All four men studied one another, as if looking for consensus. They conducted a whole conversation through raised brows, facial tics, and half sentences. Feeling completely left out, Everly’s head spun faster.

Hush money? Why would anyone need to hush her mother? She could easily see the woman accepting the money. It was what she’d always wanted. Her mother hadn’t hung around long, but Everly could remember her talking about a time when her life had been better and it had all revolved around money and social position. She couldn’t help but look at Gabriel. He had both. She would do well to remember that. People who lived in this world—or had fallen from it like her mother—would do anything to stay in it or get back to it.

None of her morbid thinking answered the question of why a man as powerful as Maddox’s father would have given her mother so much money.

“I don’t understand,” she demanded finally. This was their world. Surely they did. “Someone explain this to me.”

“As soon as Gabe finds what we’re looking for,” Connor promised.

“Got it. Yes, she worked for Crawford briefly twenty-eight years ago. She left the firm, married Everly’s father, and gave birth all within a few months. Benedict Crawford continued the payments until Everly was six.”

The implications were immediate and staggering. If she hadn’t been sitting, Everly would have fallen over.

“My parents both had blue eyes. I-I never knew where I got my hazel green.” The thought hit her from nowhere and she murmured that fact to no one in particular.

“Maddox had green eyes,” Gabriel said softly. “So did his father.”

Everly closed her eyes. Oh, god. She was a Crawford. The knowledge made her sit back and gasp for breath.

Gabe turned to her, concern glowing from his blue eyes. “Everly?”

She nodded. “Benedict Crawford would only have had one reason to shut my mother up. Deborah Elliot wouldn’t have cared enough to be a whistle-blower, but she was definitely the kind of woman to sleep with her boss and use her illegitimate child for financial gain.”

“Damn . . .” Dax muttered. “You’re Maddox’s half sister?”

That revelation answered some questions but raised others. Why had her mother never bothered to mention that her dad wasn’t really her father? Had he even known? Why had no one told her that she had a sibling, especially Maddox himself? Obviously, he’d known. He’d hired and mentored her, offered his friendship, and made her laugh. He’d simply never given her the truth.

“Now that I think about it, baby, you actually look a little like the Crawfords. Besides the eyes, you have their chin. Be happy you didn’t get the old man’s nose.” Gabriel was actually smiling at her. “Well, now we know why Maddox didn’t touch you.”

So many years. So many lies. So many questions. Everly knew that dwelling on this revelation wouldn’t help with the job at hand. Still, the weight of this information staggered her. Froze her. How was she supposed to feel? Betrayal and anger were sure to set in soon, but at the moment . . . just shock. Her head told her that being an illegitimate Crawford didn’t change who she was as a person, yet how could it not change her perception of her past—and her future?

Everly dragged in a deep breath. Later. She’d examine this when she had time, when she could be alone. No way she wanted to show Gabriel another ounce of her vulnerability.

She forced herself to focus and turned her attention to Connor. “That’s all fascinating, but how does it have anything to do with the reasons for Maddox’s murder? Do we have any idea who this Natalia is? Have you run a skip trace on her yet?”

Gabriel went down on one knee beside her. “Hang on. You understand this changes everything? I can tell Sara the truth now. Do you know how much better she’ll feel that Maddox wasn’t sleeping with you? That he merely spent time getting to know his sister?” He smiled. “She’ll be so happy that her baby will have an aunt.”

Everly gaped at him. Did he really think uncovering this secret made everything somehow better? In his head, probably. But Sara wouldn’t accept her any more now than she would have while believing her to be Maddox’s lover. Sara would likely see Deborah Elliot as a whore, and Everly as an illegitimate something far beneath her. “It doesn’t matter.”

“Of course it does.” Gabriel put a hand over hers. “This changes everything.”

She pulled away. “It merely means that since you have some proof Maddox didn’t sully me, you’re finally willing to believe I wasn’t lying. So now you feel like having a relationship. It’s too late, Gabriel. I ended it twenty minutes ago when you proved that I can’t trust you. We’ll try to figure out who killed Maddox, see if this Natalia person had any possible connection to my mother, and determine if any of this was relevant in Maddox’s death. Then we’re done.” She directed her attention to Connor without missing a beat. “Did the private investigator find a phone number for my mother? I haven’t spoken to her in years. I would greatly prefer not to now. Can one of you call? I’m sure if you offer her cash, she’ll answer your questions.”

She couldn’t stomach the idea of talking to her mother, especially after the way this morning’s revelation had shaken her. If she actually found herself on the phone with Deborah Elliot, Everly knew she’d probably yell. The selfish bitch had split with her hush money and left her daughter to be raised in near poverty by a man with whom she didn’t share a drop of blood. Despite all that, George Parker had raised her as his own. He’d been a dad to her—far more than the sperm donor who had been her biological father.

Dad had never told her that she wasn’t his daughter by DNA, but maybe he hadn’t known. And if he had, she loved him all the more for being the best parent a girl could have. He’d given her everything he could, especially his affection and support—unlike the other men in her life. Benedict Crawford had paid her mother to be rid of his responsibility. Maddox had withheld the truth and manipulated. He could have told her they were siblings at any time, but he’d remained mute. And Gabriel . . . she didn’t even want to think about Gabriel.

“Everly?” Gabriel searched her face. “Baby, that’s not true. It doesn’t have to be that way.”

She stood because she didn’t have anything else to say to him. Everly needed to make an exit, but she wasn’t sure where to go. She turned back to Connor, Roman, and Dax, all watching her quietly. She was ready to argue that she should leave when some pictures caught her eye. Among them, a trio of familiar faces sat on the table. “Where did you get those?”

“They were in the lockbox,” Roman supplied. “We’re concerned about the reasons Maddox was hiding these pictures. If anyone finds out he kept photos of young girls hidden, especially the woman who runs Capitol Scandals, they’ll use those against him.”

With a shake of her head, she let out a little huff. “These aren’t sexual images. Maddox might have been a playboy and a pervert, but he wasn’t the sort to prey on children.”

“I agree,” Connor seconded.

Everly picked up the photographs and glanced through them again. At least she could shed some light here and maybe put this vicious rumor to rest. She pointed to the photo on top. “This girl is missing. She was taken from her village about a month ago. In fact, they’re all missing. They were girls attending schools sponsored by the foundation. Maddox must have been helping the effort to locate them. I believe that far more than him having some sick fascination. Besides, these kids were from separate continents. How could he have had any sort of inappropriate relationship with them from thousands of miles away?”

“I’m glad we have another scenario to work with.” Connor’s eyes narrowed. “Tell me about this foundation.”

“The foundation has actually been around for close to fifty years, I think. It’s Tavia’s pet project now, but everyone at Crawford has a hand in it.”

“Tavia isn’t even old enough to have run the foundation for a decade,” Dax pointed out.

“Her grandmother started the program. After she r

etired, her mother assumed control.” Everly studied the photos again. “After they both passed away, Tavia took on the leadership role. She’s been growing it since and brought it to Crawford about six years ago when she was first hired as a junior executive. I’ve heard the family was once wealthy, but they’d invested heavily in dot com startups that failed not long after the September eleventh attacks. So when she took control, she sought corporate sponsorships to keep it afloat. Given Maddox’s reputation with women, the foundation bought him and the company good publicity he needed. It sort of countered the nasty rumors about Crawford men and made Maddox look more like a lovable scoundrel than a douchebag.”

“Crawford puts a lot of money into this thing. I’ve even helped out, too. I suspect Tavia has benefitted,” Gabriel mused.

“Sure. The foundation helped her rise up the ranks quickly. More recently, she brought her buddy, Valerie, along with her. Maybe that’s why Maddox never dismissed her from her job. Because he had no trouble firing women he’d slept with in the past if he had just cause.”

“We’ll probably never know for sure.” Roman didn’t sound as if he liked that possibility.

“Unlike Tavia, Val would never get her nails dirty with the actual kids. But Maddox really believed in the work the foundation did. So maybe he kept her around because she helps to organize the annual gala.” She frowned. “But we all pitch in, really. My friend Scott, who you were probably horribly rude to on the phone, donates a lot of his spare time to handle the foundation’s marketing and promotion. I’ve volunteered on several school supply drives. It’s fun and makes us feel like we’re doing something good.”

Tags: Shayla Black The Perfect Gentlemen Romance
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