Page 99 of Volatile Vice

“Because my father’s right where my grandfather wants him,” I say. “Which also makes me wonder…”

“Wonder what?”

“If, for eight years, your son was exactly whereyouwanted him.”

This time Austin’s jaw drops. “I did everything I could to keep him out of the slammer. But because of his name, the prosecution wanted to make an example out of him. They were going to put him through a trial, and it would have made all the papers.”

“Yes, and that would’ve sullied your good Bellamy name.” I sit back down, never letting my eyes break contact with his. “You expect me to believe you don’t have friends in the judicial department who could have made this go away?”

“I tried. But a cop was killed. You haven’t lived in Texas long, but our judiciary doesn’t look kindly on cop killers. Plus, he was killed by my son’s gun.” He sighs. “Do I believe Falcon did it? Absolutely not. But he took the blame. He pleaded guilty. He took the deal for prison time. He was twenty-two years old at the time—a legal adult. There wasn’t anything I could do to stop him.”

“You know what’s interesting?” I ask. “I think there’s a part of you that actually believes that.”

He glares at me. “I believe it because it’s the truth. You think I wanted to see my son go to prison? What father would want that?”

“I’m not accusing you of anything. I’m just looking at what’s before my eyes. And quite frankly? I think you just got away with arranging a murder on your property. Funny how it went away so quickly this time. But eight years ago, it didn’t.”

“You say you’re not my enemy,” he says. “That’s not how you’re talking.”

I hold up a hand. “I’m not your enemy, Austin. But I’m looking for the truth. Raven’s safety is paramount to me. More important than anything. As important as my mother and sister, and honestly? Maybe even more so. I know I can’t be with her. That we can’t have a life together, but I will do everything I can to keep her safe.”

“Then we have the same goal.”

“I believe we do.” I rise again, leering over the desk at him. “So here’s my question to you. Why Brick Latham? Why was he a threat to Raven?”

He crosses his arms. “I don’t owe you any explanations.”

“You don’t. That’s true. But if I’m going to see to Raven’s protection, I need to know everything you do.”

“Falcon hired her a tank of a bodyguard.” He looks me up and down. “I don’t think she needs your protection.”

“Trust me. She needs my protection.”

“Why?” He squints at me. “Unless you know something I don’t.”

“Only that my grandfather knows how I feel about her. That puts her in a bad place. He’ll try to use her as leverage against me. I can’t allow that to happen. Somehow I have to convince him that I have no feelings for Raven. Which of course means I have to stay away from her. In the meantime, though, you can’t use her like that. You can’t send an Uber driver to basically kidnap her and tell her to do something. To keep me occupied.”

He doesn’t respond.

“I see you’re not denying it.”

He blinks. “There’s nothing to deny.”

“So I’ll ask you again. Are you having all of your children watched? Or only Raven?”

He draws in a breath and lets it out slowly. I know the gesture. He’s trying to figure out how to play this. I’m on to him, and he knows it.

Finally, he speaks. “All of them. Since Falcon got put away.”

I stop my jaw from dropping. “You’ve been having your children watched for the last eight years?”

“Why wouldn’t I? I couldn’t risk any of them getting into trouble like he did. It all could’ve been prevented if I had known what was going on.”

“And tell me this.” I walk to the other side of the desk, squatting down to his eye level. “Did you want Falcon in prison?”

He looks away from me. “Whether I wanted him in prison or not is irrelevant. That’s where he had to be. It was the only way I could keep the story contained. I didn’t want my son branded as a cop killer. I didn’t want every tabloid in the free world descending on this ranch. I know damned well Falcon didn’t pull that trigger.”

“Do you know who did?”

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