STEEL CITY

Chapter 23

"What have you gotten so far?" Quinn asked. Quinn didn't appreciate the fact that his family was threatened, but he couldn't pretend like he didn't understand Arthur's frustration.

The Cy and Ross families were well acquainted with each other, not just because their daughters were friends, but through business, both legal and not so legal. The patriarchs of both families have been friends since their teenage years.

So Quinn understood that Arthur's anger stemmed from their nonchalance towards his granddaughter's plight and, furthermore, their alleged involvement in her arrest.

Everyone knew how much the old man favored Daphne, as he wasn't shy about expressing his bias towards her.

"Everyone is clean except Matt, obviously but I haven't gotten any proof of his involvement " Damien said, while his brother gave him a pointed look, almost rolling his eyes.

"Have you asked Mira what she knows about it? Her friend might have mentioned something," Quinn asked.

"Whether you like it or not, Mira will have to be involved. The company is still recovering from my disappearance; we don't need any more surprises," Quinn said after noticing his father's reluctance when Mira's name was brought up.

"We are the biggest family in the country. I understand that the Ross' are powerful, but are they that much of a threat to us?" Damien asked irritably.

"You're not a child anymore. You should understand how this works," Quinn said. He didn't have the energy to humor Damien's questions.

"I'll go talk to Mira," he said standing up.

"Then later we can discuss why Mira was kidnapped," he added, then stepped out of the room to find his sister.

"Your brother is behaving very strangely," Edward said once Quinn was out of earshot ignoring his son's last words that were obviously directed at him.

"What did he mean by understanding how this works?" Damien asked his father, with his brows furrowed.

"Arthur has the ability to cause notable damage to the family now that the company is somewhat vulnerable, as our investors are doubting the stability of our organization. The Ross family may not look it, but they are more powerful than you think."

"My issue is that your brother would have faced Arthur Ross head-on, not minding the damage it may cause. He may even go unscathed, but for some reason he is yielding without any fight. That's unlike your brother, and I doubt he is doing this because of the friendship your sister shares with Arthur's brat," Edward continued.

"Quinn isn't that selfless to sacrifice his ego for Mira's friend. He only yields when he stands to gain something, but what could it be?" Damien said.

"Could it be that...," Edward started, but was interrupted by Deborah's serene voice coming from the door Quinn walked out of not long ago.

"Do you want some tea?" she asked.

"Yes, but send it up to our room because we're done here," Edward replied, making his way to Deborah. They both exited, leaving Damien to his thoughts.

"Could it be that Quinn is interested in Daphne?"

Meanwhile, Quinn was on his way to his sister's room and conveniently met her on the way.

"To my office," Quinn said, then started making his way there. Mira could only comply, as she knew better than to disobey him.

On their way to his office, Mira couldn't help but stare at her brother's back. She really missed him, even his back, which seemed to always be in her face as he never waited for a response after giving an order.

In the office, Mira sat behind the intimidating desk facing her brother, whose face was stoic as always. She waited on him to initiate the conversation but was met with silence.

"Did I do something?" Mira asked.

"Tell me what you know about Daphne's case," Quinn asked, ignoring Mira's question.

"Are you going to help her?" Mira said, wide-eyed, looking at her brother expectantly.

"Her grandfather came here threatening to destroy our family. He believes we're involved," Quinn said.

"What! I was at his house just the other day and he didn't say anything like that," Mira said.

"Why would he say anything to you? Just tell me what you know, don't leave anything out. In fact, tell me everything that happened that day," Quinn demanded.

"If you asked me this a few days ago, I would have said you probably knew more than me, but when I visited her, she told me something. I didn't say anything because I knew Dad didn't want to hear anything concerning her," Mira said.

"Do you need a translator before you spit it out?" Quinn asked, annoyed.

"I was going to, relax," Mira said, but immediately regretted it as her brother's expression hardened.

"On the day of the incident, the news of you two allegedly being together was everywhere. She was at our house and was a still upset because she found out Ethan was cheating on her the day before, and she went home to confront them. It obviously didn't go well, so she called, and I told her I was on my way to her, but the news of your disappearance was revealed, and I got completely distracted me. The next thing I heard a few hours later was that she was arrested from her house," Mira said, then paused briefly before continuing.

"Dad...kidnapped me so I could help her. When I saw her two days ago, she looked really bad," Mira said, as tears stained her cheeks.

"She told me about Mark's involvement in your disappearance. She tried to tell me years ago, but Dad's persistent calls distracted me. I asked how she knew about it, and she revealed that she saw Matt, Edward, and Imogen together and decided to follow but wasn't as stealth as she thought, as they found out and framed her for murder in order to silence her," Mira said, finally completing her story.

She was met with silence as her brother pondered on her words deeply. It seems like Arthur's suspicions were spot on, a member of the family was keeping her in prison, but what he couldn't understand was why Matt was working with Imogen.

He could understand him working with Edward because Edward probably saw him as competition, but what sane man would involve his woman in this madness? Furthermore, why didn't Matt kill Daphne?

After she left he made a few calls and finally went to bed.