Page 124 of Destiny

I stare into his eyes. I don’t want to tell him, but he deserves the truth. “You can put one thing to bed. You and your father. She admitted to me that she orchestrated your great-uncle’s death. His and Patty Watson’s.”

He hugs me to him. “At least that will give my father some peace.”

“Do you want to call Jack and Lauren?” I ask.

“Yeah. I will. By the way, Jack and Lauren have agreed to a DNA test for Lauren. To find out if…”

Dad nods. “If she’s my full-blooded sister. Yes, I know.” He walks out of the kitchen, Mom following.

“If she is…” Brendan says.

“If she is, then I have an aunt. And she will be very rich, I’m sure.”

“I suppose your family will have to decide how to handle that.”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” I say. “In the meantime, Brendan, I have to stay here. Someone has to be with my grandmother’s body at all times until we see it get cremated.”

“I understand, baby. After everything you’ve been through, with her coming back to life once before, but don’t you think that, given her age, that’s unlikely this time?”

“I’ve learned not to go with the odds when it comes to my family, Brendan.”

“All right.” He brushes his lips over mine. “I need to get home. I have a lot to tell my father.”

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Brendan

Mom and Dad listen intently as I tell them what Ava told me.

“But all we have is her word?” Dad finally says.

“Oh, Sean,” Mom says. “She was an old woman, and now she’s dead. Those were her last words. Can’t you accept that? Accept that maybe she knew she was not long for this world, and she was letting go of something that’s been eating you alive for so long?”

Dad looks to the floor. “But I always wanted proof. Not just the word of some crazy woman.”

“Thatisyour proof, Dad,” I say. “From what I understand from Ava and her father, Wendy Madigan was brilliant. I’m sure you could’ve searched forever, especially given how long ago it was, and you never would’ve found the proof. Hearing it from her mouth is as good as you’re going to get.”

“Brendan’s right,” Mom says. “This is the proof you’ve been looking for. From Wendy Madigan herself.”

“But we don’t knowhowshe did it. How she got the poison, how—”

“That’s enough, Sean.” Mom’s voice is harsh. “I put up with this quest of yours for decades now. This is the best you’re going to get. It’s over now. I won’t have it brought up again.”

“What about the Steel Trust?” Dad asks.

“You just let the attorneys deal with that, Sean.”

Dad scoffs. “While they’re being paid off by Donny Steel? I don’t think so.”

“What? What do you mean they’re being paid off by Donny Steel?” Mom asks.

“Your son here went to Donny Steel for a recommendation for an attorney in the city.”

“Well, Donny Steelisan attorney.”

“But it’s theSteelTrust—”

“Enough.” Mom sets her hands on her hips. “I think we’ve established that the Steel family doesn’t even know what that trust is.”

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