“Holy Mother of God!” My hands shake as I knot them on my head. It is true. My suspicions were right. They were being threatened. But by whom and why? Did Celia or my mother know? Fuck! Had I conspired with them on anything? I shake my head. No! I cannot imagine that scenario at all. I can’t imagine agreeing to do anything wrong.

Just as I hand the letters to Mike to take a look, there’s a knock on the door and Celia strolls inside.

“Damien, how lovely to see you,” Celia says with a huge smile.

I turn to Mike and give him a nod. He immediately files the notes and steps outside.

“Celia, give me a moment, please.” I subtly put the remaining documents back in the hidden location I found them in and close it shut.

I stand up. “So, what can I do for you?”

Celia is living here with my mother, so it’s no surprise that she is in the house, although I had hoped not to bump into her for the sake of my own sanity.

She looks around the chaos in the room and her nose wrinkles.

“Find what you were looking for?” she questions with a raised brow.

I ignore her query and ask one of my own. “Did David ever think he was in danger? Do you know if anyone was threatening him?”

Her eyes round. “You think someone was after him? To kill him?”

I take a deep breath. “I don’t know, Celia. I have my suspicions.” I give a dismissive wave of my hand. “Anyway, did he ever discuss any of that with you?”

She takes several steps forward and stands in front of the desk.

“David never discussed anything with me ever. On most days, he barely tolerated my presence and I was more than happy to be away from him. We were the perfect couple in public, but in reality, I hated him.”

“Then why were you still with him?” This question has bugged me since that morning in the coffee shop when she told me bits of her time with David.

“Because your father wished it. You see, David always knew that you and I were friends. He came after me that summer when you and I were dating. He was charming and fun and I fell for him.”

“And he was going to be the Duke,” I scoff, irritated that her side of the story is twisted to her convenience because we were definitely more than friends at one time.

“Yes, that too, I accept. But then you disappeared and no one knew where you were. Soon, David started showing less and less interest in me. He was rude to me in public and in private he was worse...”