Treachery

Shock tears through me. “What?”

Another few steps and he sits on the side of the bed and braces his forearms against his knees.

Head angled just enough to look over at me, he explains, “Your dad didn’t call you and tell you to come home only because your mom was sick. He did it to get you away from us.”

My head is spi

“Why would you do that if you were dead set on getting me under control?”

When he opens his mouth to argue, I interrupt before he has the chance to say the first word.

“And don’t try to lie and tell me you haven’t been just as involved in all of this as Ta

He glances at the floor. “I have my reasons. But that’s not the point. The point is your dad knew. Unfortunately, I don’t think he knew what he had that was so important. If he did, he would have used it to bring down our families.”

And we’re back to the reason all of this is happening. “What is on those servers?”

Turning to lock eyes with me, Gabriel shrugs. “We have no idea. The only people who know are our fathers. We just know they want it, and they’re worried about it.”

I bury my face in my hands, exhaustion riding me. “This is all such a clusterfuck. Why wouldn’t my dad warn me?”

Voice careful and quiet, Gabriel reaches over to softly rub my back. “That, I can’t answer.”

“Then what can you answer?” I mumble into my palms, my eyes clenched shut because this is all too much to process.

“I can tell you why Ta

Sighing heavily, I lift my head to look at him. “I’m not sure what he did is forgivable.”

Gabriel purses his lips and pulls his hand from my back.

“Maybe not, but he did it for more reasons than you understand. The timing of everything was unfortunate, but not only did he save your life by getting you out of Georgia, he saved the twins by locking you into the marriage with Clayton. A marriage Ta

“Why?”

“Because he wanted you for himself. Even if he wouldn’t admit it at the time.”

I swear by the time this is all out in the open, I’ll need a reference chart just to keep up with all the different strings of this web and how they tie together.

Already I’m more confused than I’d like to admit.

There are so many moving parts, like an antique clock with all its gears and pulleys, one piece moving in a particular direction so that another piece will kick in and move in the opposite direction.

“Explain,” I say, hoping like hell my head won’t explode at some point, trying to keep up with this.

Scooting farther up the mattress, Gabriel leans back against the wall, tugs me closer to him by grabbing my hand, and wraps his arm over my shoulders when I’m tucked close.

“Do you remember the night of the last party you attended at Yale? Or I guess I should say the next morning?”

Nodding my head, I think back on what I saw. “Ta

“They didn’t do that to themselves. At least, that time, they didn’t. Their father was responsible for what happened to them, and it wasn’t the first time. All of us were worried.”

Saddened by that, I look up at him. “What did their father do?”

He frowns. “That’s the twins’ story to tell. None of us really know. They won’t talk about it, but what we did know is that it needed to stop. We worried they would eventually die from it. Or get themselves killed by acting out.”

“What does this have to do with me?”

“That’s simple. Ta

It was a perfect storm, if you ask me. One that Ta

“There’s something you should know about Ta

Remembering what Ava said to me, I ask, “Is this about what happened to him when he was nine?”

Gabriel stills beside me, his eyes peeking over with surprise behind them. “How do you know about that?”

I grin. “Let’s just say I have my sources.”

“You’re a devious woman, but then I guess that means I don’t need to talk about this.”

Damn it. “No, you should tell me. All I know is that something happened. But I don’t know the details.”

Chuckling at that, he tightens his arm around me. “Then your sources aren’t as good as ours.”

He pauses for a second, his muscles stiff. When he speaks again, I hate to hear the hesitancy in his voice.

“When Ta

“So they hurt him?” I guess.

Shaking his head, Gabriel’s eyes darken, the constant humor in them lost. “No. Hurting Ta

God, I’m not sure I even want to know this.

On a sigh, Gabriel admits, “They did the only thing that would make Ta

My heart constricts in my chest, anger pouring through me to hear what was done. I fucking hate their fathers and want them all dead.

“They hurt you,” I say, already knowing the answer.

He nods once, his eyes trained on the wall opposite us.

Gabriel’s voice is rough when he admits, “Ta

I want to argue with him, claim he’s full of shit, but even after everything Ta

“Do you think that’s why someone is trying to hurt me? That maybe your dads have figured out I mean something to him?”

“Now you’re getting it,” he answers. “That’s exactly what we think. And it’s exactly why we asked that you stay here.”

Breath leaks out of me as my entire body deflates. “We need to find out what’s on those servers.”

“We do,” he agrees.

I hate to go along with this, but if it fixes everything, I’d be stupid to keep refusing.

“So this isn’t about Everly?”

“Not for Ta

My brows tug together at that, but I let it go. I’m too tired to keep digging at this point, the edge of my shovel dull from sifting through the rocky ground that makes up this entire situation.