Chapter Thirty-Five
Dominic
As far as coincidences go, this is definitely the mother of all.
This is the first time things have linked and twisted in such a way it’s not just shocked me but thrown me for a loop.
I wasn't even as thrown off balance as I am now when I found out Andreas was scheming with our enemies.That was more hurtful than anything else.But if I'm honest, the revelation today didn't really shock me.
I managed to get Candace to my apartment when she came to.She was a mess of the catatonic variety, unresponsive and crying.I can’t exactly say I expected any different since that’s similar to what she was like on the night her parents were killed.
After their deaths, she came to live with us because no one could find hide nor hair of her uncle.We took care of her and it was years before she resembled anything close to normal.Sometimes I can still hear her terrified screams.
I don’t think I’ll ever forget seeing her mother’s burned body and her father’s headless one lying next to it.The sight was horrific enough for me, so I can just imagine what dark memories haunted her mind because she saw it happen.
She never talks about the past.Never. And we never pry because the memories are so terrible.
It seems, however, that the time has come to talk whether we want to or not.This was what I feared happening because I knew whatever we found, no matter how big or small would break her.
My brothers are here with me now while she’s upstairs asleep.We’ve been talking and trying to process what happened, and what is happening.The million questions that race through my mind all collide in a fucking mess.
I had to tell them about Richard Fenmoir and Jacques.I was going to tell them anyway, but today’s events moved it up on the schedule.Of course, Massimo wasn’t happy to hear Jacques might be linked to someone involved in Candace’s parents' deaths,but being the level-headed guy I am I gave Jacques the benefit of the doubt and explained I hadn’t found dirt on him.Massimo knows though that I don’t trust him.
I left out the whole explanation about why Candace did the auction, but they’re not stupid.They’ll be able to fill in the missing blanks.Just like me, they’ll know she’d do anything to get answers and justice for her parents, and they won’t judge her for it.
What we have now is a bunch of facts and information that doesn’t add up.We have more than what we previously had, but everything is still vague.
I look at my brothers from one to the next.They both look worried.
“I'm interested to know how William and Lucas got involved with these people,” Massimo states.
“Me too,” Tristan agrees. "I guess it explains why Lucas skipped town and hasn't been seen since."
"I guess so," I say.
“But it feels like something is missing.” Massimo inclines his head to the side and I think he might finally be as suspicious as me.
Those fucking suspicions have come right back to haunt me, along with the feeling that there are more things we don’t know.Things Candace might know and kept secret.If that's true, then the question that follows is, why.
“We were practically still boys when her parents were killed.” I was seventeen, Tristan eighteen, and Massimo nineteen.“Pa looked into everything, and couldn’t find anything, and what do we know about situations like that?”
“That the shit’s being covered up in such a way that no one can smell it,” Tristan answers.
“Exactly,” I reply.
“What do you think is happening here?” Massimo asks.
I shake my head. “I don’t fucking know Massimo, but what I do know is her father wasn’t as squeaky clean as everyone thought.He was far from it. Candace told Pa the men came in the house and they wanted information they thought her father had.She said he didn’t have what they were looking for and that's when they killed him and his wife.We have a list that shows her father and uncle working for Tobias, and we know him to be linked to human trafficking.What if that’s the information he had?”
"It could be that." He considers it for a moment."What about Jacques, Dominic?I need to know what you think of him.I don't like the possibility that he could have any link at all to this.”
Here’s the chance to be objective again, but also truthful.
“Massimo, he’s clean, he’s rich, and he’s resourceful.We don’t know who Richard Fenmoir is and when I spoke to Jacques he spoke about the company Green Limited.I’m taking that at face value and telling you like it is.But that’s it. If you want my opinion, I’m gonna tell you something’s off about him.” I nod, and Massimo bites the inside of his lip.“Sometimes we don’t have to have evidence.I work with my instincts and I’m telling you that’s what I feel, and that’s nothing to do with Candace.That’s me entirely, so he’s not getting my vote to join the Syndicate.Please don’t allow that to affect your decision.”
There are still enough people to overrule me, but I know Massimo will think about what I’m saying.
“Thank you for your honesty.”