Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 79938 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79938 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
“I have to do this,” he said.
Alexis exhaled a long stream of smoke and looked at him. “You might get both of them killed.”
He tensed at the very idea of it. Galen could take care of himself, but he thought of Theo first, rather than his own safety. Meg was smart and savvy, but she was out of her depth in this situation. A world without either of them would be unthinkable. “I won’t let that happen.”
“You’re so much like your father, it makes me sick.” She shook her head and took another drag from the cigarette. “You’re not a god, Theodore. You can’t save everyone.”
He could stand here and argue with her until he was blue in the face, but she would never forgive him for being the reason her sister stayed in Thalania, or for having that country’s stamp all over him. Theo was who he was. And Alexis might not believe it, but Mary had been happy until she died. However his parents’ relationship started, it ended in mutual affection and love. He couldn’t say as much to his aunt, though, without being accused of lying.
Instead, he went with the reason they were in Germany to begin with. “Will you give me a copy of her birth certificate?”
“You should let this go. Settle down with your cute little polyamorous life. Have babies or don’t. Grow old at a normal pace instead of accelerated through the stress of holding an entire country together.”
Theo held onto his patience by his fingertips. “Phillip is actively trying to remove me from the equation now, Alexis. He won’t stop, because as long as I’m alive, I’m a threat—even if I’m living what passes as a normal life. This is as much about survival as it is about reclaiming my birthright.” He paused. “And my mother deserves to have her reputation cleared.”
Alexis gave a bitter little laugh. Her blue eyes, so like his mother’s, held no warmth or sympathy. “Mary’s dead. Who gives a fuck about her reputation?”
“I do. And I think you do, too.” He glanced over his shoulder. Galen would have Meg in the car by now. They were waiting. “Alexis, please.”
She sighed and walked to a small table situated between two wicker chairs to snuff out her cigarette. Alexis bent and pulled a faded blue folder from beneath one of the chair cushions. She handed it to him. “Next time you’re going to bring violence down on us, don’t involve my son.”
“I won’t.” It was the least he could agree to. “The renovation is complete, as agreed. Thank you for the use of the house.”
Alexis shook another cigarette out of her pack and lit it. “I’m still contemplating burning it to the ground.”
He bit back a protest. The house belonged to her, and as such, it was her choice. No matter how little he liked it. There was no guarantee Theo would make it back through Germany again any time soon, but hell if he wouldn’t have bought that house from her outright if he thought for a second she’d sell. They’d only been there for roughly twenty-four hours, but the memories he and Meg and Galen had created within those four walls would stay with Theo for the rest of his life.
He flipped open the folder and read the equally faded birth certificate for one Mary Mortimore. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. I’m assisting in your determination to get yourself killed.” She turned away.
There was nothing else to say. He’d got what he came for, and there was no mending bridges when it came to Alexis. There hadn’t even been a bridge to begin with. “Stay safe, Alexis.”
“Go.”
He went.
Theo made sure the door was locked behind him and then walked to where Galen had a beige Audi station wagon running and slipped into the back seat next to Meg. Galen barely waited for the door to shut before he took off. “You got it.”
He looked at the birth certificate again. Mary Louise Mortimore. His mother. “I got it.” It didn’t seem like anything special, though. He had no idea why Phillip had specifically not included it in the evidence he’d compiled, but Theo had every intention of finding out.
After they got to safety.
He leaned forward. “Greece.”
“Figured.”
Meg had found a blanket somewhere—Galen, no doubt—and had it wrapped around her so that only her face was visible. “What’s in Greece?”
“A property Galen owns that no one in my family or his knows about. He purchased it through a shell corporation within another shell.”
She gave a wan smile. “I’m sure the fact that Greece borders your country has nothing to do with that decision.”
“Well, there is an infinity pool.”
She laughed softly. “Of course there is.”
“Next he’ll try to convince you that naked sunbathing is the thing to do.” Though there was a thread of amusement in Galen’s voice, the tense line of his shoulders gave lie to it. He glanced at Theo in the rearview. “Why don’t you both rest for a bit? It’s a long drive, and we’re going to have to make it longer to muddy the trail.”