Page 91 of Secret Baby for the Italian Mafia King

Ren doesn’t have an answer for that.

“Did you even let him speak?”

He doesn’t answer, so I turn away from Ren and go after my own answers.

Impassive security personnel watch me march by, straight out the front door. Elijah hasn’t made it far. He’s slumped down on the front steps, picking pieces of glass out of his hair.

“I’m leaving,” he croaks, trying to get to his feet like I’m just there to chase him off.

“Did you poison Harper?” I ask, stepping into his path. Unlike his brother, Elijah is not emotionally empty. Not unreadable and cold and broken. His guilt shows. A pained expression flickers across his face, but he steels himself and sniffs blood back into his nose. He shakes his head,

“I didn’t mean for that to—no, I—Nadia, I’m sorry. I didn’t. But I can’t tell you—”

“Did you know it was going to happen?” I demand.

He shakes his head again.

“No. No, I…I didn’t know.”

“Then tell me what the hell happened!”

I suddenly understand why it was so easy for Ren to start swinging at him.

“It’s my fault,” he says, “That’s enough. That’s all you need to know. It’s my fault.”

The door opens with a clatter, and suddenly Ren is between us, throwing Elijah down into the sidewalk before either of us can react.

“Get the fuck away from my wife,” he snaps. Elijah staggers down the stairs, hits his knees but gets up just as fast.

“Ren, stop,” I snap at him, trying to pull him away. “Let me talk to him—”

“He’s done talking. Get inside, Nadia. You shouldn’t be out here.”

“I can do what I want. And you need to figure this out! He’s your brother! Don’t you care what happened to Harper—”

“That’s why I don’t want you anywhere near him!”

“You don’t even know how he’s involved!” Ren and I stand in the middle of the sidewalk, yelling at each other like we’re in the middle of a trailer park instead of standing before luxury New York real estate. “You want blood, you got it! I want answers!”

Elijah stands apart from us, his breathing ragged and the side of his face swelling.

“Ren…they already searched me. You know I don’t have a weapon. Just let me talk to her, for fuck’s sake.”

Ren’s eyes flash dangerously. Whatever Elijah says, the words don’t seem to register. I take Ren’s face in my hands, make him look at me. Calm my voice.

“Let me talk to him, Ren,” I beg, making him look me in my eyes. His throat bobs. “You can’t hear him right now, but I can.”

He’s shaking with such rage, I’m surprised Elijah walked away the first time. That Ren had the sense of mind tostop.

“Go check on Harper for me. Will you do that?” After an uncertain beat, I add, “She asked for you.”

That moves him. Finally, the dark cloud in his eyes passes, lets in a little bit of light. I coax Ren back inside the house, but the security guards come out to stand watch over me and Elijah. I imagine they are here on Ren’s orders, but I don’t mind an audience.

Elijah slumps down on the stairs again, a groan slipping from him. I can’t feel much sympathy for him. Not yet.

“Well?”

He stares off into the distance, the bloodied side of his face turned away from me.

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