“What?”Amanda said.“She’s in the same social stratosphere as Suzanne Masterson.I guess the ultra-rich can commit murder and not get away with it.”
Nicole nodded.“Tripp figured it out.Evelyn put Bianca’s address into her GPS the night of the murder.She arrived ten minutes before the coroner said she died.He showed evidence of her leaving her house and the time she returned the night of the murder.He was excellent.And she planted the murder weapon in her son’s apartment.”
“And how do you feel about Tripp as a lawyer?”Paige asked.
Her voice cracked at the edges.“He’s maddening.He’s brilliant.”
Crystal reached across the table, her fingers brushing Nicole’s hand.“You still love him.”
Nicole’s throat closed.She couldn’t say the words.But she didn’t deny it either.
Of course, she still loved him.How could she not?She’d loved him for half her life.But every time they found their way back to each other, it seemed their families rose up like walls, standing between them and the love that refused to die.
They weren’t each other’s enemy, their families were.
Jennifer smirked into her straw.“Honestly, I don’t blame you.The man looks like he stepped straight out of GQ.And when he stares at you in court, the rest of us need sunglasses.”
Nicole laughed softly, grateful for the joke, though her chest still ached.
Paige twirled her straw through the ice in her water.“So… speaking of Tripp.”
Nicole stiffened.“Paige…”
She couldn’t talk about him tonight or she might break down crying.
“What?”Paige’s smile was just a little too innocent.“I’m just saying maybe you don’t know everything.”
“You don’t either,” she said, thinking about what had happened after the trial ended.
“Tell us,” Jennifer said.“We want all the juicy details.”
For the next five minutes, she told them about how they had agreed to meet after the trial and discuss their marriage.They ended up spending the night at a hotel, and the next morning, they decided to bring their parents together and learn the truth of what happened twenty years ago.
When she got to the part about how Suzanne had treated her, a tear trickled down her cheek.
“Damn, that woman is a bitch,” Amanda said.
“I’m so sorry, honey,” Crystal said.“You don’t deserve that.”
“What did Tripp do?”Jennifer said, her voice angry.“Was he a man and did he stand up to his mother?”
That had been her biggest disappointment.Maybe he had after she left, but before she walked out, he’d just sat there staring at her in disbelief.
“I didn’t give him the chance.I told my parents we were leaving.I told him I need time.It feels like all that we’ve gone through is still keeping us apart.”
How could she tell them she’d felt so disappointed with how Tripp had responded, and how she feared Tripp would come to hate her for making him choose between his mother and her?
“Just a minute, Nicole.You don’t know what happened after you left,” Paige said, grinning.
Nicole narrowed her eyes.“What are you talking about?”
Paige sat back, folding her arms.“Don’t shoot the messenger.But you should know, he’s not living with his mother anymore.”
Nicole froze.“What?”
Had the revelation sent him running?The thought twisted in her gut.She’d been disappointed, crushed, but maybe he’d been reeling, too, as stunned as she was.She had never imagined their parents would stoop so low, go to such lengths just to rip them apart.
Who does that to their own children?
