Fated To Three, And I Broke Them All

Verity:

I followed Gigi down the hallway and back toward my wing.

She stopped in my living room and turned to face me.

I had never seen her look so distraught.

There were bags under her eyes, her cheeks were flushed, and even her nose was red and eyelashes were wet.

I wasn’t sure how to explain it, but seeing her like that made me feel relieved.

"Are you okay, Gigi?" I asked softly, giving her a sad, sympathetic look.

Even though, if she weren’t so oblivious, she probably would have realized the concern on my face was fake.

"My brother is in the hospital. He’s lost a lot of blood, and no one is willing to donate any to him. My parents and I aren’t even allowed to see him. We haven’t seen him at all. So you tell me, how do you think I’m doing?" she asked, folding her arms across her chest as her voice cracked.

"Well, I hope your brother thought about you and your parents before committing all those crimes," I replied casually, avoiding her eyes because I was afraid the harshness in my expression would reveal too much of what I was really thinking.

"Right."

That was all she said.

Maybe because now she was standing exactly where I had once stood.

"Anyway, I’m glad he’s where he is now. I just can’t stop thinking about Jenna and what she went through."

For someone supposedly so concerned, Gigi was doing a remarkable job of acting normal. After giving me a brief, harsh glance, she slipped right back into her usual self.

And by her usual self, I meant the version of her who knew how to put on a convincing act.

"Yeah, but at least she survived it," I replied, reminding her that even though she hadn’t wanted to help Jenna, in the end, Jenna had escaped a horrible fate.

"Anyway," Gigi muttered, discreetly rolling her eyes before forcing a broken smile.

"Remember the job I gave you?"

I nodded. Of course I remembered.

She wanted me to spy on her fucking boyfriend.

"Well, good, because it’s time you actually did something about it," she remarked, slowly slipping her bag off her shoulder and searching through it.

A moment later, she pulled out a piece of paper.

There was a sixteen-digit code written on it.

"Take it. It’s the code to my boyfriend’s computer in the attic," she said.

My hand trembled slightly as I took the paper from her.

"I want you to get the information tonight," she continued. "Ragnar is busy with Jenna and everything else going on, and so are his brothers. Nobody is going to be anywhere near the attic. You’ll be able to get in, find what we need, and sneak back out."

She gently rubbed the back of one hand, her eyes fixed on it as though she were brushing away a speck of dust.

"Besides, I’ll be here too. If anything happens, I’ll be able to get you out of it." she added.

"Tonight?" I asked.

She nodded without looking at me. Then she finally raised her head, drew a deep breath, and turned toward me.

"Why? Is there a problem?" she asked, both eyebrows raised.

"No, not really. Tonight is probably the best time."

I wasn’t sure how I felt about any of this.

Something about her tone seemed off.

But I needed that piece of paper.

Because I wasn’t only going down there to look for information about Fox king anymore.

I needed to see the evidence against Justin for myself.

"Half an hour from now, Ragnar will be heading to his bedroom. He has a few important calls to attend," she sighed.

Then she paused, long enough to make it feel almost deliberate.

I could only assume the calls had something to do with Oliver.

"You can go and get the information then," she said dryly. "I’ll keep Jaguar and Theodore occupied until you’re done."

Every word came out flat and lonely, something I had never heard from her before.

Even when she had been pretending to be abused and acting as though she had suffered so much, she had never sounded this broken.

Faint streaks from dried tears marked her cheeks.

Usually, the second Gigi was mentioned, the brothers hovered around her like flies, terrified that something might be wrong.

This was the first time I had seen her wandering around the mansion so visibly upset while barely receiving any attention.

Still, I couldn’t expect that to last for long, especially with Theodore and Jaguar around. Only a few hours earlier, they had taken her to her room and tried to comfort her.

For now, though, I had a task to complete.

With that, Gigi reached for my arm and gave my elbow a gentle squeeze.

It might have looked comforting, and maybe that was what she wanted me to believe.

But the way her nails scraped against my skin told me otherwise.

Once she walked away, I went back to my room and took a picture of the paper so I would have a copy of the code.

Then I waited.

Within the next ten minutes, the meeting with Jenna ended. Half an hour later, I stepped out of my room.

The entire mansion was engulfed in silence.

The nights here were never this quiet.

But after everything one of their own had been through, the whole place seemed to be mourning.

I left my room and headed toward the side of the mansion.

A beautiful staircase led up to the attic, but the entrance at the top was secured by a locked door.

I knew how to pick a lock, so that wasn’t going to be a problem.

But when I reached the top of the stairs, I noticed the door was already slightly open.

Gigi must have left it that way for me.

Still, I couldn’t understand why she could get the attic door open but couldn’t come up here and check the computer herself.

Something about that bothered me.

But I didn’t have time to dwell on it.

I slipped through the door and froze at the sight of the dark room waiting for me.

Several computers, laptops, and phones were scattered around, probably pieces of Ragnar’s old equipment.

He never deleted anything.

Never got rid of it.

Never sold it.

Never destroyed it.

Then I made my way to the largest computer and sat down in front of it.