Page 80 of Wayward
“Fucking Susan,” I growl.
Easton combs his hand over his face. “I . . . I’ve thought about this before. I’ve thought of every angle. But it’s hard to think that she could do this.”
“People do more for a lot less money,” Sam says.
Easton nods.
“They hadn’t been divorced long? Before Candy?” I ask.
“No. And Susan stayed on at Rockwell-Harding. She’d been dad’s assistant with Rockwell Tire. She was part of our family before my mom died.”
Haley has her arm around Easton. “If she did this, I don’t think she was part of your family. We can find the proof.”
“Money laundering for Ed and taking Rockwell Tire out from under your family?” Zane says. “No, that’s not family. That’s greed.”
“Did she go with Emily and your dad? That summer after freshman year, when you think Rocky met Ed for the first time.” I raise my eyebrows at him.
“Yes, I mean, I wasn’t there. But she went everywhere with Dad.”
“Kind of hard to give up the jet-set lifestyle,” Dante adds. “That’s reason enough.”
Easton winces.
“Whoa, whoa . . . I think we’re jumping a few steps. We don’t know if Susan did it or not. We don’t have proof.” Sam puts his drink down and glares at Dante.
“Sam, it’s okay. She might have raised me, but her idea of raising me was picking us up from boarding school for the summer and driving me to swim camp,” Easton says. “It’s a theory, and it’s not a bad one. And I’m fucking sorry if I’m the one who caused all of this.”
“You didn’t cause anything,” Haley says. “Because you didn’t update your will? What your stepmom did or whoever, that’s not your fault, Easton. None of us will ever blame you.” She wraps her arms around his waist and plants a kiss on his neck. Easton’s eyes lock with mine.
“We’re family. What we went through together can’t be broken.” I nod at him.
“Hear, hear.” Dante raises his glass.
But the hurt on Easton’s face is there. There’s something more. He knows something else, and he’s not saying it.
Chapter 35
Sharks
Easton
Closing myself off was how I got through my childhood. It’s how I turned myself into a champion. It’s how I can ignore my body when it’s in pain. But what I can’t ignore right now is the way they’re all staring at me. Or the thoughts that have been churning in my head since Zane told me about the money laundering. My dad was involved with it, but like I just told Calvin, everywhere my dad went, so did Susan. For my entire life, until just a few years ago when he suddenly announced he was getting a divorce. I wasn’t shocked outwardly, but inside? Yes, I was shocked. Damn shocked.
If she set up the sabotage of theRock Candyto kill me, what else would she be willing to do? Susan was there when I was little, when my mom was so depressed. My mom had mental health challenges . . . I remember overhearing my grandmother—my mom’s mom. My mom had promised her own mother that she would never hurt herself. But then she did. And I hated her for it. Hated her for being a liar. The what ifs pop in my head. Susan was the one who found her, the bottle of pills in her hand.
I raise my cup of tea. “To this family. We have each other’s backs.” I kiss the top of Haley’s head.
With lunch over, we clear the plates and bring them in to Esmeralda. Unlike the last cook, she doesn’t lock the doors during the day. Haley takes my hand. “I saw the gardeners leave before lunch. Want to take Penny for a walk with me?”
“Sure. Yes, I’d love that.”
We’re around the back of the château near a duck pond when Haley unclips Penny. The ducks have disappeared since Penny’s arrival. We stroll around the side and sit under a large tree.
Haley touches the bark. “This is an English Oak.”
I smile. “It amazes me you can remember so many plants and trees.”
“It’s a passion. I like knowing things about things I care about. And people. People like you. You know, you can tell me anything.”
