“She thinks that I should trust David more than Jakob and see if I can talk to him to get some more answers.”
“And what do you think?” Blake leaned back, his serious face set off by his tight, black curls. I stared at him, handsome and nerdy, and wondered why I’d never given him a chance romantically. He was the sort of guy I should have been with. I would feel safe with him. The problem was, I’d never had that chemistry with Blake.
“I think David is less trustworthy than Jakob.” I made a face. “Though, I don’t really know why.”
“That’s the problem. We don’t have many concrete facts, do we?” Blake pulled out a pen and paper from his notepad. “Let’s note down the facts that we do have.”
“Primary research.” I grinned.
“Nothing better, right?” He wrote facts in bold letters at the top of the page. “We know for a fact that your father died. We know for a fact that he used to work at Bradley Inc., we know for a fact that your mother died in a car crash, we don’t know if that was an accident or not, we know that there were people that benefited from your mother’s death, but we do not have an exhaustive list of those people.”
“Well, we know Jeremiah Bradley was the number one beneficiary,” I burst out.
“No, we don’t know that for a fact.” He shook his head. “Distance your emotions from the facts, Bianca. Don’t forget you’re a historian first.”
“This is my family, Blake.”
He gave me a sympathetic glance and continued, “We know for a fact that David and Jakob are brothers. We know for a fact that Larry Renee was your father’s lawyer and also a lawyer for Bradley Inc. We know for a fact that you were kidnapped. We know for a fact that a third man, named Steve, was on the island with you and Jakob. We know for a fact that Steve and Larry have disappeared. What else do we know for a fact?”
“We know that Jakob is Mattias. And we know that he kidnapped me for revenge, and we know that he wanted to stop me from preventing the merger from going through.”
“Actually, no. Emotions don’t make good facts. And neither do assumptions. There is no substantiated proof that makes any of these things fact.”
“What do you mean?” I frowned. “He all but told me that he kidnapped me for revenge.”
“Yes, and he also told you that he and David were in on it together, yet they both seem to hate each other. And then there is the matter of Steve. What happened to him and why did he turn rogue? These are questions we must think about before we can even claim to know the answers as fact.”
“You’re not helping, Blake.” I shook my head.
“Let’s think of all the reasons why David and Jakob would want to kidnap you and then fall out.”
“Maybe David got mad because Jakob released me earlier than he was supposed to.”
“Perhaps.” Blake nodded. “That would make sense on a very base level.”
“Are you calling me stupid?”
“No.” He grinned and leaned forward. “I’m saying that this is a much more complex subject.”
Beep beep.
Forget the kisses then. Can I see you?
No.
Please?
No.
Where are you?
Don’t you already know?
No.
I’m with a friend. A male friend. I knew as soon as I wrote the words that I was being catty, but I couldn’t stop myself.
I see. Good-bye.
“Sorry about that. It was Jakob again.”
“He really wants to see you.” Blake looked thoughtful.
“He just wants to get some.” My face reddened as I realized what I’d said. “Or maybe wants to tell me some more lies.”
“Maybe he likes you as well.” Blake scribbled something on his pad. “That could be a major clue.”
“What could be a clue?”
“Maybe that’s part of the reason he and David fell out. Maybe he strayed from the plan because he likes you.”
“I doubt it very much.” I made a face, but my stomach jumped in joy at the possibility. “I like him and I wish it was true and I can’t stop thinking about him, but that’s part of why I’m so paranoid about him.”
“Don’t beat yourself up. It’s only natural to be confused. I’d be confused as well. When I went out with Astrid, I had no idea if I was coming or going.”
“Astrid?” I smiled widely.
“Yes, Astrid.”
“Unique name.”
“Enough about me and Astrid, let’s focus on you and your daytime-TV love triangle.” He shook his head. “But first, let’s go and get a locksmith for your door. And do me a favor—don’t give anyone a copy.”
“I’ll give one to Rosie. We share keys in case we get locked out.”
“For now, don’t do that.” He looked serious. “Rosie is a suspect.”
“What?” My jaw dropped. “No way. Rosie is not a suspect.”
“You can give her a key when we rule her out for sure.”
“Blake, Rosie is not a suspect!”
“Everyone is a suspect right now, Bianca.”
“You’re not.”
“Well, that’s because you know you can trust me.” He grinned and I smiled back at him weakly. How many people were going to tell me that I could trust them? Those words meant absolutely nothing to me.