Nat pursed her lips. “Put a sock in it, Casanova. Where’s Sam? We came as soon as we heard.”
“She’s sleeping.” Riel glanced back and forth between Kane and Troy. It was his deepest hope they wouldn’t wake up Sam, because then he’d have to kick both their asses.
Nat folded her arms over her chest. “So what happened?”
“Small homemade bomb. She mentioned she heard ringing coming from inside the box right before it detonated and a car taking off right after the explosion. It was enough to cause some serious damage, possibly death, if she’d been holding it.”
Nat covered her mouth with her hand wide-eyed. He knew what she was thinking. What if Sam had been holding the box? He needed to figure this out now. He wouldn’t rest until he knew she wasn’t under any kind of threat. Nat knew Sam better than anyone else. They could question her and cross things off from their need-to-know list.
He motioned toward the chairs. “Tell me about her family. I know they’re a bunch of lowlifes, but we need more detail than that.”
Nat sat down across from him and made a point to ignore Troy’s glare. Riel wanted to remind his friend that this wasn’t the time for a lover’s quarrel. He had a feeling Kane wasn’t sleeping with Nat. If he had a guess, she was using Kane to piss off Troy, but the green-eyed monster of jealousy didn’t let the normally levelheaded Troy see it.
She placed her elbow on the table and cupped her cheek with a hand. “Well there’s Ginny, who we all knew. She was the matriarch and the sweetest woman in the world. She was also very concerned for Sam. She always said she needed to keep her away from the rest of the vultures so she’d never end up hurt. But I think she underestimated their greed when she left the money in Sam’s name.”
“What do you mean hurt?” Kane asked.
“I think it was more of an emotional thing. Sam’s mom was kind of a spirit. She loved hanging with shifters and never cared what her family thought. It was frowned upon for the youngest daughter to be hanging with the ‘animals,’ as they liked to say.”
Riel clenched his jaw. Figured, there were always those that knew of his kind and thought of them as just a bunch of animals.
Nat’s voice continued to fill the kitchen space. “Then we have the aunts Margarita or Maggie, Cecilia, and Luisa. I’m not sure what Margarita or Cecilia have been up to, but those two are the worst evil bitches you’d ever heard of. The wicked witch has nothing on them. Sam kind of felt bad for Luisa. According to Sam, Luisa let her sisters and brother pressure her into agreeing with them. Then there’s Juan, the brother. He’s never around since he’s always chasing a skirt halfway around the world. I think he’s living in the Philippines right now. He’s got his own inheritance from his father’s side, so he never cared about this side of his family. Apparently his father was real old school and left all his money to his only son. Juan Junior? His father isn’t sharing his inheritance with Junior, so he’s dependent on whatever Ginny left him. He’s one to watch out for.”
Kane got up and grabbed two sodas from the fridge. He brought a glass with ice for Natalia and sat back down.
His two friends stared each other down. Troy snarled at Kane, but then focused on Nat. “Why is Juan Junior someone to watch?”
Natalia popped the can, filled the sweaty glass, and took a sip. “He’s an avid shooter and likes to intimidate people with his guns. In fact, Sam mentioned how he acted as if he wanted to drag her out back and put a couple of slugs in her for being the sole inheritor.”
Riel’s gut clenched. He didn’t like the sound of that. Any person that carried a weapon around and had an attitude problem was already a risk. When you added that he felt cheated over a multi-billion dollar inheritance, there was more than a good possibility he might have something to do with wanting to get Sam out of the way.
Troy jumped in again. “Are there any other relatives we need to know about?”
Natalia furrowed her brow. “Hmm. Cecilia has no kids and neither does Maggie, although Maggie’s husband has been said to have ties to the mob. He’s a dangerous one too. Luisa’s kids, from what I’ve heard, travel and have successful careers, so I don’t think they’re interested in anything. The only other person is Marcia, Juan Junior’s wife.” She shook her head and sighed. “She isn’t a threat, more like a victim. Sam thinks he beats on her, but she refuses to leave him. It’s one of those situations where she’ll put up with anything just to have a nice house and expensive things.”