Breaking Her (Love is War #2)(84)

When I realized how we'd copied each other, I almost smiled.

Bastian was even more amused. He waved a hand back and forth at the two of us. "Feeling a little defensive? There's no need to be. Come on in. Make yourselves comfortable. Have a seat. Have a drink."

Well, he was certainly in good spirits. I sincerely hoped that meant he had some good news for us all.

Dante and I looked at each other.

"We're fine."

"We're fine." We said it almost in tandem.

My mouth twisted wryly. Dante grinned. We'd been spending a lot of time together lately, and it was starting to show. Like old times.

"Have it your way." Bastian waved us off. "But don't say I didn't warn you; you might want to be sitting down for some of this."

He took a deep breath and began, "I strongly suspect, and have since it happened, that Adelaide killed Gram. Or at least, had her killed."

I was floored. The thought had never even occurred to me. I don't know why. No one had ever accused me of not being paranoid and suspicious.

But it had still never crossed my mind.

I looked at Dante and found some comfort in the fact that he looked just as floored.

"It is a very hard thing to prove, but I have found a lead that's given me some hope that we'll see justice done for this. There's just one small hiccup in my plan. Or there was. I think I've got a handle on her now, but you're going to have to trust me here."

His wording was off, wrong somehow, but that wasn't what either of us focused on.

"I thought it was proven that Gram had a stroke," said Dante.

Bastian's mouth twisted. "It's complicated. There was extreme trauma to the back of her skull, and the coroner told us this was done post-mortem, meaning she had a stroke, fell, and hit her head, which is on its own suspect, because according to experts, generally you'd fall forward, not backward, so I certainly had some questions. But said coroner has since disappeared. Whether he was buried in the woods for knowing too much or given enough money to retire in Fiji, we have not been able to figure out."

"Adelaide," I breathed, feeling murderous.

"That f*ckin' cunt," Leo said from the sofa where he was still drunkenly sprawled. "She was ne'er even worth the trouble. Terrble inbed."

"Nice contribution, princess," I told him, because Leo.

"You're a f*cki—" he began.

"No," Dante was shaking his head. "Not f*cking happening. Say another word to her, Leo, and see how much I don't have a problem beating your drunken ass."

Leo glared at me for that. "She started it."

He had a point.

Bastian sighed. "Back to the point, I've been chasing that trail since the funeral. Exhaustively. I'd just about given up hope. But then something even better came along." He smiled and there was triumph in it. "I've secured some additional insurance. For both of our issues, ironically enough. It wasn't cheap, but some things are worth paying heavily for." For some reason his eyes were sad and on me as he said it. He cleared his throat, and called out, "Tiffany!"





CHAPTER





THIRTY-NINE


"Enemies are so stimulating."

~Katharine Hepburn





The bane of my existence came striding into the room. We shifted to the side automatically. To let her by or just make sure she didn't accidentally touch us, take your pick. Probably both.

"What is she doing here?" I asked slowly and with absolute venom.

Dante's arm wrapped around me, and he gripped my shoulder firmly.

Preemptively holding me back, of course.

Because he knew me.

"Hear me out," Bastian said, ever reasonable.

I glanced at him. He'd earned at least some of my trust, so even with her in the room, I was willing to let him explain. I nodded my assent.

Tiffany seemed particularly pleased with herself. Preening. Yes, that was the word. She was preening as she walked across the room to stand beside Bastian.

Her smile grew when she laid her eyes on Dante. "Nice to see you, Dante," she began.

I hated the way she looked at him, still with such warm interest. Still with frank infatuation. Even knowing everything had been fake between them, I still wanted to spit at her, to shout in her face, break her nose again.

I felt Dante stiffen at my back. "Fuck you, Tiffany," he growled back.

Well, hell. This was all going to go downhill pretty damn fast if I was supposed to be the calm one here.

Leo started giggling.

"Shut up, Leo!"

"Shut up, Leo." Dante and Bastian both said, which almost made me smile.

Leo shut up. For good measure, Bastian took away his drink and made him a cup of black coffee, ordering him to finish it.

"But I like it with milk," Leo complained, sounding like a whiny child.

"Shut up and drink." Even Bastian was losing patience with him.

"Tiffany has kindly agreed to switch sides," Bastian explained when he was finished tending to his father, making it sound like it was the most reasonable topic in the world. "And as she has been very firmly entrenched in Adelaide's camp for many years, and holds many, many of her secrets, this is very good news for us."