Page 127 of Closer

Sebastian: We?

Lil: Gemma and Mary are here.

Sebastian: Good. I’ll see you later.

“And what is my brother saying?” Gemma asks.

“He’s stuck at the office again.”

“Again?” Gemma frowns. “He works too hard. I keep telling him to take a break once in a while.”

I nod, poking at the simmering sauce without really seeing it. I could bake cupcakes until he’s home, and then we could eat together. Or…

I whirl around to my best friends. “Would it be too clingy if I brought dinner over to his office?”

“I think he’d love it,” Gemma says.

Mary puts up her pointing finger. “It’s thoughtful, not clingy.”

Chapter 38

Sebastian

The old man’s never been one to back down easily, especially when it comes to the Edmunds family. He’s been too quiet.

Did he find out that we’re snooping around?

Is he biding his time, waiting for the right moment to strike? What if he’s already set something in motion? What if he’s got some twisted plan to tear us apart again? The thought makes my blood boil.

He’s always been a master manipulator, pulling the strings behind the scenes.

I can’t let my guard down now. I’ll have to keep a close eye on him, watch for any signs of trouble. And if he tries anything, I’ll be ready. I won’t let him destroy what Lil and I have, not this time.

A knock sounds at the door.

Perfect. “Come in.” Hopefully, he has some news.

Connor enters with a stack of files in hand. He drops them on my desk without a word, his expression unreadable.

I raise an eyebrow. “That bad, huh?”

He shrugs, settling into the chair across from me. “Any news from your father?”

“It seems the feud between our families might finally be at an end,” I say.

“You really believe that?”

“No. That’s why we have to find out what he’s planning.”

“On it.”

“And the other thing?” I ask.

“Most records from that time have been wiped clean. But I found a few breadcrumbs.”

I flip through the files, scanning the contents. Phone records, emails, photos. Pieces of a puzzle that don’t quite fit. “Anything useful?”

“An old assistant of your father’s. Amelia Willis,” Connor says. “She was in contact with Marc Edmunds.”

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