Page 5 of The Hate We Breathe
I arch a brow and glance between Viks and Gio, then slide my attention back to him. Gio frowns. “What now?” he asks. “Morpheus is dead, man. What else is there?”
“Someone killed him,” I say, tipping my glass back to my lips. “That could be what he’s referring to.”
Lex nods in my direction. “Yeah, just because he’s gone doesn’t mean our problems are over.”
“Why do you think that?” Viks asks, eyeing him in a way that makes me wish I could read minds.
“Too much shit has happened to Juliet in the last six months for it to be a coincidence,” Lex states. “Juliet’s father was accused of fraud and embezzlement and thrown in jail. Gio was attacked, then Juliet. She was kidnapped, almost killed, and then this shit. Morpheus was responsible for a lot, I suspect, but I still haven’t been able to pinpoint where her mother is or if she is still even alive. Allen Donovan is still in jail and his wife is MIA.”
I straighten away from the counter and set my glass down. “Do you think she was there tonight?” I ask. “Juliet’s mother?”
Lex turns his gaze to me. “It’s a possibility.”
Gio curses and shoves a hand through his hair as he unbuttons the top of his dress shirt like the constricting fabric is strangling him. I understand the sensation. Right now, my own dress shirt feels like it’s choking the life out of me.
“We need to review the tapes,” I say. “Find out exactly what happened.”
“There’s something else that the three of you have yet to consider,” Viks says, his voice so low that I almost miss it, but thankfully, I don’t. Neither do the others.
Together, the three of us turn in his direction. “What’s that?” I demand.
“With Morpheus dead and childless, who is set to inherit the Donovan-Calloway industries?”
The insinuation of his question slams into me a split second later. “Holy fuck…”
He’s right.
There’s only one choice, one answer.
Morpheus Calloway didn’t just not have an heir; he hadnofamily. Which leaves Juliet as the sole owner of the company that had practically ruined Silverwood.
Gio’s arm falls uselessly from his buttons. “Motherfucker…” The shock has hit him too.
I keep my focus fixed on the man in front of us. “What does that mean for her?” I demand, taking a step towards him. “They can’t expect her to run a damn company in a town that hates her guts even if they wanted her to. She’s not even out of high school yet.”
“There has to be a board of directors or something that will step in,” Lex states.
“It’s possible.” Viks’ agreement doesn’t ring confident, though.
Juliet can’t catch a fucking break, can she?
“Okay, slow down, let’s think about this,” I say, scrubbing a hand down the side of my face. Stubble pricks at my skin.
“Juliet is eighteen, so technically she’s an adult, but she’s still a student,” I point out. “Morpheus just died—so there will be processes to go through before anything is revealed or decided.Namely, his funeral and will. I’m sure he had a lawyer for all this shit and it’ll have to go through a probate period. They’ll have to contact her if she is, in fact, the only beneficiary.”
Viks’ gaze remains on me, fixated and interested. I’m not entirely sure if it’s a good thing.
“We don’t want to freak her out after we just got her back,” Gio says.
“Right.” I point at him and then Lex. “It’s our job to take care of her right now. She’s probably still suffering some side effects from her time with him.”
At that, Lex pales. “She didn’t… You don’t think something would have happened while we were…” He doesn’t finish his statement, but I shake my head in response anyway.
“That’s for her to tell us,” I remind him. “No pushing.”
“She should likely be in therapy,” Viks muses. “But something tells me that’ll be like dragging a cat to a bath.”
I wince, hating it, but I agree with his guess. “She’s had some issues with the counselor at school,” I tell him. “She won’t be particularly interested in getting help and, hell, I don’t blame her. She needs time before she’s shoved into a room with a stranger and told to bare her fucking soul.”
