Page 96 of Twisted Truths

“Give us a second.” I drag Hadley to my bedroom where we quickly dress, and then join Gabriel in the kitchen.

“Tanner Crawley’s in a coma,” I announce, leaning back against the bench opposite him, watching his reaction.

His eyes widen. “Are you serious?”

I nod. “Cops came by this morning.”

His gaze darts to Hadley, then back to me.

“We’re good,” I assure him. “For now, at least.”

Gabriel doesn’t look convinced, but he lets it go for now. He gestures to the mess in the kitchen. “Do I want to know what happened here?”

Hadley blushes, ducking her head as she stands in front of me, leaning back against my chest.

I rest my hands on her waist, feeling grounded by her presence.

Ignoring his question, I counter with one of my own. “What did you find out?”

He sighs and pushes his food away. “It’s not good.”

“Just tell me.”

“Paul was helping someone pay off their debts.”

I look at him in confusion. “Who?”

“Levi.”

My stomach twists. When are the blows going to stop hurting so bad?

“From what Grimshaw could find out, Levi was approached by some men involved in a massive betting ring two years ago. Apparently, some kid caught their eye, and they saw him as a cash cow.”

Theo Crawley.

“It started small, a few small bets here and there, but things quickly got out of hand.”

I shake my head. How the hell didn’t I know about this? Why didn’t Mum or Paul say anything? And why did Levi go to Paul instead of Dalton?

“About a year ago, the kid got caught up in a fight at school, resulting in him and three other players being suspended for a week. The team lost a sitter against the bottom of the ladder opposition. Quite a lot of money was lost on that game. The men wanted to collect, and Levi was the scapegoat.”

“So, Paul paid them off?” None of this is making sense to me.

Gabriel nods. “Grimshaw’s source says the men cornered Levi after the game and were about to lay into him when Zara and Crawley interrupted them. They threatened Levi’s wife and family.”

Ziggy, being the bleeding heart she always was, would have taken it upon herself to fix it for him. But if Crawley found out about Levi using his brother’s talent to net a nice little nest egg, I can’t imagine he’d be too happy about it. Is that what he and Zig fought about? Did he turn violent towards her because of Levi, and that’s why she walked away?

“Why didn’t thissourcego to the authorities?” I ask, my head spinning.

Why didn’t my family tell me? Why didn’t Levi?

I could have helped.

Gabriel shrugs. “They probably didn’t want to get involved.”

I scoff. “Even after my family was murdered?”

“I don’t know what to tell you. It took some digging to get that information.”