Page 128 of When Hearts Surrender

“No.” I sit up straighter. “Why are you asking this?” Something feels off…very off.

Elias pauses, as if he’s mulling over something.

“He’s your late wife’s cousin.”

“What?” My heart pounds in my chest. Given Sydney and I had secretly eloped, I’d never met her extended family, but this news still comes as a shock.

I think back to the hatred in his eyes at my wedding reception and in the hospital, the hostility in his voice, and how he has always been too close to Belle for my comfort.

He murmurs, “He’s never told you he’s Sydney’s cousin. Interesting.”

A sense of foreboding washes over me. I can’t help but think I’m a participant in a game I didn’t sign up for.

“He’s never told Belle either. She was shocked when he mentioned Sydney.” I rub my temples. “What does this all mean?”

“Don’t you find it curious he was the person to find her when she fell down the stairs? And didn’t the girls report seeing him before Belle nearly got run over?”

My veins turn to ice and a muscle twitches in my jaw. “You’re saying you think he’s the one behind everything? That he tried to kill my wife?”

I’m going to find the bastard. I don’t care what his reasons are or if this is somehow all influenced by the damn curse, but I’m going to slice him with my palette knife and watch him bleed to death for hurting her.

My Belle.

Elias seemingly reads my mind. “Don’t do anything stupid, Maxwell. I don’t have all the answers yet. I have no qualms about ending a life, but only after I’m sure of the facts. But I thought I should warn you. Give some thought to what I said before you went on your trip. She’s in danger and, curse or not, I’m pretty damn sure it has something to do with you.”

He pauses and I hear a faint clicking sound on his end. He must be playing with the lighter again. “Also, I took the liberty to task someonewith reviewing the autopsy records of Sydney, your mom, and your grandmother.”

What the fuck? Is he a mind reader? How does he know those are the records I’m interested in?

At my silence, he continues, “My contact at the coroner’s office tells me the records of your great-grandmother and before will probably be useless. There isn’t as much documentation back then. This is what you wanted to do when you texted me last night, right? It’s what I’d do.”

“Elias, I swear I don’t want to know what happens to people who get on your bad side,” I murmur. The man can predict behaviors like no other. No one would ever escape him.

He lets out a raspy laugh. “They won’t survive to tell the tale. Anyway, I’ll have my contact call you when he finishes his review. Will be in touch if I learn more about Cole.”

He disconnects the call before I can ask him more questions. I grip my phone, my fingers trembling from the bombshell that was just dropped on my lap. Cole’s relationship with Sydney. Elias’s contact re-reviewing the autopsies. My mind is a swirl of chaos.

Belle’s face surfaces in my mind—her beautiful eyes, her beaming smile, the tinkling laughter in her voice. She’s full of life and brightness and I’ve kept her selfishly by my side, basking in her warmth for as long as I could. But now, there’s a sense of doom I can’t ignore any longer.

Why did Cole hide his relationship with Sydney from Belle? What if nothing comes out of the medical examiner’s review? Will she get hurt before I get more answers,ifI even getanyanswers?

Am I running out of time?

My lungs heave in deep breaths, and I tug off my tie and fling it into the corner. I can’t breathe. The dark shadows in my car seem to loom before me, clawing, slithering.

I can’t breathe.

I open the windows and listen to the biting wind howling through the canyons of the tall buildings, the scent of wet asphalt and burned tires sifting into the car.

Leave her now, the wind moans.Leave her now or she dies.

I try to ignore the sinking feeling in my stomach.

My texts to Maxwell have been unanswered for the last few hours.

Belle

I’m thinking of getting some real Singapore style vermicelli tonight, you in? How’s your day?

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