Page 35 of The Silence of Monsters

“Napoleon wasn’t tall enough to fuck anyone on this desk.” He sounded fully satiated when he grumbled the words into my ear. We made the same sucking sound when he pulled out. Thank God his office had an executive bathroom because we were both a mess.

Once we put ourselves back together and were snacking on the long-forgotten pastries, I finally got around to asking him if he’d learned anything new about the manor. The dark expression on his face gave me chills. There was clearly more to the story. He said curtly, “We have to check the floors. Rocco said there are probably safe rooms under the floors from back in the Revolutionary War era. You keep Winnie away from the estate for now. It’s not safe for either of you.”

I frowned and pointed my finger at the end of his nose until he bit it. “Your brother has Winnie under lock and key. He’s taking her safety very seriously.”

Win snorted and muttered, “Half-brother..”

I flicked his forehead and reminded him, “We both have ghosts inside that house that need to be exorcized. The more you want me to stay away, the greater my desire to pull that manor apart stone by stone becomes.”

He sighed heavily and tugged me closer to cuddle me. “I swore I would protect you from my mother. I didn’t know how difficult it was going to be to keep that promise.”

A million different thoughts ran through my head at his defeated words. Everyone underestimated the lengths Colette Halliday was willing to go to.

The bar was in hell when it came to that woman. It was impossible for it to get any lower.

The emotion that came out of left field was the sudden urge to keep Win safe from all the damage his mother could cause.

What rattled me the most, though, was that the man had everything.

The last thing he needed was my heart.

Win

“You can’t tell me that you’re surprised your mother might be capable of murder.” A dry laugh followed my half-brother’s words.

I met his gaze, which was startlingly similar to my own, and wondered why I felt the urge to blurt out my worst fears to the young man I swore I’d have nothing to do with. I had no idea how Channing got me to agree to come to Alistair’s townhouse for dinner. I had to do a whole song and dance to make sure I wasn’t followed, because I still didn’t want anyone to know where Winnie was. It was probably because she invited me right after I convinced her to go down on me in my executive bathroom while we were taking a shower after demolishing my desk. She used my niece as bait, claiming that Winnie really wanted to see me. However, once we reached the stylish home, Channing and Winnie became engrossed in some anime show Alistair had introduced them to.

When the younger man offered to get me a drink, I accepted and followed him to the secluded garden on his building’s rooftop. It was a private, calm oasis in the heart of such a busy city. I begrudgingly told him, “You have a beautiful home.” It was far more tranquil than the manor.

Alistair sipped his drink and watched me over the rim of the glass. His eyes crinkled at the corners when he grinned. His expression reminded me so much of Archie, it made my heart twist. It was weird to have so much animosity for someone I could see myself, and my brother, in.

He failed to respond to the compliment. Instead, he asked, “Did you know your father was deathly allergic to peanuts?”

It was such a random change of subject that I had to take a moment to keep up. “How do you know that?” We’d always had a chef on staff. My mother never cooked. I didn’t even learn how to make the basics until I was in charge of Winnie’s care. I couldn’t recall my father ever having an allergic reaction to anything. But he always traveled with an assistant who handled every aspect of his life, including his meals. I couldn’t remember the last time I ate anything as basic as a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. It seemed to be a cabinet staple that was missing from my childhood.

“My father fed me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich one time while my mom was at work, and I almost died. No one in my family has allergies, so I always thought it was weird that I was the only one who did. After I learned I had Halliday blood, I did a lot of research. The same thing happened to your father when he was young. His school wasn’t careful about allergies and provided peanut butter in a snack. He nearly died, and your grandparents shut down the school. It’s a well-known fact in the upper circles of society. Peanuts were pretty much banned from all the places he frequented.” Alistair chuckled, but there was no humor in the sound. “Colette wasn’t his first choice for a wife. The Hallidays hand-picked her, but he had his eye on someone else. Someone no Halliday would approve of. He wanted to run away with her and leave the family fortune behind.”

“The same way Archie did.” I couldn’t help but make the connection.

My half-brother nodded and kicked his feet up onto the edge of a large fire pit that looked well used.

“Your dad never made it out of the Cove. He had an allergic reaction and ended up in the hospital for weeks. There are rumors that his allergic reaction was so bad that the lack of oxygen when his airways closed caused serious damage to his organs. By the time he was back on his feet, the girl he loved so desperately had disappeared without a trace. He wanted to track her down, but Colette was by his side twenty-four-seven. Between his physical weakness and his parents’ persistence, there was no way he could avoid getting hitched to your mother. And when her parents died in the midst of all that, he felt responsible for her. I know how intelligent you are, so I won’t bother asking if you can come up with someone other than Colette who would benefit from poisoning your old man in such a timely manner. If you ask me, the timing of your grandparents’ accident is weirdly coincidental. Things lined up in a perfect way to give your mother exactly what she wanted.”

I chugged back the amber liquid in my crystal glass. The liquor and suspicion made my brain buzz. “How do you know all of this? No one in my family has ever talked about my father nearly dying from allergies.”

Alistair laughed again. This one sounded even more bitter than the first. “A few weeks before your dad died, someone brought tainted food to my college dorm room. I ordered from a place that was well aware of my allergies. I failed to check it before I dove in. After the first bite, I went into anaphylactic shock almost immediately. Fortunately, I had a roommate who was pre-med and knew exactly how to use an EpiPen. I was hospitalized for several days, but I could’ve easily died. I was just a kid. I was completely clueless about the world and the Hallidays. I couldn’t have been any less of a threat to Colette. When I tried to track down the delivery person, the restaurant was shut down, and the ownership changed hands. There were no records left behind. I don’t eat anything that isn’t prepared by my private chef anymore. I’m never going to give your mother an easy opening again.” He tilted his head to the side and stared at me. “No one in your family talks about what happened to your father. The Hallidays could’ve stopped Colette at any point, but they didn’t. Imagine knowing your parents would rather have you dead than married to someone they don’t approve of.”

The liquor loosened my tongue just enough to taunt, “Isn’t he our father?” After all, his parentage was the reason he was on my mother’s radar.

“I don’t know that I want to claim such a coward. He did what the Hallidays wanted but kept sleeping with simple, kind women. Women like my mother. He knew what Colette was capable of and did nothing to stop her. Sure, it’s possible your father died from prolonged heart failure. But if you’re asking if I think Colette Halliday can commit murder to get what she wants — the answer is unequivocally yes.”

I tapped the side of the crystal glass and stared at the sky. It was dark, but the lights from the city turned everything a dark, muted gray. I was really starting to hate everything about that damn color.

“Why are you so determined to connect with a Halliday if you think my mother tried to kill you? Isn’t it stupid to provoke her?”

Alistair dropped his feet and leaned toward me. “Colette is only a Halliday through marriage. I think everyone forgets it was a name she was given, not one she was born with. I’m more of a Halliday than she is. Why should I let her stop me from learning about where I came from?” He snorted. “She has you to control. That should be enough for her.”

Feeling particularly exposed, I couldn’t help reminding him, “I gave you money when your sister was sick. My mother doesn’t get the final say in everything I do.”

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