Page 145 of Scattered Glitter

“You’ve heard some about our Uncle Oscar, right?” Koen asks, and I nod.

“He died of a heart attack a few months back,” I murmur, feeling a pang of sympathy for their loss.

“He didn’t.” Koen’s eyes darken. “He was murdered.”

“What?” I breathe out. “The media said—”

“The media doesn’t know shit,” Ezra snaps.

“Veronica Harrington killed him,” Levi adds, his voice uncharacteristically devoid of emotion.

Holy shit.

“Well, she probably paid someone to do it.” Sylus chimes in. “You get the gist.”

“Nicholas’s mother?” I ask, baffled.

Not that I don’t believe her capable of such a thing, especially after the longer look I got at her during the party. There was something cold and calculating about her, even in the way she smiled. Someone so close to Nicholas being capable of murder? Then again, it seemed as though Nicholas hates his mother, too, so maybe his reasons go beyond normalmommy issues.

“Yes, Nicholas’s mother.” Levi’s fingers twitch at his sides as he fights to keep calm. Ezra moves to stand behind him, ready to catch him if he needs to. “To the world, she’s a respected businesswoman, old money, the picture of power and influence. Behind closed doors?” Pure anger simmers beneath the words. “She’s ruthless. Greedy. Willing to cross any line to keep her empire intact.”

I frown at Ezra beside him. “And you, being a detective, haven’t managed to get her behind bars yet? Or was that a lie too?”

Ezra’s eyes meet mine, and for a split second, there’s a hint of frustration and defensiveness there, like he’s heard this question a thousand times, probably asking it of himself. “I am a detective, but it’s not that simple. Veronica knows how to cover her tracks. Every deal, every hit, every shady move is done through layers of intermediaries. People who take the fall, vanish, or end up dead so they can’t talk. She keeps herself insulated, and the people who could testify against her are either too scared or too loyal to speak up…” He pauses, his gaze flicking around the room to his brothers. “And let’s not forget, she has enough money and influence to turn the justice system into her personal puppet. We only just gathered enough concrete evidence to make anything stick three months ago. But then…”

Koen nods in agreement when Ezra trails off. “Veronica Harrington isn’t simply dangerous, she’s untouchable. At least, she thinks she is.”

Levi’s expression darkens, and Ezra adds quietly, “That’s why we’re doing this our way. To get the evidence she thinks no one will ever find.”

I nod slowly, the weight of what they’re up against settling in.

“She and Oscar had an on-and-off relationship,” Koen picks up where Levi left off, his eyes locking onto mine. “Oscar was too good to turn a blind eye to the shit she was into. He tried to stay away, but there was always something pulling them back together. Until…”

He glances at Levi, and I follow his gaze, sensing that something painful is about to be revealed. Levi sucks in a breath, his entire body tensing. “When we were seventeen, there was a… a dinner. Our families got together, and I…” His voice wavers, and he looks down, his jaw clenching hard. “We were friends. Koen and Nicholas were even best friends, but I had a crush on Nicholas. A stupid teenage crush. I’d heard rumors that he might be… you know, like me. And I thought… I don’t know what I thought.”

Ezra’s hand moves to rest on Levi’s shoulder in silent support, but Levi’s voice is still shaky as he goes on. “I approached him when he was alone. Told him how I felt. And he…” Levi swallows hard, the memory apparently still raw. “He pushed me into a wall. Screamed that he wasn’t gay. I hit my head, bled like crazy, and needed stitches. Veronica called me a fucking faggot when she found out what happened. It was… a mess.”

The hurt in his voice makes it impossible to dismiss what happened, but it’s also hard to picture Nicholas doing something so cruel.

Maybe he’s changed?

It’s been thirteen years.

“Oscar lost it.” Koen breaks the heavy silence that follows Levi’s confession. “He cut ties with Veronica. A decade later, she attempted to reconcile. But when Oscar uncovered how deep her crimes went and how much worse it had gotten over the years, he couldn’t turn a blind eye anymore. He was planning to go to the police.”

“That’s when she struck first. She framed him for a crime he didn’t commit, had him thrown in prison.” Ezra shares. “Thanks to our lawyers, he didn’t have to stay long, but that’s where he met Alaric. The two of them spent every moment planning how to take Veronica down.”

“And when Oscar eventually got out, Alaric came to live with us,” Koen picks up again. “He kept a low profile for three years, waiting and planning until we could execute our big move. Exposing her at the Christmas show we’d been preparing. Before he could, she had him killed. Made it look like a heart attack.”

Shit.

“That’s what the media reported,” Levi says, bitterness lacing his words. “And what most people still believe. We know better. Even if there’s no evidence that she had any involvement in his death.”

“So…” I begin, my mind spinning as I attempt to take it all in. “Where do I come in?”

“Like Ezra said, we need evidence.” Koen’s brown eyes meet mine, and I can’t breathe. “Proofthat Veronica had Oscar killed. Her private quarters are locked down tight, and her security knows our faces. You’re our only way in.”

Sylus steps closer, putting an arm around my waist. “You get close to Nicholas.Befriendhim. Once you’re in his home, you find a way to access Veronica’s laptop and plant a device for me. I’ll hack in from there and gather what we need.”

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