Page 25 of Ruthless Heir

Iawake thirty minutes before my alarm sounds, and I groan. I talked to my brother, Lennon, last night to distract myself from what I was forced to do and what I now must do today. Shane wasn't one of my long time guys, but his deceit still got to me. I'd already updated Lennon on what Jacob told me and the shite with Callum, but he could sense that something else weighed on my mind. I made the mistake of verifying his suspicion by telling him it wasn't anything he needed to worry his Clan Chief head over. I ended the call, but an hour later, I get a text that he will be here in the morning and he's bringing our sister, Aisling, and his wife, Aurora. That's all it said. No reason given.

I shower and change into some trousers and a button-down shirt. After I'm dressed and ready for my brother's not so surprise visit, I head down to the opposite end of the hall to check in on Vasilisa. She was quite distraught over her role in getting Shane killed. When I unbolt the door, I find her in bed. She sits up with a start, but then attempts to hide her face when she sees it's me. Her eyes are bloodshot and dried tears stain her cheeks. A pang of something foreign slams within my chest.

“You can stop blaming yourself,” I say. “Shane wasn't who he said he was.”

I don't know why I feel the need to share this info with her, but if it's going to allow her to pull herself together before my brother arrives, I'll just fucking tell her.

“What do you mean?” she sits up more, attempting to control her sniffling.Ugh. For fuck’s sake.

I take a seat on the edge of the bed. “After allowing someone into my home that managed to betray me after a week of being in my employ, I had to figure out what I missed. I should have known better. Based on his résumé and exceptional references, he was not part of this underworld of corruption and crime. My job has always been to extract intel from people, so how did this guy slip through?”

“You said Liam referred him,” she reminds me. “It was my fault. Not Shane's. Like you said, he was not from our world. Knowing how you were treating me probably messed with his conscience so he wanted to help me. It doesn't make him a bad person ... it makes him human.”

She foolishly thinks that this is still about him sneaking into her room. Wait ... she said help her— not fuck her.

“What was he trying to help you with?” I growl. “What really happened between the two of you when he came into this room?”

“Nothing. We didn't have sex.” She tries to deflect, realizing her slip of tongue.

“You didn't answer my goddamn question. What was he trying to help you with? He's fucking dead so you don't have to keep trying to protect him.”

“Fine,” she says jumping off the bed to put some distance between us. “At first, it started with me flirting with him to make you jealous since Liam ignored my attempts. But when he was escorting me to my room, he warned me that you were dangerous.” My fists clench, but I rein in my anger so she can continue. “The next morning, he came by my room to ask that I not mention what we discussed when he was showing me around the grounds about you being dangerous and could hurt me. I asked him to help me get in contact with my brothers or my father. He said he would, but that was it. He died trying to warn and help me.”

It's my turn to jump off the bed now. She watches as I pace the length of her bedroom.

“He was a liar, Vasilisa. I took all the documents he supplied at face value. Because Liam referred him, I didn't have a reason to look further. Liam has been with our family for over eight years. Surely, he wouldn't betray me.” I sigh. “Shane was not his real name. His references and résumé checked out under that name, but the real Shane has been reported missing in Sacramento for a week now. So how was the ‘impostor Shane’ able to supply info to match this missing guy's info?”

Her mouth goes slack. “There has to be some explanation for that.”

“And you're naive. I checked, and he has erased any footage that has him on it, so why was he really here? Who sent him, and where the fuck is the real Shane?”

“What now?”

“Nothing for now. This discovery doesn't leave this fucking room. I only told you so you can stop beating yourself up about causing his death.”

“But ...”

“But nothing. My brother, his wife, and my fucking sister will be here any moment now. I expect you to be on your best behavior. Act right and I may just let you back out into civilization,” I say, referring to leaving her door unlocked again. “Shower and I will have Samuel bring you down once they arrive.”

“Okay,” she says. “That's very disappointing to hear about Shane, especially if he is behind someone's disappearance, but thank you for telling me.”

“Uhhhh,” I grunt. I don't bother locking her door on my way out, but I make sure Samuel is aware on the off chance she decides to do something stupid.

As I make my way down the hallway, I hear a car pulling up outside. My brother has arrived, and now that he's here, I know he will want to help with my Liam problem once I let him in on my suspicions. Lennon has always been more ruthless than me, but when it comes to protecting our clan or what's mine, we may be more evenly matched.

I make my way down the stairs and into the foyer, where I'm met by my sister, Aisling, and my sister-in-law, Aurora. Aisling hugs me before stepping back and giving me a once-over.

“You look like shite,” she says bluntly.

I roll my eyes. “Thanks, darling sister. Always a pleasure to see you too.”

She just laughs before she and the rest of the uninvited family follow me out to my indoor solarium with the pool. Due to today’s overcast, it’s a bit chilly outside, so I will have Samuel and the staff serve brunch in here. The women don't seem surprised when I pull my brother away for a chat. I tell them we will return shortly to join them for brunch, but they're already immersed in their admiration for this room.

When Lennon steps into my office, I close the door behind him. My house staff knows not to interrupt.

“Talk to me, brother. Last night you sounded off,” Lennon says, getting straight to the point. I give him a recount of yesterday's events that led to me killing Shane. “And the body?”

“I had my security dispose of it.”

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