Page 60 of Embrace

“Remember him?” he asked her.

Bryn’s pale skin had turned deathly white as she nodded stiffly.

“I figured the only way Valentine could’ve known about the drugs was if he sent Moore to you. So I checked.”

She gasped. “Brian was paid by Valentine?”

“Yes.”

“Do you just have a hunch, or have you already confirmed it?” I asked.

“It’s confirmed.”

Impressed, I raised my eyebrows, nodding. “That was fast.”

Jasper shrugged. “It was easy. And what I’ve done about it was easier.”

“What did you do?” Bryn asked.

Jasper clamped his lips together and narrowed his eyes. She must’ve known she wouldn’t receive an answer. I’d changed, she’d changed, and so had Spencer, but Jasper hadn’t.

“So, I can fire Julia?” I asked. I couldn’t wait to send her packing.

“Monday morning. She’s going to receive a package from you, Asher.”

I frowned. “A package from me?”

He sat back in his seat, pushing his steepled fingers against his chin. “Yes, the morality clause in the Valentine trust prohibits funds being used for bribery or extortion, which means Julia is on the verge of losing whatever little she receives from that financial source. And now that we have Penina, it’s a done deal.”

“Oh no,” I said, shifting abruptly, picturing how that was going to play out. “Leave her out of it.”

“Doyou really think Julia’s going to let Dr. Ross skip off into the fucking sunset?” Jasper asked. “The answer is no. Which is why we have to strike before she does.”

I closed my mouth, and swallow as my gaze ping-ponged between Jasper and Bryn.

“Julia is the queen of vengeance and self-dealing,” Bryn said, I suspected in an effort to make me wake up and smell the snake.

I opened my eyes after absorbing her words, and then nodded.

“Excellent. The plan is set. Now sell it,” Jasper said. “I also figured out Julia was the one who told Boomer that you and Bryn had murdered Randolph.”

Shit, he had moved so rapidly to the next subject that my head was still spinning.

“That makes sense,” Bryn said, shaking a finger. “Because Valentine never knew Father was in a semi-coma for months before he died.”

“True,” Jasper said. “You want to know who Julia extorted?”

“Who?” Bryn asked, frowning curiously.

“The nurse, Laura, and Dr. Carlisle.”

Bryn and I looked at each other. Suddenly, the dread of telling Penina that my brother, who she never met, was planning on giving her all of Julia’s money had left me. I swallowed the lump lodged in my throat as I saw the incident replay in my head.

His bedroom at the mansion. The respirator. Father opening his eyes. The beeping going off as he takes his last breaths. To stop the noise, Bryn rushes over and pulls the plugs.

“Are you fucking crazy?” I ask.

Her eyes expand, warning me to keep quiet.