“What is wrong with you? Did you drink all of this today?”
“Yep. I came looking for another, but I didn’t want to interrupt your brotherly chat.” Slade stopped, cursed at the haunted look in their big brother’s eyes. “Tell us what happened.”
Gavin’s lips quirked up, but he radiated pure self-loathing. “Everything. Some of it was so long ago. But no matter how deep you bury it, that shit always comes back to haunt you.”
“If talking about Nikki is upsetting you this much, I’ll back off,” Dex vowed. Gavin needed to heal, but he wasn’t willing to hurt his brother to force the issue.
Shaking his head, Gavin stepped carefully across the room. His defeated mien contrasted sharply with the sunny kitchen table. “It doesn’t matter. The entire ugly story will be out in the papers by tomorrow.”
Slade slid Dex a long, worried look as he sat down beside Gavin. “The whole story about Nikki?”
Gavin nodded, eyes squeezed tightly shut, torment clearly wracking him.
“Did you kill her?” Dex asked calmly. “Have they dug up evidence? Is there time to make it go away?”
Gavin turned to him with a solemn frown. “Would you really cover it up?”
“In a heartbeat,” Dex replied. “I would be pissed that you hadn’t come to me in the first place. If you have a body to hide, you call your brothers.”
“I sometimes wonder if you consider me a brother at all. I haven’t been close to you. I accused you of behaving impulsively.”
Dex managed a smile. “In the past, I have behaved impulsively. You had to bail me out of jail more than once in college.”
Slade grinned. “At least you’re not fighting in bars anymore.”
“I got a text from Hannah’s stalker.” Gavin’s words turned the conversation on end and stopped Dex’s heart for a painful second.
“What? When?” He couldn’t get the words out fast enough.
“About eight this morning.”
Before they’d confronted Preston.
Slade glanced his way, then back to Gavin. “From what number? Let me see.” Gavin shook his head. “Nothing you can do. I just forwarded the whole text conversation to the Lenox brothers. They’re working on it, but this guy isn’t stupid. The number will be from an untraceable, prepaid cell. The gist of his little message was that he knew my secret, and he’s going to tell the world unless we release Hannah.”
“How does he even know we have Hannah?” Slade asked. “Unless it’s Preston, then he knows from Lyle because the pipsqueak saw you carry Hannah out of the office yesterday.”
“True. Slade fired Preston, Gavin. The guy is a prick who treated Hannah like shit.” Gavin shrugged. “The firing of our CIO is the least of my worries. This shit that’s going to come out will tear us apart.”
“We need to find out now if Preston made it on that plane back to Anchorage or if he’s still hovering around here,” Dex told Slade as he made a mental note to call the Lenox brothers ASAP to track down Preston’s current whereabouts.
Gavin’s shoulders slumped. “You really think Preston would stalk her? He’s been in her face a lot. Why the sudden subterfuge?”
Who knew why a psycho did anything, Dex thought darkly.
“Until we know who the stalker is for sure, let’s focus on keeping Hannah close and protected,” Gavin suggested. “The rest of it is over and done. The fucking past is going to come out, and I’ve made suitable arrangements to deal with the fallout.”
“What kind of arrangements? How bad is this story?” Slade grabbed Gavin’s shoulders. “Is our stock going to take a hit? I don’t understand.”
“I’ll explain. I’d rather you hear this from me than the press. And the stock won’t take a hit.
I’ve made sure of it. I’ll be stepping down as CEO Monday morning. I’ve split the stock our father left me between you and Dex. My lawyer is finalizing the details now.”
“What?” Slade exploded, standing and staring in disbelief.
Dex had always wanted a piece of the company his absentee father had built, but only because he’d wanted to be on an equal footing with his brothers. He sure as hell hadn’t wanted it this way. “Call him back and tell him to unfinalize it.”
“I won’t,” Gavin said, his voice taking on a grave finality. “This is what’s best for the company and what’s best for the two of you and Hannah. You’ll think so, too, in a minute.”
“I doubt that.” Slade crossed his arms over his chest. “You’re the heart of Black Oak Oil.