Chapter sixty nine

Dallas

I clasped and unclasped my hands as I waited impatiently for Oliver and Ethan to finish what they were doing. They were sitting on the couch in Oliver's home office, typing away on their computer.

I was pacing to and fro unable to calm myself down.

I didn't expect Oliver to come back today since he already said he would be returning at the end of the week, but I was so grateful he did. I couldn't sleep ever since I got that text and I kept counting the hours till morning.

I got up before the alarm clock rang and took a cold bath. It did nothing to ease the tension in me. I contemplated calling Oliver and telling him about the strange text, but decided against it. I didn't want to distract him.

I was still contemplating whether to go to the address attached or not when Oliver showed up. Despite how excited I was to see him, I couldn't shake off the nagging feeling I had about the text. I ended up telling him about it.

And now both Oliver and Ethan are trying to track the source of the number, but it's been proving difficult. They've been at it for almost an hour now.

“Got anything yet?” I asked for the hundredth time.

“Not yet, but we're getting close.” Oliver was the one who replied. Ethan was still typing away frantically.

“Damn, the location keeps changing every damn minute. He used a special kind of device to send the text. We can't even narrow it down. It was at California a while ago and now it's in London.” Ethan said, running his fingers through his hair frustrated.

“But we'll find him soon.” Oliver said. He gave me a reassuring smile directed to calm my nerves.

I rubbed my palms together and walked towards the floor to ceiling window. I stared out of the window, taking in the view of the beautiful estate. But even the view of beautifully lined flower beds was not enough to calm my nerves.

“Maybe I should just go to the address.” I said.

“No fucking way,” Oliver replied almost immediately. “It might be a set up. I'm not going to let you walk into a trap.”

What he said made sense, but I was too nervous to reason with him.

“Besides, I already traced the address he sent to you. It's just a small house downtown and it's occupied by a small family. It's definitely a set-up.” Ethan added.

I nodded and resumed pacing around the office. I could see Oliver throwing me occasional glances from the corner of my eyes.

“I've got an idea. It's faster than this bullshit.” Oliver said.

I rushed towards them and watched keenly as he grabbed my phone and shot a text to the number. I didn't see what he typed though.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Baiting our mysterious stranger.” A smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth.

Ethan paused his typing and smirked at his cousin. He seem to immediately understand what Oliver was doing, while I was still trying to make sense of his words.

“Genius, cousin. Fucking genius.” He laughed softly.

I stared at the both of them, my brows knitted in confusion.

“I don't understand what's happening here.” I finally said when neither of them volunteered to explain.

“Oliver is trying to lure the monkey out with a ripe banana.” Ethan threw me a look before turning back to his laptop.

I still didn't understand what he said but I didn't press further. Oliver must have noticed my confusion because he said,

“An ongoing call is easier and faster to track. You just have to stay on the phone with him for five minutes. We'll handle the rest.”

“Okay, but you can't call that number. How are you going to get him to call?”

Oliver simply smirked. An evil one.

“Dallas darling, you seem to underestimate my cousin's ability to piss off someone and manipulate them into doing his bidding.” Ethan said.

Oliver halted what he was doing and pinned Ethan with a glare.

“She's not your darling.”

He sounded so serious it was almost comical. I pressed my lips together to refrain myself from laughing, but one look at Ethan's ‘pretend shocked face’ and I couldn't control it anymore. I bursted into laughter. The both of them stared at him as if I've lost it.

“I'm sorry. Carry on.” I pretended to cough, an awful attempt to control my laughter.

Ethan grinned widely and Oliver simply shook his head. Under different circumstances, I would have teased Oliver about how easily his cousin got to him. I've only met Ethan a couple of times but I could see how tight their bond is.

Despite that they were related, they have little to no similarities. While Ethan is easygoing and warm, Oliver is cold and grumpy. Weirdly, I was attracted to the one that repel people away.

A smile tugged on my lips as I stared at his handsome face. He looked so hot even when he's worried. God, how much I want to kiss every inch of his handsome face. How I want to kiss him so hard that –

The shrill sound of my phone's ringtone pierced through the quiet room, interrupting my thoughts. And just like that, I broke out of the trance I had fallen into.

“Jackpot.” Oliver said.

Our gazes collided and his eyes softened. He stood up and came to sit beside me. He gently placed the phone in my hand. I answered the call with shaky hands.

“Hello,” I said softly.

Oliver dragged me up from the chair and made me sit between his legs. My eyes flew to Ethan but he was busy typing away to may any attention to us.

“It seems you're not really serious about knowing what happened to your mother.” A deep voice resounded from the other end of the line.

I tensed up at the sound of the voice, but forced myself to calm down. Oliver buried his face in my hair and exhaled. I felt the heat go straight to my core.

I get what he was doing. He was trying to distract me so I don't feel nervous, but also prolonging the phone call so Ethan could get the location. I appreciated it, but the distraction was starting to get a bit too much.

I let out a shaky breath.

“I want to know what happened, but I also want to be certain you're not leading me into a trap.”

How I managed to sound so composed despite the how disoriented I am, was remarkable. A solid ten for me, please.”

Oliver pressed a kiss to my neck and trailed kisses to my earlobe. I bit my lower lip go suppress a moan. I was still aware of Ethan's presence and praying silently that he doesn't raise his head from his laptop. The expression on his face implied that he wouldn't be doing that anytime soon. Thank God.

I leaned in slightly into Oliver's touch. I couldn't even hear what the man was saying anymore, only that his voice was slightly louder than when he first answered the phone. Guess I wasn't the only one who lost their composure.

“Pay attention to what he's saying, little monkey. We wouldn't want our mysterious stranger vanishing on us now, would we?” Oliver whispered into my ear.

Pay attention? How the hell can I pay attention when I can feel the slight bulge in his pants pressing against my ass?

I forced myself to listen to what the man was saying.
“...it would interest you if you knew she was actually murdered, but I guess I thought wrong.” I managed to catch the last sentence of the man.

I felt a sudden chill run down my spine and I stiffened. Oliver stopped kissing me and simply squeezed my shoulders.

“Murdered? What do you mean ‘murdered’?”

I've always knew it, but to hear someone spell it out for me hits harder than I thought it would. I caught Ethan giving Oliver a thumbs up in my peripheral view.

“You have to come to find out.” The strange man said before ending the call.

“Got it.” Ethan said, a wide grin on his face.

Either he didn't hear what the man said last, or he didn't seem surprised because he already knew about it. I whipped my head around to see Oliver had the same expression.

“You knew?” I tried to mask the hurt in my voice but failed. He couldn't have possibly kept it from me, could he?

“Suspected, but now we've confirmed it.” His eyes was full of emotions.
“And I think we know who did it too.”

It was at the tip of my tongue to ask him who it was, but somehow, I held myself back. I already knew who it was. I've always known. But sometimes, I tell myself that he couldn't have. That he loved her a bit.

The look Oliver gave me confirmed the thoughts.

Lucien killed my mother.