The Hawthorne Legacy (The Inheritance Games #2)(42)

“Did what?” Thea queried. “Knew what?”

I stated the obvious out loud. “These rooms were Zara’s and Skye’s.”

“In my experience, Zara isn’t what I’d call the forgiving type.” Thea looked toward Rebecca. “Bex? Any thoughts? You know the Hawthorne family as well as anyone.”

Rebecca didn’t reply immediately. I thought about the picture I’d seen of Zara, Skye, and Toby smiling. Had the three of them been close once?

The tree is poison, don’t you see? Toby had written. It poisoned S and Z and me.

“Well?” I asked Rebecca. “Did you ever overhear any arguments between Zara and Skye?”

“I overheard a lot of things growing up.” Rebecca gave a little shrug. “People paid attention to Emily, not me.”

Thea put a hand on Rebecca’s shoulder. For a moment, Rebecca leaned into Thea’s touch.

“I don’t know who did what to whom,” Rebecca said, looking down at that hand. “But I do know…” She took a step back from Thea. “Some things are unforgivable.”

Why did I get the feeling that she wasn’t still talking about Zara and Skye?

“People aren’t perfect,” Thea told Rebecca. “No matter how hard they try. No matter how much they hate showing weakness. People make mistakes.”

Rebecca’s lips parted, but she didn’t say anything.

Max raised her eyebrows, then turned to me. “So,” she said loudly. “Mistakes.”

I turned back to look out the window again and focus on the task at hand. What “mistake” poisoned the relationship between Zara and Skye?





CHAPTER 41


I was staring out the largest ground-floor window when a new SUV pulled up outside. Jameson stepped out first, then Grayson. Both of them were wearing sunglasses. I wondered if they were hungover.

I wondered if either one of them had slept the night before, after that conversation with Grayson’s father.





It took me fifteen minutes to get one of them alone. Jameson and I ended up on a balcony. My breath visible in the air, I caught him up on what I’d found. He listened, quiet and still.

Neither one of those was an adjective I associated with Jameson Hawthorne.

When I finished, Jameson turned his back on the mountain view and leaned against the snow-covered railing. He was still dressed for Arizona. His elbows were bare, but he acted like he couldn’t even feel the cold. “I have something to tell you, too, Heiress.”

“I know.”

“Sheffield Grayson believes that Toby set the fire on Hawthorne Island.” Jameson’s eyes were still hidden behind sunglasses. It made it difficult to tell what, if anything, he was feeling.

“I know,” I repeated. “Grayson forgot to hang up the phone last night. I didn’t hear everything, but I got the gist. The last thing I heard was that Toby had purchased accelerant. Then the phone went dead. I tried to call you both. Repeatedly. But nobody answered.”

Jameson didn’t say anything for a full four or five seconds. I wasn’t sure he was going to reply to what I’d just said at all.

“The bastard made it clear that he wants nothing to do with Gray. He said that Colin was the closest thing he’ll ever have to a son.” Jameson swallowed, and even though his eyes were still masked by the sunglasses, I could feel the way those words had affected him.

I didn’t want to think about the impact they might have had on Grayson.

“For once, Skye wasn’t lying.” Jameson’s voice was low. “Grayson’s father has always known about him.”

I was used to Jameson flirting and rattling off riddles, balancing precariously on the edges of rooftops and throwing caution to the wind. He didn’t let things matter. He didn’t let them hurt.

If I took off those sunglasses, what would I see?

I stepped toward him. The door to the balcony opened. Alisa looked at me, looked at Jameson, looked at the foot of space between us, and then gave me a pointed smile. “Ready to hit the slopes?”

No. I couldn’t say that. I couldn’t tip my hand that the reason we were here had nothing to do with wanting a winter getaway. Whatever our plan for searching the rest of the house, we had to be subtle.

“I…” I searched for an appropriate response. “I don’t know how to ski.”

Grayson appeared in the doorway behind Alisa. “I’ll teach you.”

Jameson stared at him. So did I.





CHAPTER 42


That True North was “ski in/ski out” meant we had direct access to the slopes. All you had to do was step out the back door, pop on your skis, and go.

“There’s an easy trail here,” Grayson told me after he’d showed me the basics. “If we take it long enough, we’ll hit the busier ski areas on the mountain.”

I glanced back at Oren and one of his men—not Eli. This man was older. Oren had called him the team’s arctic specialist. Because every Texas billionaire needed an arctic specialist on their security team.

I wobbled on my skis. Grayson reached out to steady me. For a moment, we stood there, his body bracing mine. Then, slowly, he stepped back and took my hands, pulling me forward on the very slight incline near the house, skiing backward as he did.