Chloe looked shocked. “But what about the staff? The customers?”
“Exactly. We have a lot to work out.” He realized he’d used the word “we” and immediately amended it. “At least my mom and brothers do. As to the rest of us, we’re needed for support. Mom asked if we can stay on to attend my cousin Zeke’s engagement party tomorrow night—show a strong family front and all that. I’m happy to do whatever you prefer. We can head home right now, or stay a few extra days.”
“Miles, you know I’ll do whatever makes you happy.”
He smiled at her response. “And you do it very well.”
She slapped him lightly on the shoulder. “That wasn’t what I meant. Look, if you need to be with your family, then we’ll stay. Family is important. Everything, really. Sometimes you do things you’d rather not have to do, just to keep them happy. Which reminds me, I need to report in to my mom.”
That was a strange choice of words, Miles thought as Chloe rose and left to make the call. And there’d been an odd undertone to her voice. Maybe it was wistfulness, but his spider senses suggested there was more to it. Miles shook his head slightly to rid himself of the sensation. Clearly, he’d been around his family too long already—he was beginning to see discord in everything and Chloe had nothing to do with it, did she?
Eleven
Chloe made her way slowly upstairs. She wasn’t looking forward to making that call. Her mom had been so excited when she’d learned that Chloe was going to Royal with Miles so she could get closer to the Wingates and find the leverage she needed to really do them some harm. By the way things were going, though, they didn’t need any help in that regard.
She’d heard far more than she was meant to this morning, thanks to an untied shoelace that she’d attended to before entering the breakfast room. Sebastian’s words about the DEA and the company asset freeze had been shocking. Chloe hated seeing the strain on Miles, too. This entire issue had ballooned beyond everyone’s imagination.
But were they innocent? It was hard to tell. Surely, with the volume of drugs involved they must have known something. And the DEA—they weren’t in the habit of laying charges withou
t a solid basis for doing so. Someone in the family had to know something and that would make them just as heartless as she’d always thought they all were. And, as much as she was drawn to Miles and as much as she didn’t want it to be true, maybe he was exceptionally good at lying and projecting a false facade. Heaven only knew his father had been—after all, her father had trusted Trent Wingate implicitly. Maybe the apple hadn’t fallen far from the tree at all.
A deep ache started in her chest at the thought. She was on the verge of giving her heart to the man, despite her initial intentions. And he’d confounded her at every turn. He’d been solicitous, kind and the type of lover women usually only read about in novels. She didn’t want to believe that he was complicit in this in any way. But, she reminded herself, the second his family had crooked a finger, he’d come running to help.
Of course, that didn’t tell her anything other than the fact that he was essentially a good man, one part of her argued. Or maybe it told her that he needed to be here to cover his bases regarding his own involvement in whatever was going on. So, what was she to do? Her mom expected her to take action and Chloe had the contact details of the reporter at the paper. All she had to do was send a text or an email to him about what she’d overheard this morning and the Wingate’s privacy would be blown wide-open before they had a chance to do damage control.
She picked her phone up from inside her handbag and stared at the blank screen. All her life she’d been bitter about this family, but flawed as they were, were they any different to her own, or any other family? Sure, they had more money than most—a lot more, and much of it amassed on the misery of others—but did she have the right to stomp all over them and expose this latest scandal to the press?
Chloe jumped and nearly dropped her phone as the screen lit up with her mother’s face and her mom’s special ringtone split the air.
“Hi, Momma,” she said, accepting the call. “I was just going to call you.”
“Since you hadn’t called me, I thought I’d better phone you and check in.”
There was no doubting the unhappiness in her mom’s voice.
“I’m sorry,” Chloe hastened to say. “It’s been...busy here.”
“I wish I could say the same. Here it’s still the same old, same old. I got my utilities bill today. I don’t know how I’m going to settle it or how much longer I’m going to be able to support myself.”
The ache that had started in Chloe’s chest earlier hardened into a painful knot. She knew her mother’s financial position better than anyone.
“We’ll find a way, Momma. I promise.” She thought about the credit card she kept only for emergencies and which she’d painstakingly just paid off. “And you know you can live with me if you can’t afford your apartment anymore.”
Her mom sighed. “I’ll manage, just like I always have. Anyway, I don’t want to talk about it. How are things in Texas? Has Royal changed much?”
“I guess it must have, Momma, because I haven’t seen anyone I recognize yet. But then again, I was so young when we left.”
Her mom sighed down the line. “It was wrong what they did to us, Chloe. So wrong. We deserved so much better. Your father deserved so much better.”
And with those words Chloe knew she had to do something, even if it wasn’t directly. She could give her mom the ammunition. Loretta then just needed to aim and send it in the right direction. Her mom had lost everything she’d ever held dear, aside from Chloe. Now she had the power to actually give her something back that might bring joy back into her life even if it destroyed the untried bond that was growing between her and Miles.
“Momma, I’m going to tell you something I learned today. Something about the Wingates.”
“You are?”
For the first time in a long time, Loretta Fitzgerald sounded thoroughly animated. Chloe swallowed against the bitter taste in her mouth.
“Yes, I am. But I want you to think carefully about what you want to do with this knowledge. This could change things for the Wingates forever.”