Page 71 of Tower

“Okay, so what does that have to with me, or Damien?”

Peter kept his focus on Damien. “Are you an only child?” Peter asked.

Damien laughed. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“Are you?” Peter pressed. He needed to be absolutely sure before he dropped it in Damien’s lap.

“Yes—well—no.” Damien’s smile waned. “I had a younger sister, but she was killed. A long time ago, when I was a kid.”

“Killed? Or taken?” Peter pressed, knowing the look of discomfort in Damien’s eyes too well.

“Taken. Kidnapped when she was barely a year old. But we assumed—I assumed.” Damien shoved his hands in his front pockets. “Why are you asking all this?”

“And did Bellatrix do business with anyone in your family?”

“I was a kid. I don’t know.” Damien shrugged, looking more agitated.

“If she works with my uncle now, she more than likely dealt with Damien’s father at some point. He worked alongside my uncle when we were kids.”

Loyalty didn’t die off when a member of the family died, no matter how loose the relation.

“Are you trying to tell me Bellatrix kidnapped my sister?” Damien stepped forward, his voice hard and full of threat. “You’d better have some real evidence to suggest something like that.”

Peter picked up a picture from his desk and handed it to him. “That’s a still photo from the security camera at Tower. If she’s not related to you, then it’s one hell of a coincidence.”

Hunter moved closer to Damien to look at the shot. He let out a low whistle. “Hell, that hair.”

“Yeah, like gold spun with streaks of silver, just like your man here. And the eyes, and the nose— Hell. She could be his fucking twin.”

“Why didn’t you say something when we were here?” Damien asked, still staring at the photograph.

“I didn’t recognize it until you were leaving. I wasn’t sure. And I didn’t want to say anything until I knew for certain. But then Bellatrix showed up.” Peter dragged his hand through his hair.

What a fucking shit show that meeting had been.

“But you’re sure, now?”

“We’re sure Bellatrix isn’t her mother.” Daniel walked into the room. “It looks like Bellatrix was once a girl in the Annex.”

Peter’s brows came together. He hadn’t known that.

“She was in the Annex but had been bought. After that, there’s no record of her until she showed up as a vendor. We couldn’t find record of her at first because when she was here, she went by Bella Schmale. Not much of a name. She must have changed it when she was bought.”

“Who bought her?” Peter demanded.

“Kevin Simon.” Daniel glanced at Damien.

“My father?” Damien nearly roared the question. Hunter put his hand on Damien’s shoulder.

“From what the ledgers show—and it took some deciphering of Samuel’s code, but yeah, Kevin Simon bought her. After the sale, there’s nothing. Samuel wouldn’t have record of what happened to the women after they left the Annex.”

“Do you remember there being a nanny, maybe?” Hunter asked Damien.

“No. There was never another woman in our fucking house. My father stayed loyal to my mother. To his very last breath.” Damien’s eyes darkened, his hands fisted.

“Somehow Bellatrix had access to Azalea. And she has her again. We need to find out where she took her.” Peter focused on Hunter. “Your uncle might know. I need a meeting with him, I need to know where she keeps her girls.”

Hunter shook his head. “He’s not going to give up that information. Not to a Titon. You’re out of the business, remember? And letting that information out would damage his own business.”

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