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 f**king 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.
You make it run.”
Gavin barely managed a shrug, as if lifting his shoulders was too much effort.
“Tell us. Just spit out what’s going to hit the press so we can deal with it.” Whatever he was about to confess had been a festering wound poisoning his oldest brother for years.
Dropping his elbows to his knees, Gavin hunched over and stared at the floor. “I did kill Nikki, but worse, I killed my own child.”
Dex slumped into his chair, the truth hitting him. Compassion welled up. He might not have been raised with Gavin, but Dex knew him. Guilt about Dex’s rough childhood had brought Gavin to his unknown brother’s door in the first place. Thinking that he’d been even a tiny bit responsible for his own child’s death would crush him.
Gavin locked stares with Slade, then Dex. Clearly, he was braced, waiting for condemnation, rejection. Hatred.
Dex reached out and put a hand on his. He said the words he’d never said before—to either of them. “I love you, brother. We’ll get through this.”