Page 26 of Fierce Secrets

Us. Like they were a team. Had always been a team.

I curled into Leo even more despite everything that had happened involving him, needing the comfort he oddly provided right now. My world was tilting on its axis, and I felt helpless. In less than twenty-four hours, everything I thought I knew had been stripped away. My fiancé's betrayal seemed almost trivial now, compared to the realization that I didn't really know my brother or Leo at all.

Or maybe I'd just never wanted to see who they really were.

CHAPTER 9

MEREDITH

The safe-house turned out to be a modern apartment in a secure building, with the same minimalist style as Leo's penthouse. I wouldn't have expected much else from a safe-house. It was an open plan kitchen and dining area, with two bedrooms, one with an ensuite, and an office, along with a secondary communal bathroom.

I curled up on a plush gray couch, wrapping myself in a black throw blanket while watching Leo and Gray talk in hushed tones in the kitchen. Their bodies were tense, heads bent close as they discussed something in rapid Italian.

These men wearing my brother and Leo's faces – who were they really? Right now, I didn't know who they were in the slightest.

And no one had given me answers, not in the rest of the car ride, or the tense silence in the elevator. Gray had just guided me over to the couch, told me to relax, and he'd come talk to me shortly.

That was ten minutes ago, and whatever they were talking about, they didn't look thrilled. Leo had checked his phone half a dozen times, his face masked, while Gray's arms were crossed, frustration evident on his features.

I felt like being shot at warranted more than mere frustration.

I pulled out my phone, unable to sit idle while my world warped around me. What were they really hiding?

A quick search for Gray's import business yielded nothing substantial. No website, no business listings, just a basic registration with the state. For such a supposedly successful company, it left virtually no footprint.

Leo's company, Prospera, was equally shadowy. The website was professional but vague, talking about "wealth management" and "investment opportunities" without any real substance. But the deeper I dug, the more I found both their names attached to various enterprises – construction companies, shipping firms, real estate holdings. All seemingly legitimate, yet somehow just out of focus, like a photo taken through frosted glass.

Sure, I'd known my brother had a finger in a few pies thanks to our father's businesses he'd inherited, but I'd not realized how extensive it was. Not to mention Gray and Leo had a few partnerships as well, joint business dealings.

"Here." Gray's voice startled me as he appeared with a steaming mug. "Mom's recipe."

Hot chocolate with a hint of cinnamon – exactly how our mother used to make it. The mention of her made my throat tight. He'd said it was a classic she used to make him as a kid, something I'd never had the privilege of being given, but he'd continued with it, his own way of remembering her and trying to make me feel like she was there for me despite everything.

Gray had always told me she tried to be a good mom to me, but she was struggling, and now that he was older, he understood better what she was going through. How her distant husband, always busy with work, and having a newborn took its toll on her. It was nothing I'd done, apparently, but I still felt another wave of guilt like always.

My mere birth had sent her on a spiral, and he'd lost the woman who'd doted on him. I still didn't know exactly what to feel, but it was always a mix of sadness and guilt at never knowing her.

"Thanks." I took the mug, watching as he settled beside me. From somewhere down the hall, I could hear Leo's muffled voice on a call.

"Talk to me, Mer." Gray's voice was gentle, the way it used to be when we were kids and I'd had a nightmare. "How are you holding up?"

"I just want to know what's going on." I whispered as I sipped the hot chocolate. Delicious, as always. "The truth, Gray. Please."

He sighed as he sunk back into the couch, clasping his hands between his legs. He suddenly looked weary, the crows feet visible at the edges of his eyes. "Some of the men we do business with... they're not good people. Leo and I recently turned down a partnership with them. They wanted us to expand our company, Lion Freight Services, with them. Broaden our reach and give them a cut. They didn't take it well."

"They're shooting at us because you turned down a business deal? Why'd you turn it down? And why are they going crazy about it?" I frowned, shocked that something like that could cause such an uproar to condemn us all to potential death.

"There was a lot of money on the table." He shrugged, but the gesture felt rehearsed. "People do desperate things for money, Mer. We didn't need them to expand, we already had expansion underway, no need to bring someone else in on the cut for something we were already doing on our own."

I stared into my hot chocolate, watching the miniature marshmallows dissolve. The explanation felt too neat, too simple. Since when did legitimate businesses shoot up homes over refused partnerships?

And why did this safe-house have all the ingredients for mum's recipe?

Why was that something I found the most bizarre at this moment?

Leo strode back in, his face hard. "I need to go handle this."

"I'll come—" Gray started as he leaned forward.

---