“Skyla, you’re simply glowing this evening. It’s good to have you in your own skin, and I do believe it’s you despite rumors that are percolating.” He gives Emma the side-eye and my mouth falls open.
That witch.
I shouldn’t be too surprised she’s spreading the faux news.
Logan takes up my hand.Has anyone ever told you that your face gives away your every thought?
I take a cue from Barron and shoot Logan the side-eye.
“Thank you, Barron.” I force a smile to come. Usually it would be easy to smile for Barron, but having him flanked with Wicked Thing One and Wicked Thing Two aka Emma and Demetri, it’s hard to make my lips turn in that direction. I’ve taken Gage off the wicked list seeing that he’s being lied to so expertly.
Barron tips his head with a quizzical expression. “Whatever transpired to send you out of your body to begin with?”
Both Logan and I glance to Gage, and he closes his eyes briefly before sniffing hard.
“Skyla?” Gage says my name abruptly. “What did happen to you?”
There’s a dare in his eyes. And just beneath that, there’s a wound so deep you could fall into the abyss. Gage Oliver is very much alive and well, and I could weep buckets over the fact—both with joy and agony.
I glance to Logan, and he gives a subtle shake of the head as if to saydon’t entertain crazy.
I clear my throat as I look to Barron. “It’s a long story.” It’s not clear to me if people actually understood from that video that it was Gage who evicted my spirit from my body.
Jaxson falls asleep over my chest with less than a whisper, and my mother coos at the adorable sight.
“Give that little piglet to me. I’ll lay him down for you.”
“Thank you,” I say as she gingerly takes him from my arms and heads out of the room.
Tad steps up and slaps Demetri on the shoulder, pulling him into our circle.
“Now that the little woman is gone”—Tad grins over at Demetri—“I have news from the legal front. It turns out, Demeet is lining up a whole new defense dream team for me.”
“Wonderful,” I flatline while glaring at the evil among us. “Is this the same dream team you used to crown your son king?”
Demetri sheds an easy smile. “Only top-notch expertise is allowed to aid in an effort to free my friend from the chains that bind him.”
“You mean felony that binds him,” I say. “Do you know what’s considered an even bigger felony? Setting someone up to look as if they rigged the lottery system.”
He gives a slight nod my way. “Difficult to prove, I’m sure, but we’ll leave no stone unturned.”
Marshall steps in and wraps an arm around my waist—much to Logan’s chagrin—but with those feel-good vibratronics of his traveling all over my body suddenly it feels as if I’ve been whisked away to a Sector day spa.
It never grows old.
“See here, Emma?” Tad balks while making the lunchmeats clutched in his fist flap like a bird. “Don’t feel too bad that she gave your son the old heave-ho. She’s not two weeks into her nuptials than she’s got another one in the queue.” He gives a wistful shake of the head. “And they only get richer. You can’t say I didn’t raise her right.” He takes off, and Emma gives an indignant huff.
She glances to Gage. “It just proves your instincts to leave her were spot-on.”
“Emma,” Barron growls. “You may not speak that way to the mother of your grandchildren—who, by the way, also happens to live under this roof.” He links his arm to her. “Please excuse us,” he says as he hauls her off while starting in on what looks like a verbal beatdown. I hope it hurts, too.
I can’t help but note that Gage chose to remain silent during his mother’s outburst.
Figures.
Demetri lifts his wicked chin our way. “Speaking of living arrangements. The two of you have a home elsewhere. What’s the holdup? Isn’t Whitehorse to your liking, Skyla?”
Logan growls under his breath, “She likes it just fine. It’s you she doesn’t like sniffing around her mother.”
