Broken Pretty Things by Amber Faye
Chapter 19
The girlsdisperse while I steal some of Emile’s time before he tries his luck again with the girl with short black hair.
“We could make sure Goonar doesn’t come out here,” Ulla suggested to me, but I told them it was fine. That trying to stop him from doing something just makes him want to do it more.
They both rolled their eyes at that, and again I felt protective of him, of his worst traits. But I need to tamp that down and concentrate on finding out what Emile knows about my friend’s death.
“I’ll give you the short version, since we’re here,” Emile says. “Gunnar’s dad and Cole’s dad were in business together, right?”
“Right.” They were, and still are, two of the most rich and powerful men in town. They had actually met through the boys’ close friendship, and begun some kind of financial something-or-other together. It had gone so well that Cole’s father had sold his other businesses to funnel money into this one.
“Well, my dad was Preston Rayne’s lawyer. He told me Preston came to him to ask about some pretty shady stuff. Loopholes in contracts. He wanted to pull out of the company, and he thought he could do it with 100% of the shares. My dad didn’t really want to go there, so we think Preston pursued it with a different team of lawyers, but my dad was adamant it was shady as hell. It bankrupted the Wallers. But he signed an NDA, so he wasn’t supposed to say any of this.”
“I had no idea the Wallers were bankrupt,” I admit, feeling woozy suddenly.
“Yep. Completely. It was bad.”
The sudden increase in Cole wanting to head over to our house for dinner. His card would get rejected. He told me he was having a problem with the magnetic strip. I’d had no idea he was having money problems, but now so many memories come rushing back. This all really could be true.
“What does it have to do with his …” I ask, lowering my volume to a whisper.
“Cole met up with my dad. Asked some questions, seemed to think what Preston did could be undone. That it wasn’t good business, you know?” I nod, eyes wide. “Obviously my dad couldn’t say anything, but Cole left with more questions.” Emile steps closer, looking around. “What if Cole was digging around and Preston wanted it to stop?”
“What would have happened to the Raynes if it had come to light?”
“I mean, I have no idea. They would have lost a lot of money, and reputation. And you know the Raynes.” He cranes his neck to look over my shoulder and I hope to hell Gunnar isn’t there. “Without that, what do they have?”
I swallow, and look over my shoulder. I wish my heart wasn’t beating so hard. I know he’s here somewhere. Maybe Hero is right. Maybe I can sense him.
“Nothing,” I say. But only because it’s the answer Emile wants. There’s something about the Raynes; that magnetism they all seem to have. It’s not just money. It’s charm, it’s confidence, it’s something indescribable.
“And with the young Raynes about to head off to their Ivy Leagues,” Emile continues, a glint in his eye as he gets more and more into his theory, “now is not the time to lose everything.”
“That’s interesting,” I admit.
“But, you know, it could also go the other way.”
I look back up at him. “What do you mean?”
“Well,” he says with a slightly embarrassed shrug. “It’s also a pretty good reason for Cole to have been, you know … sad.”
There it is, that weight in my stomach that had been briefly lifted by a new lead. It’s back. I thank Emile and turn back to the house. I got my information, and Logan is here. It might be time to leave.