For perhaps the first time—except when I’d been inside her—I heard softness in North’s voice. This was her passion, what she was meant to do. I’d known about her role as head of philanthropy, but never heard her speak of it. How she felt about it. This was the real North talking to her brothers. I got to see it and it made me question if she knew what was planned for that land next. I’d swear she had no idea, not in her bare feet and holding a plate of enchiladas.

But my boss wouldn’t take that as evidence. If the land deal went through, it only made her more of a suspect. Since Marshall hadn’t called me, I figured it hadn’t.

“Macon didn’t give a shit about Mom,” East said, taking a filled plate from South. He’d been two or three when she’d died and I doubt he remembered the woman, but I was sure Macon had shared his feelings.

South looked to me, tipped his head toward the fridge. “Grab the guac and sour cream.”

I retrieved them, then set the toppings beside the tray. East immediately scooped guac and put it on top of his food, like whipped cream on a sundae.

“That’s why I work there. I’ve kept Macon in line all this time and now that I’m CEO, I can steer the company where Mom always wanted it to go,” she said. It was the same thing she told me.

“You’ve kept Macon in line?” South asked, setting a filled plate on the counter in front of North.

North stilled as she reached for the sour cream, looked up at her brother. “Yeah, I have.”

She hadn’t kept Macon from all his shady business dealings. She either knew about them, and let them slide. Or she’d been kept in the dark and she was referencing something else entirely.

“Is that why you stayed in this house? Worked with him day in and day out? To keep him in line?” West asked around a mouthful of Mexican food.

It was impressive the way North put on a shield of protection like anyone else would a coat. Her brothers didn’t seem to notice, but the ice princess was back. West’s question had her walls going up. I’d been right in my thinking. She’d made some kind of deal… or deals with her father to protect her brothers. He might not have beaten her or touched her inappropriately, but he’d used her nonetheless. She’d sold herself for her brothers’ happiness.

“I didn’t do a very good job, did I?” she asked, her voice soft but laced with steel.

East looked to me, as if our little chat before she’d come downstairs had been an awakening for him. “What did he do to you?”