

“What did you tell him? Does he know?”

Lucas shook his head. “He knows not to ask questions. But he’ll put together the similarities. He just won’t have the means to figure out who the money man was behind the trigger.”

I was still processing everything I’d learned. It was absolute insanity. Even if Hennessy did put it together, what Lucas had figured out was so crazy, there was no way logic could get you to that answer. It was the work of a madman.

“Archer has to pay for what he did.” And when he paid, so would I. Because Con would walk away—no, run away—from me. And the foundation would be no more. My fingernails cut into my palms as I balled my hands into rigid fists. I was going to lose everything just when I thought I could have it all.

I squeezed my eyes shut. “I have to tell him.”

“Yeah, you do,” Lucas agreed.

Somehow, at this moment, Titan’s company and support weren’t completely unwelcome. “You’re not as big of an * as I thought you were, you know that?”

He smiled. His hands gripped the steering wheel tighter when he said, “No matter what happens, my offer is still good.”

My brow furrowed as I looked at him. “What offer?”

“This one: If Con can’t get over this… I’ll be here. Waiting.”

I turned my head to stare out the window, shocked to see we were pulling up in front of Voodoo.

I grabbed the door handle, steeling myself for what I was about to do. I hesitated for a moment, needing to make sure Titan was clear on one thing first. “If Con can’t get over this… I’m pretty sure you’d be waiting a lifetime. Because I don’t think I’ll be able to get over him.”

“You love him?”

“You’re smart, Titan. I’m pretty sure you can answer that question for yourself.”

My nerves were jumping as I pushed through the door to Voodoo. The female tattoo artist, Delilah, shook her head when she saw me. “He’s not here.”

“Where’s he at?”