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“You tell me” She nodded at the laptop “Why in the hell do you have an open case file on my fathers?”

Chapter Nine

“Fashion fades, only style remains the same”

—Coco Chanel

Anton’s decade-oldback at her from the screen was a version of her father she’d never htmare or soothed her worries with le photo Quarter-sized pupils Sunken cheeks Cracked lips Greasy hair going in every direction According to the police report, he’d gotten busted for trying to score cocaine from an undercover officer

She slid her shaky fingers across the screen as if the action could erase the ie “He hid his addiction well We never saw him like this, but I remember vividly when he went into rehab”

Anya crying into her pillow Henry putting on a brave face with a smile so fake it nearly cracked his teeth And she’d spent twenty-eight days planning for history to repeat itself But thankfully, Anton hadn’t gone down the sas

He’d come home Shaken and unsure, but he’d come home to them

She’d be damned if she’d let anyone take him back to that hell Even Tony

“You haven’t answered my question There are police reports, interview notes, and more Why do you have all this?”

Tony shoved his hands deep into his pockets “I can’t tell you”

“Who is Keith Molson? What does his autopsy have to do with my fathers?”

Tony sto hand stayed on the cover, nearly taking up the entire space with his wide pal questions you don’t want the answers to”

“Of all the stupid things If I didn’t want to knoouldn’t have asked” She shot out of her seat and jabbed a finger into his unyielding chest “Tell me the truth”

“Seriously You don’t want to know” Tony held up his hands, palms out, and took a step back “I don’t want to hurt you”