Wicked Liar by Faith Summers

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.”

“Always, brother. As for Candace, I think it's time to talk to her about her father and uncle. She deserves to know something after today."

They both agree with that.

I look toward the stairs when I hear her shuffling around in my room. Massimo and Tristan look too.

I stand. “I’m gonna go take care of her.”

“We’re going to head out,” Massimo says and they both stand.

“I’ll call you guys later.”

“Sure.”

Once they’re gone, I brave the task of heading upstairs, not sure what state I’m going to find Candace in.

I open the bedroom door and see her sitting by the window. When she looks at me, I remember her back in Stormy Creek sitting by her window in her parents' house.

She looks at me when I walk in. When I get over to her and take her hand, she grabs mine with both of hers like she wants me to stop her from falling.

I reach for the nearest chair, set it in front of her, and sit. Placing my free hand on top of hers, I try to reassure her, and stroke over the silky skin of her knuckles.

“I’m sorry about today, Angel,” I tell her. "I know it was hard for you."

Her eyes are so puffy and red I can’t read her reaction.

“I… never thought I’d see him again.”

“Do you want to talk to me about it?”

She sighs on a labored breath and lifts her shoulders. “I need to.”

“Okay.” That’s positive. “So, we’re talking about a man called Tobias Navarro. You saw his picture today because we believe he’s one of the men who signed the contract to wipe out the Syndicate.”

“Have you seen him?”

“No. I haven’t, and I don’t know if he’s even in L.A, but it’s very likely.”

“God. Dominic, he was sent to kill my family."

"I know. Rest assured we will be looking for him and anybody else involved." I nod with determination. Now it's time to tell her what's going on. "Candace I came across his name on a list days ago. That's where I also saw your father's and uncle's names. Tobias is a human trafficker. I think that maybe the job your father was doing was that."

I can actually see her heartbreaking. I can almost hear it. As it shatters at the dark news, I realize why I wanted to preserve the memory Candace had of her father. It was because we had such a tough childhood. Our parents are the only good things we have from it.

"Human trafficking, Dominic?" She can barely form the words.

"Yeah. Bear in mind I'm not a hundred percent, but I think what we have is pretty solid."

She wipes away a tear with the heel of her hand.

"I can't believe it."

"I know. I'm guessing he would have been desperate to take a job like that. We never understand why people do the things they do."

"Thank you for being kind to me." She sniffles.

"That's okay, Angel." I give her hand a gentle squeeze. "When you first saw Tobias, was he with your father?"

Her hand stills. "Um..."

She blinks rapidly, then it’s like something snaps inside her. Her eyes close and she shakes her head.

“I can’t. I can’t talk about that. I can’t talk about it, Dominic. Please don’t make me.”

I stare at her, wondering where that came from. She just switched out on me.

"Candace, is there something more?"

She continues to shake her head. "I'm sorry I can't. I promised her I wouldn't say anything."

I narrow my eyes.

Who is she talking about?

She breaks like she did before, and what follows is a replay of how she was in the past. Tears without words.

It’s not until she falls asleep and I watch her in her sleep, curling in on herself, tossing and turning that something strikes me that hit me before.

As she mutters the words, “please don’t hurt me tonight, I’m in pain,” my instincts awaken thoughts I’ve always pushed out of my mind because I didn’t want to believe it.

Not about her. I think about that day I noticed the light leave her eyes. The twinkle was gone, and she was different.

She was thirteen.

I think about how her father warned me away from her and how I stayed away.

I wish I hadn’t because deep down I knew. I just knew that Candace was acting like someone who’d been abused.