Duke laughs. “Don’t get too excited. I found some frozen meals and heated them in the microwave.” The microwave dings. “And yours is now ready.”
I join Logan at the table, and Duke follows right behind me.
“Here is the burner phone,” Logan says. “After dinner, you can make that call.”
Duke freezes with his fork halfway to his mouth. “What call?”
“I’m going to call Nelson to see if I can find out anything.”
Duke shoves the food into his mouth, then leans back. Once he swallows, he shakes his head. “He won’t tell you anything. But I guess it doesn’t hurt to try.”
We eat the rest of our meal in silence. It’s been silent all day, and it’s driving me nuts.
“After I make this call, maybe we can turn on some music or something.”
Logan grunts. “Sorry, but we need to be able to hear anyone coming. That’s one reason that driveway is gravel.”
Oh, I hadn’t thought of that. I guess it makes sense.
“Hey,” Duke says. “Ask Nelson why he set me up. That’s something I can’t make sense of. He had access to more supply with me around.”
I nod. “I guess I should make the call.” The idea of talking to my husband makes me nervous. I never was before, but since my father’s death, the true Nelson has been coming out more and more. He’s worse than I thought he was.
I step into the living room and turn on the speakerphone before I make the call.
“Hello?” he answers.
I wasn’t sure if he’d answer an unknown number. “Hey, it’s Delaney.”
“Wow. I didn’t think I’d hear from you.”
Of course, he didn’t. He was hoping I was dead.
“Surprise, your goons haven’t killed me yet.” There’s an edge to my voice, but dammit, he deserves it.
He laughs. The man has the gall to laugh.
“This isn’t funny,” I say. “Why did you frame Duke?”
He takes a deep breath and calms his laughter. “Sorry. My goons, as you call them, are not who is coming after you two. It’s Ruiz’s men.”
“Who’s Ruiz?”
He sighs. “Jesus, how can you be around all this for so long and still be so clueless? Ask your brother. Is he there with you?”
“No,” I lie and glance at my brother, who nods. “Why did you frame him?”
The sound of fabric against leather fills the air, and I know exactly where he is. He’s sitting in my dad’s leather office chair, probably drinking his good scotch and going through drawers he shouldn’t. But I bite back the anger at how comfortable Nelson has made himself in our family. I need answers.
“Why do you think? Why the hell do you think I married you? My family is taking over all of Manzia’s business.”
I turn to Duke as I process what he said. “What do you mean all of Manzia’s business?”
He mumbles something into the phone. “Look, I don’t have time to school Daddy’s sheltered little girl. The short version is your dad had a lucrative business. Now that he’s gone, it belongs to my family. I’m sorry about framing Duke, but it was the only way.”
Okay, I may not know a lot about what my dad did, but I do know he had legitimate businesses. Ones which I thought were all he participated in once upon a time. And those are both mine and Duke’s.
“Framing Duke doesn’t give you anything. It means it would all go to me. Is that why you want me dead?”
