These Games We Play

chapter fifty seven:hot tub

In the wake of that bombshell, Xander went to find Jameson and Grayson. Whilst they were gone, I busied myself with a book on my e-reader. I even had time to wash my hair. Hours later, when I went to go get a fresh mug of hot chocolate all three brothers returned from the slopes, looking scraped up and worse for the wear. Jameson eased himself into a lounge.

"Don't bleed on that," Grayson ordered.

"Wouldn't dream of it," Jameson retorted. "What are your thoughts on vomiting in that vase?"

"You're an idiot," Grayson replied.

"You're all idiots," I corrected. They turned to look at me. My hair was in loose waves, I had my glasses on, I was wearing a singlet with hearts on with a matching pair of think winter pyjama pants and I was carrying a mug of hot chocolate. The three of them just stared at me.

"What?" I asked as I put my hot chocolate down and sat on the couch near Jameson.

"Nothing," Xander muttered as Jameson pulled me closer to him. I looked up to see his face was bloodied and his lip was split. I ran my finger over his lip and shook my head.

"Hi," I said confused.

"Hi there," he muttered back as his brothers took a seat on the different chairs in the room.

"Are you aware your lip is split, that Grayson has bruising up his neck and that Xander has blood on his pants leg that might not even be his?" I asked him and he sighed.

"Always so worried." He muttered and I took that as a yes. I was starting to think the blood loss was making him act irrationally. I got up and walked into the kitchen. I could hear mumbling in the other room that I couldn't quite work out. When I came back, they all shut up.

"What's that for?" Xander asked completely confused why I was holding a first aid kit.

"That has supplies so they fix all of this," I said gesturing at the three of them. "Did Xander tell you what we found?"

"What I found, Heiress," Jameson corrected me, then smiled. "I know about the picture. The page with what we can assume is likely a message of some kind, written in invisible ink."

Grayson studied me for a moment, then turned to Xander. "What else did you find?"

"For the record," Xander said grandly as he rolled up his pants to reveal a cut. "I won the Drop." I tossed him some stuff from the kit to clean it. "And I might have neglected to mention that the guy in that photo is Nash's father."

That statement had the exact effect it was supposed to-on Jameson and Grayson. But I wasn't surprised. After what we'd learned at the lodge, it was the logical conclusion. All four of the Hawthorne brothers had last names as first names. Grayson's father was Sheffield Grayson. The guy in the picture-the guy Zara had her arm around-was Jake Nash. You knew the note in the closet had read, and you did it anyway.

"Are you going to tell Nash?" I asked the boys. Sitting back down on the couch

"Tell me what?" I turned to see Nash in the doorway, Pip beside him. "Tell him what?"

She narrowed her eyes at the silence that followed. "Come on, Eva," Pip groaned. "No more secrets."

She was the reason I'd gotten to come here, and she had no idea why. Across from me, Grayson stood.

"Nash, might we have a moment outside?"

☆☆☆☆

They all left, and I was alone with Pip. I had only a second or two to decide on what I was going to tell her. Considering I had failed to tell that Toby was my father, we found Nash and Grayson's father. I took one look at my sister and told her everything I had left out. About Harry and who he really was. About what we'd found in Toby's wing. About my birth certificate and the charities in the will and why I'd wanted to come to True North.