Page 155 of Reckless Hearts

I should probably be furious about that. I know I should. I should have exploded at him when he told me.

What can I say. I kissed him instead.

Maybe we both really are the right kind of fucked up for each other.

Deimosalsotold me that Gerard seems to have gone missing—as in, no one’s seen him at all in quite some time. And that’s sitting quite oddly with me.

Since I’ve known him, Gerard has always been a social butterfly. I think it’s one of the reasons my mother fell for him: he could pull her out of her shell, and knew just how to gently bring her into social situations.

And now he’s off the grid?

It’s weird. Weird like the letter Elsa was telling me about the other day—the one where Gerard listed all sorts of legal motions and forms, but listed them curiously out of order, and interspersed between them numbered forms that don’t actually exist.

I frown as I reread the printout of that particular email. Again, I can’t shake the feeling that I’m looking for clues in a Sally Squirrel mystery book.

And then suddenly, I freeze.

Hold on.

I grab a piece of scrap paper and a pen as my eyes read over the list of out-of-order motions in Gerard’s email. I start to copy the forms down on the paper in the same order they’re mentioned in the email. I frown and then scratch out the letter parts of the form names. Like for the one labeled “form 2A-F9”, I take out everything except the 2 and the 9.

I blink, staring at the list. Then I re-write the numbers in a line, and my pulse spikes.

Holy. Shit.

Just then, the intercom by the front door buzzes. I jump up, staring at what I’ve just written out in a daze before I go to the button.

“Ms. Roy,” one of Deimos’ men downstairs says gruffly. “We need you to confirm that you know a man down here who claims you do.”

“Okay?”

“Raphael Dumouchel?”

I smile. “Yes, he’s my stepbrother. You can send him up, thank you.”

A minute later, I glance up from my pile of papers as Raph steps into the apartment. He whistles quietly, taking it all in. “Well, even if it’s not the man himself that has your attention, I can see why you’ve stayed.”

I roll my eyes.

“Seriously, Dahlia, this place is…wow. Divine.” He crosses to where I’m sitting at the kitchen island. His brows furrow at the papers. “Is this—”

“Yeah, it’s all the shit from your dad.” I chew on my lip, my pulse racing. “But, Raph, I think I just found something big. Like, really big.”

“Oh?”

“I think your dad might be in trouble.”

Raph’s brow furrows. “Well, no shit. He’s tearing down his legacy and ruining the image he’s spent his entire life building. So yeah, I’d say he’s royally screwed—”

“No, no. I meanreallyin actual trouble.”

He eyes me curiously. “Because?”

“You know how I told you about the rumor of your dad being missing?”

He rolls his eyes. “AndItold you he’s done that before. He’s not missing, Dahlia. The asshole is off at a beach house somewhere scheming how to fuck with your mom some more and throwing piles of money at escorts. I can promise you, it’s nothing sinister.”

“Well, except for this.”

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