I shift my attention to Elle. “There’s also something you need to know before you come across the details on the drive.”
Elle’s brows draw down and her nostrils flare. She clears her throat and sits up straighter. “I think I already know.”
Sam sits forward, his gaze sharpening as he darts a look between the rest of us. “What? What’s the big fucking secret?”
Elle shoots a hard look at Sam. “Don’t you think it was pretty weird for Arturo to help me get that internship at Typhon?” She’s referring to her new job in the finance department of the shipping corporation Flores uses for pretty much all his deals. “Not that I’m complaining. A paid internship at a place like that is perfect. But he has something on the CEO there, at least I think he does, based on the few times I’ve seen them speaking. I thought it was a little too strange for him to take such a close interest in me, so I started snooping.”
“Bean,” Maddox admonishes. “You need to be careful.”
She shakes her head. “Don’t worry, it’s all digital. As far as anyone knows, I’m a clueless intern. I just know my way around a digital network better than most.”
She takes a deep breath, shifting her hazel-eyed gaze around to each of us and then settling on me. “I know Flores is paying Drake Stavros, the CEO of Typhon, to store something that isn’t typical cargo. He calls it Santo Niña, but there isn’t a piece of art anywhere in his warehouses that could refer to. I think it means me. I think whatever is on these drives is going to prove that he’s my biological father, and that he’s called in a favor to force Stavros to keep an eye on me.”
I blink at her, then look at Maddox when he utters a soft curse. She glances between us, her eyes wide. Sam is speechless.
“That look tells me I’m not wrong. Is that all there is? Tell me, dammit!” She smacks the surface of the table, glaring at me.
I clear my throat and shake my head. “Fucking hell, Bean. You’re too smart for your own good. But spot-on. Mom and Arturo have history. You’re definitely his. But that’s not the only thing.”
I turn to Sam and point at him to emphasize what I’m about to say. “You can not repeat what I’m about to tell you, no matter how much your dick wants you to. Elle and Celeste aren’t Arturo’s only daughters. Toni is his too.”
Sam sputters and blinks, then shuts his mouth, looking stunned.
Maddox sits forward, taking over while Sam digests the bomb we just dropped on him. “We’re telling you guys because both Elle and Toni might become targets at some point if this information gets into the wrong hands. We can’t control the source, so we have to be prepared. Sammy, you need to be on guard. Keep your distance from Toni’s studio if you get any sense something is off, you got it?”
“The fuck I will,” Sam spits, sitting up straighter and glaring at us. “If she’s a target, she needs to be protected.”
“Fuck, I was afraid of this,” Maddox mutters, shaking his head. He slowly rises to his feet and leans across the table, pointing at Sam, his voice deepening and rising in volume at the same time. “Don’t you dare fucking tell her, got it? The fewer people who know, the safer she’ll be. The last thing she needs to do is confront Flores publicly about it. If Amador finds out the truth, both Toni and Elle are in trouble. He’s threatened Celeste several times already. He still believes she’s his daughter, not Arturo’s, and he’ll do whatever it takes to get Flores to give her up, even if that means hurting other women close to him. Just don’t fuck this up!”
Sam’s eyes are wide, his anger fading in the wake of Mad’s vehemence. I see our father in my older brother’s face, in his bearing, and hear the old man in his voice. The biggest difference is that Maddox doesn’t reach across the table to smack our brother around, and his words are calm and reasoned, if a little loud.
Sam responds with a nod, then clears his throat. “You’re the boss, but I’m not fucking leaving her side. Can we at least compromise on that?”
Maddox sighs and sits again. “Fine, just be careful, both of you.” He spears Sam and Elle with one more look.
“Jesus,” Sam mutters, then looks at me. “And here you were afraid you were the one channeling Dad the most. You’ve got nothing on Mad. But I’d take both of you yelling at me over that asshole. At least you two make sense.”
“I just want to protect you, not beat you into submission,” I say. “So does Mad. I’ll always be here for you guys. Callie’s moving in next week, so we’ll be here, in this house, for the foreseeable future. You need anything, just call.”
It doesn’t sound like much, but looking at my two younger siblings and the relief in their eyes, it finally sinks in that what I’m giving them is more than our father ever offered. It took a fucking harrowing journey for me to get here, but for the first time in my life, I find comfort in my decision to stay put, to fill in the emptiness Dad left behind, and know without a doubt that I’ll be able to do a better job than he did.
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