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William

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

“Did I hear that right? You invited Taylor to work at the hospital?” L.J. asks.

“Yes.”

“And why would you do that? I thought you wanted to keep your distance from her.”

“She might be pregnant . . .as of yesterday.”

They both look at me as if I’ve grown a third eye, but before they can say anything, I gesture for them not to start.

“I’m not discussing this right now.”

“Alright,” L.J., the most sarcastic of the three of us, says—surprisingly.

“Last night, when I was driving her home, Taylor remembered something.”

I tell them about her supposed memory loss, and just like me, they are skeptical.

“You actually believe she doesn’t remember anything?” Athanasios asks.

“No, but her disappearance still doesn’t add up in my mind. And if she really does have amnesia, I’ll never be able to know for sure what happened.”

L.J. gets up to attend to an emergency, leaving just the two of us.

“Do you really want to find out what happened, regardless of whether the truth is worse than you imagine?”

“Nothing could be worse than what I imagine.”

“Remember the man I told you about? The one who helped me with Brooklyn’s problems, with some things from her past? He’s the same one who uncovered everything about mine as well,” he says.

“A detective?” I ask, because despite having mentioned this mysterious man before, he never gave me a name.

“No. A detective doesn’t have the reach that he does. But I’m sure that if he agrees to help you, you’ll find out the whole truth.”

“And why would he do that?”

“Because he’s like a modern-day avenger. And if Taylor didn’t leave you voluntarily—if someone took her—he’ll find out. But he doesn’t sugarcoat reality, William. No matter how ugly the truth is or who it might hurt, once he gets involved, he won’t stop until he gets to the bottom of it.”

“Who is he?”

“A friend of the Kostanidis family. Now, he’s my friend too.”

I run my hands over my face. “Yes, I want to know the truth.”

* * *

That Afternoon

“What exactly are you trying to tell me, William?”

“Nothing more than what I said, Grandma. I was with Taylor.”

“And this being with her means what exactly?”

“I love you, Maryann, and you’re the person I respect most in this world, but not even for you will I justify my personal life.”

“Then what’s the point of telling me this?” she asks, with her usual clarity.

“I’ve never hidden any part of my life from you, Grandma.”

“And Taylor is part of it.”

I get up and pace around the library—the same one she’s never stopped frequenting since the time Taylor used to work here. “I don’t know how to answer that.”

And it’s true. Because even if she isn’t pregnant, even if it turns out she was my father’s mistress and I keep hating her, I don’t think she’ll ever leave my mind.

“You don’t have to,” she says.

“Has she tried to talk to you since she came back?”

“She has, but I didn’t want her around. I liked her very much. Maybe I still do, but family is everything to me. I never liked your mother, and I never hid that, but she was my daughter-in-law. The divorce destroyed her.”

“Their marriage had been over for years, Grandma.”

“Are you defending Taylor?”

“No. But even if everything my father said was true—that they were lovers and planning to marry—he was the one who owed my mother loyalty, not his girlfriend.”

“I don’t like where this conversation is going, William.”

I look at her, unable to hide my disappointment. I admire her immensely, but it’s obvious she put the blame for my parents’ divorce entirely on Taylor.

“Good night, Maryann.”

* * *

The Next Day

To my surprise, Athanasios messaged me, saying the guy who helped him would be reaching out to me.

When he told me who it was, I was stunned.

Odin Lykaios.? 1

The man known as the emperor of information technology. The greatest hacker who ever existed—at least, according to whispers behind closed doors. And today, besides running the most powerful tech company in the country, he consults for intel agencies all over the world.

I’m still processing this information when my phone rings.

I saved his private number as soon as Athanasios gave it to me, but I didn’t expect him to call so soon.

“Odin Lykaios, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Likewise, Marshall. How can I help you?”

I explain Taylor’s entire story, from her disappearance to being found in Asia, on my father’s yacht, over a year later.

“And you think she was with him the whole time?”

“I don’t know. Maybe not the whole time. It was only a few months after she vanished in the middle of the night that they started being seen together. She says she lost her memory and doesn’t remember what happened, doesn’t remember me or anyone from her past.”

“And do you believe her?”

“No. But I need to be sure. A few days ago, she told me she remembered that before disappearing, she thought she was being followed.”

“Taylor what? What’s her last name?”

“Taylor Jarvis. I hired private investigators back then, but no one could find a single clue about what happened.”

“I’ll look into it. Hopefully, I’ll have some answers soon.” He pauses. “You want the truth—no matter what it is?”

“Yes, I do.”

1 ? The protagonist of About Love and Revenge