Evie flung toast at him before Pris could kick the insensitive lout.
When Nick showedup in Jax’s office before noon, looking even more disheveled and haggard than the last time, Jax handed him a strong cup of coffee and offered a flask.
Nick shook his head. “Do you know how to reach Dante Rossi? I need to talk to him before they let Matthew and Rhonda out on bail.”
Jax kept his lawyer face on, hiding his shock. “After last night, I don’t know if Dante can be separated from his children. What if I set up a call on speaker?”
“I want this off my chest before Matt decides I’m a hazard to his father’s health.” Nick looked bleak. “This country has lawyer confidentiality, does it not? Will you do this as my lawyer?”
“Currently, Bella is my client. If Bella is defunct, shove a dollar my way, and you can take their place.” He hit Dante’s number as Nick dug for his wallet and produced a five.
Jax spoke into the phone. “If you can find a quiet place in that madhouse—I recommend the library where no one ever goes—I have a client who would like to speak with you. You’re on speaker now.”
Dante snorted. In the background, childish voices sing-songed the alphabet, along with an amazingly discordant piano. As far as Jax was aware, Evie didn’t own a piano or a TV. It must be a recording.
“Give me a moment to disentangle myself. Do you know what this is about?” the Italian asked.
“Not a clue.” Jax looked at Nick, who said nothing. “I’m going to guess Lucia.”
“Without the police?” The background noise faded.
“Not yet.” Jax gestured at Nick, then to the phone. “You know Dante doesn’t have to keep your confidence?”
Nick nodded. “If he wants to call the police, that’s his call. I don’t want you to feel obligated to do so.”
“All right, I am in this bookless library, and the door is closed.” A chair squeaked as Dante found a seat.
“Nicholas Gladwell is with me. He’s a distant relation of Vincent’s and marketing manager of La Bella Gente.” With the phone on speaker, Jax sipped his coffee and left Nick and Dante to talk.
Stoic Dante, as usual, said nothing.
Nick squirmed, then leaned toward the phone. “I only met Lucia that one summer in London, when she was doing the commercials. She was excited about having her lotions produced. After she left for Italy, I dealt only with Katherine.”
“Lucia must have been pregnant that summer,” Dante said. “Did she mention her plans at all?”
“No, but we didn’t have personal conversations. She and Kit-Kat were close, sharing the townhouse with their mother. That’s what I wanted to tell you. A few years after Kit-Kat took over the operations, we became casual lovers.” Nick rubbed his unshaven jaw and sipped his coffee.
On the other end, Dante said nothing encouraging. Jax offered the flask again.
Nick shook his head. “Katherine told me that Vincent was abusive, and that he’d sent her mother to the hospital on several occasions. When they learned their mother had cancer, she and Lucia threw Vincent out, but Kat feared he may have somehow hastened her death. He inherited everything. It wasn’t riches, but it gave him control of her mother’s bank accounts, the townhouse, and Bella.”
Jax started taking notes. Dante merely listened.
Nick took a deep breath. “Kat told me Vincent destroyed the letters Lucia sent to you. I didn’t want to be part of the family dynamics, didn’t really know the background, and stupidly didn’t ask why Lucia didn’t just call.”
“Lucia always wrote. She considered phones an expensive nuisance, refused to play phone tag, and knew I was always traveling or out of cell range.” Dante finally broke his silence, sounding immensely sad. “I think she lacked confidence that I would listen or even answer. And the worst thing is, she was probably right. If she hoped I’d go looking for her in some grand romantic gesture—I didn’t.”
“Without those letters, you didn’t know she was pregnant,” Jax reminded him. “You weren’t even engaged. As far as you were concerned, she took off for a fancy new life. Any other expectation on her part was unrealistic. It’s on her, not you. She could have called, texted, or sat on your doorstep.”
Nick waved a dismissive hand. “Whatever. The thing is, Kat saidLuciakept a journal.Although she didn’t reveal anything back then, Kat had to have known when she told me this that Lucia was never coming back.”
The knowledge that Katherine had concealed her sister’s death was chilling, but with a monster for a father and brother...The whole family lacked a conscience.
When Dante said nothing, Jax had to clarify for his own understanding. “Do you have any evidence that Katherine was there when Matt killed Lucia?” That’s what Evie had claimed the ghost said, but they lacked proof.
Nick looked bleak. “I only know what Kat told me. Just before she died, she complained that Vincent was making a mockery of Lucia’s dream, and that she wouldn’t be blackmailed anymore. That she meant to go to the police, and that if anything happened to her, I was to find Lucia’s journal under the floorboards beneath her bed. It sounds melodramatic, but that was Kit-Kat. This must have been well over a year ago, and it was so ridiculous that I forgot about it—until now. And even now, I cannot see how it would help.” Nick sat back and breathed deeply, as if a ten-ton burden had been lifted from his chest.
“A journal under the floorboards? She gave no explanation?” Jax asked.
