be hidden. I hurriedly combed through Nina’s collection of jewelry and undergarments. Everything here was laid out as if on display, with no room for hiding anything. This entire closet was a showroom, and I knew she wouldn’t hide anything from Richard in here.
If I were Nina, and I wanted to hide a potentially valuable piece of my family’s past, where would I go? I tapped my foot as I looked around. My gut said that she’d want to keep it far from her, so she could live her new life without reminders of her past. But if she had it in a safe deposit box in a bank, I was screwed. The only way I’d be able to get to it would be if it were here on the property.
“You shouldn’t be up here,” Maverik’s voice came to me from the doorway, and I almost jumped a foot in the air.
My heart pounded as he watched me with suspicious eyes.
“I’m sure Nina wouldn’t mind sharing her wardrobe with her beloved daughter,” I said sweetly.
Maverik snorted. “That shit won’t work with me.”
I sighed in defeat. I could come back later and keep searching, but I was more sure than ever that I wouldn’t find anything. Nina was too smart to keep something like that where Richard or the staff might come across it and ask questions.
I pushed past Maverik as I walked out of the closet and back through the bedroom. I wanted to get out of here as soon as possible. Maverik seemed to share my thoughts, because he didn’t ask any more questions until we were back on our floor of the house.
He stopped me before I’d gotten far down the hall.
“What were you looking for?”
“The same thing as you,” I said with a shrug. “I want to take Nina down and be free to go back to New York.”
My words didn’t have the vinegar or determination that they used to, and Maverik knew it.
“You won’t find anything in here,” he said as he watched me. “And Kingston would be upset if he knew you were plotting to leave.”
I looked into Maverik’s grey eyes and saw a softness there that surprised me.
“If Nina goes, then so do I,” I pointed out. “You haven’t changed your mind about her.”
Maverik’s face hardened. “No, I haven’t.”
I turned to head back in my room, but Maverik grabbed my arm. His grip was gentle, but it was his eyes that pinned me in place.
“My dad already paid for your tuition at Bedford through graduation,” Maverik pointed out. “Regardless of whether or not he stays with Nina, your place there is secure.”
I looked at him in surprise, but Maverik wasn’t done.
“Dad likes you, and even if you aren’t technically family, he’ll watch out for you.”
“Even if that were true,” I said as I tugged my arm out of his grasp. “Nina would take me away just to be spiteful. There’s no way she’d let me graduate.”
“I’m working on a plan to deal with that eventuality,” Maverik admitted reluctantly.
“I’m shocked,” I said sarcastically. “I thought the plan was to toss me out on my ass.”
“It was,” Maverik agreed.
We stared at each other for another moment, and I felt my resolve weakening. Maverik was doing more than just holding out an olive branch right now. He was saying something that I wasn’t sure I was ready to hear. Hope blossomed inside me, but I squished it down. I couldn’t afford to let Maverik in, not when I knew he could crush me from the inside.
“You know something about Nina,” Maverik said bluntly.
I pulled back from him a little. Was that what this was? He was trying to get me to trust him so he could use me against Nina?
“I know she’s evil,” I said honestly. “And you can’t do evil deeds without leaving evidence.”
Maverik flashed a sudden smile at me, and my heart stuttered. Suddenly, his presence was too much. I needed to get away from him - away from all of this.
“I’m going to change, so I can go to my studio,” I mumbled.
Maverik didn’t stop me as I went to my room and closed the door behind me. I leaned back on it and shut my eyes. Maverik seemed more dangerous now than when I thought he’d try to murder me.
Chapter 38
Katya
Our week of family bonding went suspiciously well. Nina really turned on the charm and was beyond sweet to Kingston, Maverik, and me. Kash attended the first dinner, suffered in silence, then conveniently