BRANDONAthens, Greece The twins barge into the old Katrakis family room where my grandfather and I are sitting face to face, discussing more plans to take down my uncle and his bastard brother. I’m afraid we’d have to walk a long journey. We have evidence, but nothing much points to Alfio as the mastermind. He can quickly bail with all we’ve found so far, and we’re not releasing Alayna’s testimony yet since it’s too early for that. It might turn out to be conclusive, but it’s our last resort.
Stan glances at his granduncle and back at me. “Oh, I’m sorry. We can come back later.”
Our grandfather puffs on his Cuban cigar. “Go on. You can take it from here, kids. I have an old friend to meet this afternoon anyway.” He pushes himself up, grunting as he does. My grandfather can still walk without a cane, but he is not as swift as before.
He pats Cary’s shoulder before heading out of the door. “Good job, kids. Good job, but you absolutely need to work more than that,” he says and clears his throat like the strict grandfather he is.
Cary’s brows furrow. “I’m not sure if he really likes me.”
“You know how he is.” I blow out a sharp breath. “His expectations are higher than high.”
“But I’m sure he will be satisfied this time.” Stan folds his arms. “Don’t be shocked by what we’re about to tell you.”
I cross my legs to the side. “Uh-huh.”
“But Granduncle probably barraged him outside. Hold on.” Cary rushes back to the door, and my eyes follow him, wondering who he’s referring to. I shrug at Stan.
“Γαμήσου!”Cary reenters, and behind him is Silvanus’s younger brother Charlie.
I tense up. “What’s going on here?”
“Hear him out, will you?” Stan requests.
“Might I remind you, I’m not here for you? I’m here for myself,” Charlie says gruffly, shoving Cary away from him.
“Okay?” I raise an eyebrow at him. The twins wouldn’t bring him here for no reason, even though I’m not sure what it is yet. “Why don’t you sit?”
Charlie briskly marches inside and occupies the place where my grandfather sat. He first glances up at the twins, then at me. “I’m not doing an introduction.”
“Very well.” Stan clears his throat. “Charlie is here to help us with our case.”
“What?” This is probably the most insane thing I’ve ever heard. “Why would you help us?” I look at him.
Cary goes on, “I guess we didn’t tell you about this before, but we’ve been tracking Charlie’s activities the past couple of months—”
“Which I still find fucking creepy,” Charlie interjects.
“... and we’ve found some irregularities,” Stan concludes.
“Which are?” I ask.
“Goddamn it. Is this how you two normally speak?” Charlie complains. “Zina talks faster than you!” he says, referring to the twins’ niece from their older sister.
Charlie is a lot younger than us. He’s only twenty-one, and his father has already had him working in illegal businesses, so I’m still not sure if I can believe this sudden change. But the twins are two of the people I trust the most in the world, so I’m going to give this a chance.
Nevertheless, I find Charlie’s statement hilarious. The twins indeed like to finish each other’s sentences. I hide my amusement away. “Go on.”
“Fine. I was actually going to explain first,” Cary says. “Charlie is working against Alfio.”
I frown in confusion. “Why would you do that?”
“Because my father is an asshole. He’s insane, and I’m fed up with his shit,” Charlie says bluntly.
Honestly, I’m mesmerized by his impertinence. “Aren’t you working with him?”
“Hence the explanation,” Cary presses on.
“I still am, so he won’t suspect what I’m doing behind his back. I still help him. I know his plans, his businesses, and his filthy, dirty secrets and affairs.” Charlie grimaces as he speaks. “I’m so sick of it all.”
“And why should we believe you?” I couldn’t be more careful.
Stan moves forward and hands me a black envelope with the Dragoumis family seal on it. “Open that.”
The seal is already broken, so I flick the flap open and draw a worn-out paper with blotted fountain-pen writing.
“That’s my mother’s letter to her nanny before she passed away,” Charlie explains. “Olympia, the nanny, is dead, and this letter was passed on to me by her daughter Katina. That letter contains the words she couldn’t tell anyone. I was very young when Mama died. I have not much memory of her, but I remembered I was happy when she was around, and I saw how she suffered.”
I open the letter, which is written in Greek. The letter was from Nefeli Katrakis to Olympia Ariti, asking the old woman to rescue her, saying that her husband was threatening to murder her in case she told anyone what she’d seen...
“What did she see?” I ask, not reading further because I already know it, and the suspense will kill me first.
“Mama sawI stare back at the paper and proceed.
... Olympia, please, take me out of here. My husband will kill me. He knows that I know, and he’s threatening me. I’m more than willing to leave this life and live with you in Kavala. You are like my mother, you see. I’m taking my sons with me, away from him. I saw him. I saw him kill his mother. He killed Helen. Strangled her to death after stabbing her many times. No one is going to stop him from killing his own wife too, or maybe my sons...I fold the paper, unable to finish the rest of it. I shut my eyes as I let every word from the letter sink in. “When did you get this?”
“A very long time ago,” Charlie answers. “As you can all remember, Mama died in a car accident three days after the letter was sent to Olympia. At the end of that letter, Mama asked Olympia to meet with her, but she died.” He adds through his teeth, “Who else would do this, huh? No one else but my father.”
I slowly open my eyes, and the rage inside me grows. I feel it in my blood, searing my head. “Did you tell your brother?”
“No!” he almost shouts. “It took Katina three years to deliver this letter to me after her mother entrusted it to her. She’s scared. I’m lucky enough it didn’t end up in Silvanus’s hands. He wouldn’t believe it either. For him, our father is a saint.”
“A saint who murders his own family? Is slaughtering people only a pastime to him?” I rake my fingers over my scalp harshly. My flesh and bones recoil in disgust. I can’t believe that man is my own blood.
“Everything is falling into place now, Brandon,” Stan says. “With Charlie’s testimony and this letter—”
“Whoa, whoa!” Charlie interrupts. “I’m not doing anything for you, and I’m certainly not helping you on your for meI let my anger fade a little. “What do you want?”
“Good question. You have the power, and I have the information. I will give you this letter, but I want Olympia’s daughter out of the case.”
“Done,” Cary agrees. “What else?”
“You have to promise he’s going to be imprisoned forever, and my brother too. I want them to suffer for the rest of their lives in prison rather than dying. I’m certain they will lose every right to the Katrakis fortune. Now, I want to assure my place in this. I don’t want to lose my rights in this family.”
“But you’ve worked with them, Charlie,” I remind him. “You’ve been engaged in illegalities too. Even if you get away with it, some will still try to put the blame on you.”
“I know.” He looks down dejectedly. “But I can swear on my mother’s name, I only did that so my father and Silvanus wouldn’t suspect that I’m defying them. This is why I’m asking you to back me up too. I’ll fully cooperate, but only you have the power to clear my name.”
“I know that there’s a catch, Brandon,” Cary remarks. “But it’s worth a try. We already ran a fact check, and all he’s saying is true. The handwriting matches Nefeli’s, and we’ve spoken to Katina as well. Besides, Charlie’s an asset.”
I study them. I know how the twins work, and betrayal doesn’t run in their blood, but I still have to be vigilant. “Why is that? I can’t trust words alone.”
“It doesn’t matter if you trust me or not,” Charlie says. “You need my help, and I need yours. I know everything about the man you’re looking for. Marcus, right?”
“Where is he?” I ask.
“Hiding with his son in Gillingham,” he answers without hesitation. “I can lead you there. I know everything about my father and what Marcus did to your family. I’m sure you already know that, but you don’t have much evidence, am I correct?”
“And you do?”
“I know where he lives. I know how my father asked his bastard brother to murder your family. Marcus is only a pawn, Brandon. He only wants the money, but he also did it for another reason.”
I stand up, hearing another side of the story for the first time. “What reason?”
“Didn’t you say you don’t trust my word?”
I glance at the twins, who seem to already know what Charlie is talking about.
“Marcus thinks his father died because of Petros,” Cary says.
I take my mind back to the day I was kidnapped and tortured. Marcus said something I wouldn’t be able to forget.
This is for what your family did to mine...I didn’t know what the hell that meant back then. Is that what it was about? What did my grandfather do to his father anyway?
“You see, if you want to know Marcus’s reason, you’d have to ask him yourself,” Charlie says. “And if there’s one person who can help you solve this case, it’s me. I can’t do this alone either. I’ve tried, but I ended up hitting a dead end. Either we work together now or sit waiting for a miracle. We both know there’s no such thing.”
“And finally, we actually have a concrete plan,” Stan says. “Legal I contemplate a little, look at every angle, think of every possibility, but there’s really no shortcut. Is this really the best shot we can get?
“Jason’s always ready.” I slip the letter into my breast pocket. “I’m keeping the letter for assurance.”