“He knew very little. Dad purposely kept him in the dark, only pulling him in when he needed to use his money or his resources or his contacts.”
“It could’ve been Hamilton,” Shandra says. “He could’ve been involved from the start.”
“We have looked into his background, and we can’t find anything which ties him to this, but that could be because he’s hiding his tracks,” I say.
“This seems to be tied to the past, right?” Xavier says, and I recognize that look on his face. He’s spinning an idea in his head.
“It appears that way.”
“So, what if this is the same retaliation that drove those bastards to kidnap Dani and threaten Lauder’s family.”
“That was Montgomery.”
“And he’s rotting at the bottom of the ocean,” Anderson supplies, as if we don’t know.
“What if it was Mathers?” Charlie says. “And yes, I know he’s dead too, but these guys never worked alone. What if it’s the same team who was working for Montgomery and Mathers who are behind this?”
“Why would they continue to pursue dead men’s agendas?” Abby says. “It makes no sense.”
“Or it makes total sense.” Xavier’s eyes pop wide as he stares at me. “Lauder’s father told him your father unearthed something on Montgomery and the elite that was scary enough for them to back out of the deal. What if they are looking to retrieve that intel? And the stealing is a smokescreen to mask their true agenda.”
“You could be onto something,” Anderson says as I nod, adrenaline coursing through my veins.
“If the evidence is that damning, why is your father still sitting on it?” Drew asks. “There is something fishy about all this.”
I bob my head, thinking the exact same thing. If I wasn’t licking my wounds over losing my lover, I might not have been so agreeable to meet my father’s demands. How the fuck can he ask me to make such a big sacrifice while keeping me in the dark on certain things? I’m an idiot for not demanding more answers, and it’s time to fix that. I stand and grab my car keys. “I need to speak to my father, and it can’t wait.”
11
Sawyer
“He’ll freak if we interrupt him in the middle of his game,” Anderson says as we climb out of my SUV at the golf club where Dad and Travis Lauder are playing a round.
I check the time on my Tag Heuer watch as I lock the car with the fob. “They should be almost finished. We’ll wait for them at the eighteenth.”
“What kind of information do you think your dad discovered?” Kai asks as we walk along the path that will take us to the eighteenth hole.
“I’d rather not speculate.” I shove my hands in the pockets of my shorts as I contemplate all the ways this could go down.
“I hope to fuck he has something we can use.”
“I wouldn’t hold my breath. If he has intel and he held on to it, even after Dani was kidnapped, then it means it’s either not viable or too risky to reveal it. Neither scenario will help us.”
“I’m getting desperate, man.” He rubs his temples. “Hamilton went apeshit on me and Rick for not handing Joaquin and Harley over for the last initiation program. There’s another one planned for the fall, and if they’re not there, I know he’s going to make some official elite move against us.”
“That shady fucker has his fingers all over this situation with Techxet. I just know it. We’ll find evidence to nail his ass to the wall. He won’t be around to force your brothers into initiation.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“Have you done anything more about Spencer and Rogan?” I inquire. Kai’s two younger brothers were put up for adoption by their prick of a father when they were only one and two, respectively. During senior year, Kai and Rick worked with their uncle Wes to try to find information on where their brothers could be, but they hit a shit-ton of red tape and didn’t get anywhere. I know he wants to find them. That he won’t feel complete without them.
Most assume Anderson is incapable of feeling deeply, but that’s a gross misconception. Kaiden feels things intensely, and family means everything to him. Being with Abby has only further highlighted that part of his personality.
His heavy sigh speaks volumes. “I want to search for them so fucking bad, but the timing is shit.” We round the bend and stop at the marker with the large numeral eighteen on it. “I can’t look for them with all this elite crap hanging in the air. I’m struggling to protect Joaquin and Harley as it is. As much as it kills me, I have to drop the search until I know it’s safe to bring them into our world.”
“How the fuck did our lives get so damn complicated?” I murmur as I see my dad and Travis Lauder walking toward the green with their two caddies in tow.
“I used to think it was the day we stepped foot in Rydeville after agreeing to my dad’s insane plan, but we were involved way before that, whether we knew it or liked it.”
“That’s abundantly clear,” I agree, watching the frown appearing on my father’s face. We are quiet as we wait for both men to putt their ball and end the game. Dad and Travis shake hands, handing their clubs and golf bags to the caddies before walking our way.
“What is going on?” Dad’s gaze bounces between me and Anderson as he removes his golf glove.
“We need to talk, and it needs to happen now.” I level him with a stern look. He’s not going to brush me aside anymore.
Travis nods as if he knows where this is leading. He clamps a hand on my dad’s shoulder. “It’s time, Ethan.”
Dad shakes his head. “I told you I—”
“No, Dad.” I cut across him. “I stupidly agreed to this sham of a wedding without demanding answers. Well, now I am demanding them, and I won’t take no for an answer. If you want me to make this sacrifice, I will only do it with the full knowledge I deserve.”
Dad stares at me for an indeterminable amount of time, and I hold his stare, refusing to back down.
“Very well.” He admits defeat, his shoulders slumping. “But not here. We need someplace private.”
“We can talk at my house,” Travis says. “Jackson and Vanessa left in the early hours for Italy, and Laurena is out with Elizabeth and Demi. We will have privacy.”
We leave in separate cars to drive to the Lauders’ beachfront Hamptons house, which is only a couple of houses away from my parents’ vacation place.
Once inside, we take seats at the long dining table while Travis procures some cans of soda and bottles of water from the refrigerator.
“Okay,” Dad says, uncapping a bottle of water. “What do you want to know?”
“What information do you have on the elite that caused you to pull out of the robotics deal with Montgomery back in the day?” I ask, pulling no punches.
“You’re like a dog with a bone, son.” There’s a hint of pride in his otherwise tight smile. “I told you the elite weren’t involved in the embezzlement and the security breach, but you just won’t leave it alone.”