“That’s what I just told you,” I huffed. “I’m not a liar.”

“I watched him texting you though. He was worried that you hadn’t responded, especially after the first night Venla tracked him down.”

“Oh, so there was more than one night?” I asked.

“That’s what this was all about. Venla tracked him down for a reason, Mina. She was trying to tell him she was pregnant,” he admitted.

“Oh my God! You know what? Maybe I don’t need to know any of this.”

“Not his baby. She tried to say that it was Reggie’s baby and that he refuted the claim. Venla’s family got involved when Tucker told her that it was her problem, not his, since she decided to fuck around with his father.”

“Well, obviously,” I agreed.

Wes nodded his head. “Right, except Venla’s family didn’t think the Tucker men deserved to get off that easily. They were the reason for the trip. They sabotaged the factory there in Helsinki in order to get Tucker and Reggie there. It worked. Beyond your exams, that was the main reason Tuck didn’t want to take you with him. We knew something was going on since there were so many issues with the factory.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Venla tried to get Reggie to admit he was the father of her baby, he refused and then cut all avenues of communication from her. She tried Tucker, but of course, he blocked her before, so she had no way to get in touch with anyone about the baby. Her family wouldn’t stand for it, since they said the baby should be able to inherit from it’s father,” he told me and then sighed heavily.

“I thought that Reginald didn’t really have much to pass on anyway?”

“He doesn’t. His family was old money, but they also blew most of it. I’m not even certain what Reggie’s net worth was, but it doesn’t matter because Venla’s family only saw the Brighton Conglomerate as their target. They didn’t realize that Reggie had no stakes in the Brighton Empire. Venla thought he would inherit from the company and take over since he was the elder Tucker.”

“Didn’t Tucker ever tell her about the Conglomerate or how it belonged to his mother’s family?”

Wes shook his head. “Only that one day it would all be his.” Wes laughed then. “I think that Reggie probably filled Venla’s head with a bunch of bullshit and promises in order to sweep her out from underneath his own son.”

“Well, look where that got him,” I muttered. Wes laughed. “What about Tucker though? How bad is he? What exactly happened?”

“I think it might be best if we let him explain that to you directly. He’s been really worried. Your parents told him you took off for the mountains, but I think he was anxious that maybe someone might have gotten to you too.”

“I would have no way of knowing if I had been in danger,” I murmured. It was time to make a promise to myself. I would never again go live in the woods and not check in with someone at least once a day. “Can we please go see him now?”