Page 54 of Tav

I hold her tight to me, watching the respect for my woman grow on my brother’s faces.

“So if Royal wants your money, he needs Niko to access it.” Marx says, putting all the pieces together.

“Yup,”

Blanche

“Wait, if that’s the case, and it’s all about my sisters’ money, because he’s married to both of them, and Royal needs the kids to access it, why the hell would he sell Bee?” Chris asks, leaning over to rub his finger along our niece’s chubby cheek.

“Son of a bitch,” I whisper when it hits me, “That motherfucker! It’s the men in Eden’s Keep who register the births,” I spit out.

“That asshole!” Chewy joins in, obviously following my train of thought. “If he doesn’t register Bee’s birth, then she never existed. Meaning he can sell her and there will be no paper trail at all.”

Lovely nods sadly, “Then he’ll just make me birth another child to inherit my money.”

“And it’ll all go into his little business investment with Hammer,” Marx finishes.

“After he gets rid of me and Lovely, of course,” I seethe. I cannot wait to end this man. Tav must feel my rage bubbling up because he holds me just that little bit tighter, the pressure making me feel safe, allowing my body to soften slightly.

Since Remy’s revelation, Chewy and Wire have been tapping away at their keyboards frantically. I have no idea what they’re doing, but it must be important because neither of them has looked up for a while.

“Bingo,” Chewy whispers under her breath.

“Do you see it too, Chewy?” Wire asks, both of them with eyes on their laptops, before turning their wide eyes to me and Lovely.

“What is it?” Lovely asks, shrinking back into her chair.

“Well, I can see why Royal really wants Niko.” Wire’s eyes flick towards me and I feel like I’m going to storm across the room and beat the information out of Wire at any moment.

“If something were to happen to you, Niko, and in turn Royal would be $15 million richer,”

I think I just heard a record scratch. No, I’m certain I heard a record scratch.

“Come again?” I ask, my voice sounding tinny and distant in my own ears.

“Your inheritance is worth $15m. Way to go, Tav!” Chewy says, a wide grin on her face, her eyes still on her screen.

“Yours too, Lovely,” Wire adds.

I stare at my sister who has gone deathly pale and looks like she’s going to keel over at any moment.

“Lovely! Name 5 colors you can see!” I bark at her.

I watch as she takes a deep breath, then looks around the room.

“I-I see the green of the pool table top, Bee’s pink blanket, Vic’s blue Henley, the yellow of the kitchen wall and Marx’s black leather vest.” By the time she’s reached Marx’s vest her cheeks are pink, and she’s looking a lot calmer.

“It’s called a cut, sweetheart,” Marx gently says, smiling at my sister.

“Oh, a cut,” she repeats, smiling back at him, rocking her baby side to side gently.

Remy puts her hand up, indicating that she has something to say. All the men turn to her and Marx gives her a smile to go ahead. “If Royal really wanted Blanche’s money and neededNiko to get it for him, why didn’t he just take Niko when he was younger?”

“He tried. So many fucking times. We stopped him every time,” Vic grumbles.

“By the time Blanche moved here she’d made some high up friends who signed a restraining order,” Dom continues.

Marx’s eyebrows raise, as if asking me to elaborate. I let out a sigh. “I’m a PI specializing in infidelity. I caught a certain judge’s husband, and she owed me a favor.” I shrug. The job itself was no big deal. “Having a restraining order against Royal meant he had to stop his harassment or face the authorities. And the one thing that man hates more than me is the authorities. He’s the one that brings in all the new Keep members. He needs to look squeaky clean otherwise why the hell would they follow him?”

---