Page 93 of Destiny

“And I wish I had some advice to give you, but you know my cousin as well as I do. She doesn’t accept help.”

“Yeah, I understand that.”

“Thanks for rubbing some salt in that wound,” Donny says.

“Hey, you can take my words at face value, or you can read into them.”

“What I did was try to right a wrong. But unfortunately, I may have made things worse. Because now, if therewasanything else hidden in that apartment, we don’t know what it is.”

“I know,” I say, “and Donny, I don’t blame you. You were trying to protect your family, and I’m doing the same thing. Do I agree with your methods? Hell, no. You obviously didn’t agree with them either. But unfortunately, that one night I was gone gave whoever burglarized my place the chance to take anything else that was there. And I wouldn’t be surprised…”

“Neither would I. Information about this Steel Trust.”

“You got it. And maybe information about my great-uncle.”

Donny nods. “We’ll figure it out, Brendan. Dale, Brock, and I are committed. Uncle Joe and my father are committed. Uncle Ryan as well. In fact, I think he’s more committed than the rest of us all combined because he knows exactly what kind of havoc his mother can wreak. And he knows that as long as she’s alive, the rest of us aren’t safe.”

“Ava’s not safe?”

He shakes his head. “Ryan and Ava. Gina. Probably even Ruby. All very safe. But you see, Wendy Madigan has an ulterior motive, and it’s becoming pretty clear.”

“Right. That deed transfer.”

“Exactly. There is one way that her son andonlyher son will inherit all the Steel property, and it doesn’t have anything to do with that deed, which was probably signed under duress.”

A shudder runs through me. “I may be angry with you, Don, but I sure as hell don’t wish anything bad on you or any of your family.”

“I appreciate that, and I know it. But the only way…”

“The only way that happens…is if the rest of you are dead and buried. Leaving no heirs.”

Chapter Thirty

Ava

I’m back at my place, still staring at the cards on the table, when my phone buzzes.

It’s Brendan.

“Hey,” I say into the phone.

“Hey yourself. I just wanted to check in. See how you’re doing.”

“Oh, Brendan… I think I’ve made a terrible mistake.”

“You haven’t made any mistake, Ava.”

“But I have… I’ve been trying to see something in my grandmother that’s not there.”

“That’s not a mistake, Ava. That’s just being human.”

“Where are you?”

“I’m just leaving the city attorney’s office. I had to see Donny.”

“Is everything okay?”

“What a loaded question.” He chuckles softly in an unhumorous way. “You feel like getting some breakfast?”

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