Chapter 25

CHAPTER 25

V alerio

Death.

It was a fact of life. Sure, much like taxes, the event was impossible to stop much like time. It marched on whether you wanted to participate or not.

Yet for me, and possibly for my brothers, all time had stopped, ending with the news of my father's death. Maybe so but there were far too many questions in my mind at this point. There was something off. I'd bet all I had on that. The timing was odd.

I'd never really thought about my own mortality, even after what I'd been through as a kid… I'd felt so alive I'd shoved the experience aside, living as if every day was my last.

Had it gotten me into serious trouble?

Two brushes with the law and two near-death experiences hadn't altered my mood. However, time had. Responsibilities had. My mother's begging might have had something to do with it. Even my stepmother, Gilly, a woman at the time who hadn't seemed much older than the two kids in my mind had pestered me over the years to settle down. I'd been glad Pops had been given another chance at love and life.

I wanted to say I was heartbroken, but I wasn't honestly certain what I was feeling.

Other than angry. Enraged.

And uncertain how my father had simply keeled over and died.

After his first heart attack, Gilly had made certain he'd kept up with his regular appointments with his cardiologist. Just like he'd told me more than once. She'd fawned over him, ensuring he ate right, didn't drink to excess, and only had an occasional cigar, his one real vice.

She was a tough woman and I'd always known when Dad had tried to go behind her back. Yes, he'd appeared tired. Yes, he'd been excessively stressed, which were aggravating factors but a little nagging inside my head refused to go away.

Especially since he'd received the kind of threat he had just before his death.

Your time has come to an end…

There were a lot of nasty connotations that could be inferred from that. In my absence, both Braxton and Gage had searched my father's home and company offices, trying to find anything else that would lead to a clue as to who'd sent the threat.

There was nothing. No oddity they could find whatsoever.

That didn't mean there wasn't one.

My father had been working late at the office, which wasn't unusual. Neither was sending his staff home. Maybe he'd had a visitor. Maybe a courier had brought the note. Maybe he'd opened his mail.

Or maybe the threat had been planted and someone had…

Poisoned him.

I had to allow myself to consider everything, no matter how outlandish they seemed. My mind was as tired as my eyes, the long flight taking a toll on both Selena and me. But this had to be done. I had to be there for Gilly and for my brothers.

Even if I preferred going hunting.

My driver was taking us to my father's house where everyone was camped out. Selena and I had left as soon as we'd been able to coordinate with the pilot, her somber mood indicating her anxiety about her own father and the threats received. She had every right to be concerned. She'd called him to ensure he was doing okay, in her way warning him as well as questioning.

I'd overheard their conversation to a point but had refrained from gleaning too much. Or maybe I'd simply been in a horrific fog the entire time. Now I was the president of the company, forced to take the helm and try to figure out what the fuck was going on.

To say the task was daunting was childish.

However, the fact Selena was with me was strangely comforting.

Plus…

I slowly turned my head in her direction. "How good are you with computers?" I asked so out of the blue she wrinkled her nose.

"I minored in computer science because I adore modern technology. Why?"

"Do you agree to marry me?"

Selena laughed. "Are you asking?"

"I'm not a get down on my knees kind of guy, cupcake. I'm not romantic in the least. This is a business arrangement, but we need to set our differences aside. Something is about to explode."

"What are you talking about?" When I didn't answer right away, she nodded. "You don't think your father died of natural causes. Do you?"

"No, I don't. I can't go spouting that off to my stepmother either. She won't do well with additional worry. If I'm right, my father was hiding something, maybe in his computer files. He was at his office, but I don't think he expected to receive the threat he had. My brothers tried to gain access to his home laptop, but there are some locked down files. Same at the office. His assistant didn't know his code either."

She smiled wryly. "Are you asking if I can hack into them?"

The mischievous look in her eyes allowed me a smile for the first time in twenty-four hours. "I am."

The wrinkle in her cute little nose turned into one in her brow. "I won't admit to anything, Master."

I grabbed her hand, laughing as I did so. "We need to work together, Selena. You can hate me all you want but I think your father is in danger. Just call it a hunch."

"I have the same feeling so yes, I'll marry you. We'll pretend we're madly in love and I'll be plastered by your side. However, if you want me to work with you then work with me. Do not keep me out of anything, good or bad. Deal?" She held out her hand for a shake.

Instead, I gripped her chin, bringing her head closer. "You are very special, Selena Michaels. I will be honored to be your husband and your business partner." My driver was someone I could trust, a guy who could easily keep his mouth shut.

However, I'd made certain other than my brothers, no one knew what we were doing. Until we were ready to expose the asshole responsible. As I captured her mouth, the same electricity exploded between us, the same intense throbbing in my cock. What we were doing was playing with fire while gasoline cans littered the ground.

However, there was no other choice.

Given the combined wealth and number of clients the two companies had, if they were merged, it would become the biggest media firm in the world, capable of altering the news if necessary. I hadn't thought about that. The power the firm could wield could change elections and which movies earned top dollar. The possibilities were endless.

I swept my tongue inside, enjoying the taste of her far too much. The next few weeks we'd need to be calculated carefully to appear as a grieving family trying to find their way out of the fog. However, we would figure out what the fuck was going on and who was behind the threats and my father's… murder.

Then we would strike with full vengeance.

As I broke the kiss, she shuddered audibly while I rubbed my thumb back and forth across her lip. I did care about her, maybe a little too much.

"Don't worry, cupcake. I will protect you."

She pressed her hand against my chest, laughing softly. "I have a feeling it's you who needs to be protected."

Chuckling, I pulled away and thought about our next move. I had to see my father's body first. I needed to hear everything the medical examiner had found because I'd insisted on an autopsy.

"Tony, we're making a detour."

"Where to, boss?"

"The morgue."

"You got it, boss."

"What do you hope to find?" Selena asked.

"Honestly, I'm not certain. But with the threatening note being left near his body, I'm going to follow my gut."

"You do know determining if your father was poisoned will be difficult, especially given his heart history."

Sighing, I glanced out the window at the beautiful day. There were people everywhere enjoying the mid-afternoon sun. "Yeah, I know."

"Make sure the medical examiner takes tissue samples, not just blood. There are a half dozen mitigating factors that will need to be considered. Let alone if your father was poisoned, there are dozens of toxins that could easily be hidden by enzymes or in small enough quantities that your dad would have needed to ingest the poison over a long duration. That would certainly be the reason his cardiologist found nothing if blood tests were taken. If that was the case, it could be difficult to locate the source. It's all dependent on what poison was used."

What subject didn't this woman seem to be an expert in? I lifted a single eyebrow as I looked at her. "You seem to be knowledgeable about so many subjects, my dear fiancée. If I didn't know better about your sweet personality, I'd say you could be a serial killer in your off time."

She snorted then slapped her hand across her mouth. "Hardly. My most infamous relationship lasted a few weeks in college. I dated a premed student who enjoyed telling me every gory detail about his rather morbid interest in dead bodies, toxicology, and dissection."

"Sounds like a keeper."

"Other than he was a womanizer who enjoyed sharing three women at a time, oh, he was a prize." She rolled her eyes.

"Ouch," I said, admiring her more than before. God, the woman was… special. Different. Challenging.

As out of place as it was, I was suddenly very hungry. For her.

"Yeah, a real prize. Anyway, with some digging and specific tests, the examiner should be able to get to the truth. Unless your father has been embalmed already."

"I was specific in telling the doctor she was not allowed to go that far until my return."

She squeezed my arm. "I'll give you pointers before you go in."

"Oh, no, darlin'. While I don't long to put any undue stress on you, it would seem you know exactly what you are talking about. You're going to be right by my side."

She didn't have a look of horror on her face but one of mild surprise. "Oh, goody. My past coming back to haunt me."

"Have you ever seen a dead body before?"

Another cute little snort. "Mike's idea of a good time on Halloween was to insist we dress up as a member of the zombie crowd and break into a morgue. Good times were had by all, especially when the cops showed up."

All I could do was laugh. It would definitely seem she wasn't so innocent as I'd believed.

As Tony pulled into the parking lot of the local morgue, my muscles tightened. Before I had a chance to open the door, Selena grabbed my arm again.

"If your father was murdered, do you really think you can figure out who is responsible?"

"Cupcake, I will find the asshole who took my father's life. And when I do, the motherfucker will pay the ultimate price."

While I didn't share with her what I planned on doing, there was no doubt about my plans.

I would kill the motherfucker with my bare hands.

"You really want me to interfere with your family now? I mean, I could just wait in the car," Selena asked as we stood just outside the portico leading into my father's house. Now Gilly's house. I still couldn't wrap my mind around the fact he was gone.

And I'd still yet to grieve. Not completely.

Maybe because I was furious with him for not confiding in me or in one of my brothers. "You're my fiancée, Selena. While I understand you don't want this arrangement and we consider it business, my stepmother needs support from as many people as she can get. And you're important to me in so many ways."

"To help you solve this horrible crime."

I ripped off my sunglasses, shoving them into my jacket pocket and turned toward her. Curling my hand, I brushed my knuckles down her cheek. For all the sparring we'd done, all the little fights that had really been staged, I liked getting closer to her. Maybe there was a smidgeon of a romantic guy in me after all. "Baby, I need you for much more. As I said, you're very special in so many ways. I might not be the best of men and certainly not your ideal prince or the fabulous fairytale you hoped for, but I will try and make our time spent together as enjoyable as possible."

Selena sighed. "I don't need fairytales, Valerio. I just need honesty."

That much I hoped to be able to promise her. "Understood. It's all about trust. Come on, cupcake. Let's meet the rest of my family." The last time I'd been in the house had been when I'd been coerced into coming to a barbeque Gilly had insisted on. I'd hated her fawning over us for so many years. I'd hated the period when she'd come into our lives, getting pregnant with another kid. Hell, I'd hated Gage until he was seven, often treating him badly although the boy had wanted to be just like his two big brothers.

But over the years, the woman had softened me, her love of my father and the entire family becoming the glue that had held us together.

I'd never been considered a compassionate man under any circumstances but in walking into the family room, the emptiness hit me first, the loss tremendous. But it was Gilly jerking up from the couch, racing toward me and throwing her arms around my neck that almost broke me.

"Oh, thank God you're home. I needed you, Valerio. I need you now. What am I going to do without him? What about the company? What about the house? I can't go on. I just can't. He was my everything."

She was sobbing, clinging to me as if I was her lifeline. Even with her voice muffled from her face being pressed into my chest, I heard every word said in despair. I glanced at my two brothers, both of whom had risen to their feet.

Braxton nodded toward Selena before shaking his head. He didn't need to say anything. Our world had been altered, shoved into something maybe we'd believed we were far removed from.

Tragedy.

"You're going to get through because all of us are here. Don't worry about the company. There are plenty of people to ensure it will continue to run smoothly, including me." I eased her aside and she cupped both sides of my face. I could swear the woman had aged in a few short days.

"Your father loved you. All three of you. You were his world. I know he didn't say it often enough but he adored the men you turned into," Gilly said before noticing there was another visitor. "Oh, my God. This must be Selena. Valerio's father called me right before… anyway he was happy you were getting married." Tears still streaming down her face, she shifted to Selena, pulling her into a hug.

I could tell by the look on Selena's face that she was somewhat uncomfortable but within seconds, she plastered on an expression indicating she could handle this.

Sadly, I wasn't certain I could.

"I'm Selena. I'm so sorry for your loss. I have no doubt he was a great man."

Gilly had longed for grandchildren, even if they came from Braxton and me instead of her flesh and blood. I'd never stopped to admire or respect the woman well enough, her ability to merge into our little family pretty amazing.

"You're going to make that boy very happy. I can see it in your eyes. Sebastian will smile down from heaven."

"Did Pops say anything else on the phone?" I had to ask.

She thought about my question. "Not really. He mentioned he wanted to pick up something for dinner and said he'd only be a few more minutes. I knew something was wrong. I just knew it," Gilly half whispered.

"It's okay, Mom," Gage said as he placed his arm around her. "We'll get through this."

"I know. I'm so glad all three of you are here."

"Can I do anything, maybe make some coffee or tea?" Selena asked her.

My brothers already had a drink in their hands, but Gilly was too distraught. However, I definitely needed a drink just to try to tamp down my anger.

"You're very sweet. Why don't we go into the kitchen?" Gilly asked. "I admit my hands are pretty shaky."

Selena looked at me and I nodded. As the two women started to head into the kitchen, I moved closer to my brothers.

Gilly stopped short, turning around and looking at all three of us. "You do realize your father was murdered. Don't you? He was in perfect health. Yes, he was tired. That worried me but nothing was out of the ordinary. To just keel over isn't right."

None of us knew how to answer that. Fortunately, Selena guided our stepmother out of the room. Only then did I take a deep breath.

"You look like you could use a drink," Braxton said.

"Yeah, you look like shit," Gage added. "Then again, my guess is we all do. Pops called her?"

"I know," Braxton huffed. "Something isn't right. I can feel it."

"No, it's not and I do feel like shit," I told them and headed to the bar.

"Your plane landed over an hour ago." Braxton wasn't accusatory, just curious.

"I went to the morgue," I told them and pulled down my dad's favorite bottle of scotch, the one he only opened on special occasions. Well, this seemed like a good enough reason.

"Jesus. You're a morbid son of a bitch," Gage said. As soon as I poured liquor into my glass, he was there taking the bottle from my hand. I couldn't help but notice his entire arm was shaking.

For all our complaints that our father was the most insufferable man out there, we'd loved him. Just each in our own way. Maybe there was something to be said for blood being thicker than water.

"I want answers. Gilly isn't the only one who believes Pops was murdered." I headed to the window, staring out at the pristine backyard, our father's favorite place on the estate.

"And the medical examiner said?" Braxton pushed.

"That the tests Selena demanded he take won't come back for a week, maybe more. He's not finished with the regular autopsy either. So, we won't learn anything definitive for days, maybe over a week."

"Selena was with you?" Gage seemed surprised.

"She's my fiancée and my new business partner. She also had an innate sense of things, more so than I believed when I met her."

"Wow, our brother is in love," Braxton teased.

"Don't go there. This is business. Remember, Pops wanted it." Our marriage had suddenly become the man's last dying wish.

"So, you're going through with the wedding?" Gage pressed a few seconds later.

I nodded. "That's what Dad would have wanted. He had his reasons and I'm beginning to think he was onto something. In the meantime, we are going to hunt down the asshole responsible. I won't take anything less than success. Plus, if I had to guess, the moment our father's death hits the presses, the New York firm will be crawling all over the board members to sell."

"True," Braxton snarled, shaking his head.

"What will we do when we find him or her? That is if your suspicions are correct," Gage asked as he rejoined the two of us.

A smile slid across my face. "I'm never wrong, brother of mine. We practice the art of extermination."

"I like his way of thinking," Braxton growled and lifted his glass for a toast. "To becoming kings."

"And to avenging our father's death," I added.