Page 56 of A Billionaire Dom

Davin

My arms burnedas I pulled the bar down below my chin. A weekend of exercise had seemed like a good way to get my focus back to where it was supposed to be. Except I’d still been thinking about things.

Surprisingly, it hadn’t mostly been about Linsey. Sure, some of it had been, but it was mostly the thing she’d said about Grandad. How he wasn’t the person I thought he was.

Technically, I already knew that, and so did she. I’d told her all about Deklin’s shocking announcement and Grandad’s role in what’d happened. Which made me wonder if that’s what she’d been talking about. Except it didn’t make sense that she would’ve gone to Royd Kichner about it.

Unless Royd had somehow played a role in what’d happened between my mom and Ronall Kane. Or in keeping it from all of us.

I couldn’t think of what part Royd possibly could’ve played, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t been involved. Maybe there’d been a paternity test to hide, or maybe Ronall had needed convincing that Deklin wasn’t his. Grandad seemed to think that Ronall didn’t know, but maybe that was because Royd had made it that way.

The bar clattered as I put it into place, and I grabbed my nearby towel, wiping my face. I stood and stretched, letting my muscles cool down as I headed for my shower. I’d spent most of the day at work, just like I had yesterday, and the only way I’d been able to sleep had been to spend a couple hours in the gym. Hopefully, my work out tonight would help me have at least a few uninterrupted hours of sleep.

Hopefully, I’d wake up tomorrow with a clear head and an idea of what to do about Grandad.

Deklin seemed to be fine with our grandfather and the role he’d played in deceiving his true birth father. How could I do any less when Grandad hadn’t hurt me the way he had my brother?

Except…

Maybe Deklin’s parentage wasn’t the only thing Grandad had lied about. Maybe the reason Linsey had gone to Royd was because he’d helped Grandad with something else that none of us knew about.

Yes, I knew that I didn’t know everything about my grandfather’s life, and he didn’t know everything about mine. If he found out about my sexual preferences, he wouldn’t be upset like Dad would, but it might make him look at me in a different light.

Was I the same way? Were there things that Grandad had done or still did that might make me see him differently?

Probably.

But somehow, I didn’t think that was what Linsey had meant when she’d said that he wasn’t who I thought he was. She didn’t judge people by the things they enjoyed. Whatever it was she knew or thought she knew, it had to be something that she knew would be meaningful to me. Because as much as I hated to admit it, she knew me well enough to know that about me.

Shit.

I hated this.

I hated doubting my grandfather, and I hated even more that it was Linsey who’d planted the seed.

As much as this was driving me crazy, there was an easy solution. I could simply drive over to Grandad’s house and ask him if there was anything he wanted to tell me, something that Royd would’ve been involved in. Grandad had seemed genuinely bothered by having kept things from Deklin. Maybe that guilt would encourage him to be honest with me.

And that was if there was anything in the first place.

I closed my eyes as I stepped under the spray of warm water, letting the white noise fill my mind even as the heat helped my muscles relax. I’d gotten in the habit of long showers after stressful days and hadn’t realized just how often my days had been stressful until recently. The times I’d been with Linsey, I hadn’t felt the need to linger.

Shit.

I needed to stop thinking about her.

It was completely possible that Linsey had been trying to distract me from whatever scam she had going on. Why should I believe anything she said? She had reasons to lie. Grandad didn’t.

Maybe.

Royd wouldn’t tell me anything, and there was no way in hell I was going back to Linsey to ask her what she knew. Maybe I couldn’t find it out easily after all.

Shit.

Was I making excuses tonotfind out what Linsey had been talking about?

More importantly, was the reason I didn’t want to know because I was afraid of what the truth might be?

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