“He wanted him to have a place with us.”

“Yes.” He nods. “But the timing had me questioning my brother’s motives. He’d never spoken of a child, you three were already born, and suddenly he had a woman none of us had ever seen him with before, conveniently five months along.”

“He waited to find out it was a boy before he told you,” Maddoc says.

“Exactly.” Our dad shakes his head. “I didn’t believe him, but he expected that, and had a DNA test to prove it. He thought that would be enough, that he was my brother, so that meant his son would be promised all you three were, but it wasn’t that easy.”

“Why not? He wasn’t even born yet. He’d have come in as we did, just a baby.”

“From a relationship I’d only just learned of, and with a mother I didn’t know. I denied his request.”

“But you were the lead,” Raven says, studying him with narrowed eyes. “You couldn’t give him what he wanted, but you did love him, so you couldn’t give him nothing either...” She trails off, shaking her head.

He eyes her a long moment, and shame shadows his face as he looks to us. “When Maybell sent a pregnant, homeless Graven maid my way, Maria, I knew the father had to be a Graven, but I didn’t know which one. It just so happened—”

“Your brother’s wife was having a boy, and Maria was having a girl.” Raven glares. “You made a promise that wasn’t yours to make.”

“You’re wrong, Raven,” he says, his eyes moving to mine. “I gave my word to protect the life of Maria’s child with all my ability, to bring her into the Brayshaw world where she would be safe, raised alongside you all, and in return, Maria gave me permission to promise her daughter to my brother’s son.”

My face falls.

Victoria.

He continues, “Your fathers and my brother, as we thought, died not long later. Maddoc’s mother and I took the other two of you and your mothers into our home, something we planned to do even before they were killed, and I offered the mother of Mero’s unborn son a position. A month following that, Maria went into labor, and the baby, Victoria, was taken.”

“The mother lost her meal ticket,” Royce says.

“I had no intention of firing her or sending her away,” he tells us. “But that baby was her security, and suddenly it was gone.”

“She was afraid.”

Our dad looks to Perkins a long moment, and when he brings his eyes back to ours, distress shines through.

“Dad?”

“In her eyes, Mero was gone, the Graven baby was gone, and it was only a matter of time before I’d send her on her way. I couldn’t protect an unborn little girl as I promised, and with that failure, any trust she had in me died too.”

“I don’t understand.” I shake my head. “Mero was Brayshaw, was he not, he ‘died’ as one, didn’t he?”

“He did.” Our dad nods.

“So she didn’t trust you, who cares. Her son was Brayshaw, innocent. He could have grown like us, with us. He deserved to be here.” I glare at him. “Why would you turn him away?”

“Holy shit.” Raven connects something we haven’t as our dad’s chin falls to his chest. “You wouldn’t, not unless you had to protect your family, your sons.” Her shoulders fall, pity in her gaze. “You gave her a job, placed blind trust in her to live and work in your home, and it was your biggest mistake, the very reason you hold the earning of trust so tight.”

Our dad’s eyes cloud with guilt. “Every boy grows into a man, but not all are meant for this, not all are strong enough to let go of the past and be the difference in the future.”

“Stop,” Maddoc draws out, a calm to his tone that has all eyes moving to his. “No more bullshit. Say it.”

Our dad nods. “When Mero died, I hired his mistress as our maid.”

“A maid,” Royce repeats, turning to us.

A maid...

All at once, realization hits us.

“You gave her a home because you loved your brother, and she murdered your wife, murdered our mothers.”

Our dad swallows, moisture building in his eyes. “She could have killed you all, but Maybell heard the screams. She got here just in time.”

“That’s why you sent her to prison instead of killing her yourself, because she was pregnant.”

He nods. “I couldn’t murder my nephew, even if his mother murdered my wife and the wives of my best friends.” He clears his throat. “A couple months later, a woman was on my doorstep, an infant boy in her hands, and without a blink, I sent her away. I would not have him grow up in my home, with my sons, and come home to find you all dead as I did your mothers.”

“He was innocent.”

“As was she, until she wasn’t. I put her away for life, she had nothing to lose. I have no doubt in my mind she’d find him as an adult and do all she could to turn him on our family.”

“Mero never stopped watching this place,” Perkins says, stepping forward. “He must have known the second his son was denied.”

Our dad sighs. “I assume so, too.”

“This is why you allowed Victoria into the group home. You knew it was her. You knew Maria was her mother.”

He doesn’t deny it. “Yes. I led her there myself, but I didn’t tell her. She figured it out on her own.”

I drag my hands down my face, turning to Perkins. “What made you come here today? Why’d you assume she was gone?”

I’d swear he was waiting for my question.

“Mero Malcari’s offshore accounts have been sitting idle for almost three years.” His eyes move between mine. “It was cleaned out yesterday. Every penny.”

My gut twists.

No.

“How much was in the account?” I force my voice steady.

“Just over twelve-five.”

My soul begins to ache, and slowly, I turn away from my family.

I lick my lips, trying to ease the sting threatening to knock me on my ass.

This is on me.

I asked her to leave, and so she did.

Twelve million, five hundred thousand dollars.

I’ll never find her, never get to thank her for what she did, let alone grovel over what I have.

I swallow and take a deep breath, turning back to Perkins.

Raven lets go of Maddoc’s hand and walks over, looking up at me with tense eyes. “She wouldn’t take a dime of Donley’s money when it should have been hers. She wanted me to give it all to Bass Bishop,” she whispers, looking to my brothers as they step in closer, closing off our circle.

“Maybe that’s ‘cause she was sittin’ on millions, RaeRae,” Royce says quietly.

Raven shakes her head. “She didn’t take from that account, there’s no fucking way.”

Royce looks back to Perkins. “How did you know the account was emptied?”

My head snaps left, and it hits.

“She left you a clue,” I say before he can answer. “Didn’t she?”

“I got an email,” he shares. “There was a contingency on the account. The moment funds were withdrawn, it auto-sent.”

“Why you?” Raven asks.