Page 96 of Owned By a Billionaire

“Leave her to me,” Manon said. “I’ve got some ideas. I remember a couple of girls who were underage. I’ll go through my records.”

“You kept notes?” I asked, impressed by my granddaughter’s eye for detail.

“I kept everything.” She smiled. “As insurance.”

“Why didn’t you use that against Crisp when everything blew up with Drake?” Declan asked.

Manon shrugged. “It’s only just occurred to me. And I didn’t want to deal with the law. But now, I don’t care. I’ll do anything to keep Grandmother safe and to get rid of that scum.”

Declan nodded. “Let’s have a meeting tomorrow. Bring what you’ve got, and we’ll work on how to rid ourselves of that family.” He looked at me. “Any info on who murdered him?”

I shook my head.

“They questioned me,” Manon said. “I wish I had.”

“And Cary… I mean, Mark?” Declan looked at me.

I pursed my lips. “He wouldn’t have used a knife. He can’t even watch violent movies without recoiling.”

“I see.” Declan rubbed his neck. “A hit man?”

“I don’t know, Declan. I’m sure he had many enemies.”

Afamilydinnerwasarranged to celebrate Carson’s birthday, and the dining room resounded with chatter, laughter, energetic children, and curious toddlers. Life continued on, despite police investigations and blackmail hanging over my head.

As I watched my family talking over each other and poking fun as they always did, one could almost believe that the last month hadn’t happened.

It had all been swept away for one night, at least.

If only I had a way of telling that to the dissonance buzzing within that not even quality wine could quash. In fact, nothing seemed to vanquish my relentless squirming, exacerbated by Mark’s absence.

“Who fed the kids sugary drinks?” Savanah asked, racing after her waddling son to stop him from destroying an oriental vase.

“When’s Mark coming back?” Ethan asked.

“Not sure.” I kept it short. My family didn’t need to know how much I missed him. These few weeks of his absence had felt like a year.

I’d even contemplated a trip to Sydney. Had I not been so consumed with police enquiries, solicitors, and plots to see the back of Natalia and her brothers, I would have done so.

“What’s he doing in Australia?” Theadora asked.

“He’s reclaiming his identity.”

Mirabel nodded. “That’s so radical, disappearing like that.”

“It happens more than you think,” Ethan said. “I only read recently that after major disasters, some people, mainly men, escape their lives by feigning death.”

“I suppose it’s the chicken’s way out,” Savanah added.

I remained silent. Yes, I knew how it looked, but as I’d discovered, decisions made in the heat of the moment out of sheer despair rarely seemed as clear-cut when one reflected on the reasons behind them.

The following day, I arranged a meeting to discuss round-the-clock surveillance of Salon Soir and what steps we could take to bring in the law.

“Did you see the material I sent you?” Manon asked.

I nodded and directed my attention to Declan, to whom I had passed it on.

“The authorities will ask why you didn’t inform them at the time,” he said, looking at Manon.

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