Page 17 of Destroyer

"What does that mean?"

"Not do I know. But he was saying all the weird stuff that I did not understand. I just think he is saying to find the man who is hurting the family."

"Who?"

"Paul Newman."

"What?"

"The bad wood. I gave him all the chances to answer but he did not."

"Nico. I'm really confused," Caeo confesses.

Good. That is what I am aiming for here. I don't want to tell them everything.

"I nailed his cats to the wall, but not did he confess to the bad wood. So, I took him to the house of Gavriil to ask."

"But Paul is clean. I'm sure he's one of the good guys."

"I would have found that out." I give a shrug.

"Nico, he died because of what you did to him," Caeo urges, but I'm not sure what he wants.

Instead of admitting any wrongdoing on my part, I am going to pass the blame onto him. It doesn't feel good to say it.

"Not is it what I did but is it what you did not."

"Please don't try to pass the blame for this. We are only asking questions to find out why he was there." Knox keeps his cool.

"Six years I have been doing this. Hurt always lower than the heart, then treat before sitting. Never lie the heart below hurt."

"That is true. Gregory just grabbed him and laid him down." Caeo agreed with me.

"So, he went into shock?" Knox frowns, rocking in his chair.

We are back to counting birds and stones. A metaphor I can't remember but use so well in my life.

"What is the birds with the stones?" I could throw Gregory under the bus for this and get my man his job back.

"Two birds with one stone?" Caeo enlightens me, his frown burning deeper into me until the wordspunish meform on my tongue.

"Thank you, Nico. You may leave now." Knox kills my words before they can live.

Without telling them anything, I am being dismissed. It is how it must be while I am unwilling to tell the truth to the most important people in my life.

Chapter twelve

Caeo

Nicoskulksoutofthe room looking small and dejected, and I long to protect him from everyone who is taking advantage of him.

"I'd love to get his head examined," Knox mutters. "He doesn’t seem to get people at all, and yet also knows exactly how to manipulate everyone around him."

"You think there is something wrong with him?"

"Andrei Balen called me, congratulating me on succeeding my father. He asked if our agreement still stands. Imagine how I felt not knowing there was an agreement in place."

"It wasn't something I was aware of." I confirm. "I'd never heard of him until the Carter Turnbridge incident."

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