“Mo vé le mort.” She spat out. I had heard her do that once before, speak a foreign language when she was upset. Right before she had thrown me out of the Hamptons.
“Who the fuck is it?” Jeremy finally shouted. “What are we talking about? And if Mom is reverting to Cajun then all shit is about to hit the fan. Someone start talking because maybe I’ll go kill him.”
Rosalind shook her head wildly. “No way, my darling. You will do no such thing. No one is fucking with my children anymore. It’s my brother. It’s Cade. The one right below me. He stinks so badly of bourbon I can barely sit in the room with him. There’s no question in my mind. We wondered if it was my family, and it was.”
“Sure.” I nodded. It was clearly time to talk to them. “But it can’t only be your family. Look what they tried to do. They tried to shove me in a van. They failed. It was the middle of the day on a street Barrett drives up and down constantly. Anyone could see. Lazy and poorly thought out. What happened to Phoenix? That was constructed and well done. Otherwise you would know by now who it was. How did they get to you? How did they have the ability to send a text we cannot trace? They are being funded by someone with resources.”
Everyone stared at me in silence. I could practically feel my own heart beat, it was so wild.
Finally, it was Eric who spoke. “That’s smart. We never thought about it like that. You’re so smart.”
“She is.” Julian squeezed my hand. “We have been pseudo investigating the families you’re friends with. The ones who would have reason to have been there that day. To not beaccidently discovered. We know Sam’s family is fine. I think next up is the Trevors.”
That was right.
Kit crossed his arms over his chest. “They lost River. There is no way they would have placed that child in danger knowingly. None. They have never been the same. No way.”
“None,” Eric nodded. “But it’s a good thought. I get why you would think that.”
“One of our friends.” All the fight seemed to be gone from Rosalind. When she would have dropped the gun, Stephen took it from her.
It was like Kit had his voice back. “Stop your investigation. You’re already at risk. No one is hurting any member of my family. I’ll do it. Clearly I should have done it five years ago. I’m blind to this. I can see it now.”
I pointed at the house. “I’m going to shower. Maybe take a nap. I might not be able to. And if it wouldn’t be too intrusive, could I please stop by and see Dina for a minute after?”
Daniel nodded fast. “It’s not intrusive. You’re ours. Hers. We’d love you to visit.”
I would. When I could see straight again.
I staredat myself in the bathroom mirror. My eyes were haunted, but that wasn’t new. My hair was fuzz on top of my head. I was still beat up looking and scarred. Maybe I should ask Eric if there was something I could do about that. I didn’t want all of these scars for the rest of my life. Maybe the new ones wouldn’t scar, but it seemed lately everything did.
Jeremy was in my room. I chewed on my lip. I wanted to be brave. I wanted to be alive. I wanted to be somewhere other thanwhere I was today. I wanted to be with him. I grabbed what was probably Barrett’s bathrobe and put it on. I had heard Barrett and Phoenix pull into the driveway. They hadn’t come storming in, so they were probably visiting with Dina. Maybe Julian had told them I was showering and sleeping, to leave me alone. Jeremy hadn’t stayed away and that was fine by me.
I stepped out in the bathrobe to find him staring at the ceiling. He leaned back on his elbows, a tilt to his head. “Something wrong?”
“No.” I shook my head. “Wondering if I could shower in your bathroom.”
He blinked. “Sure. Don’t like yours?”
“I do. A lot. I just want to shower in your bathroom and maybe take a nap in there, too. What do you think? Fine to tell me no.”
Jeremy got to his feet, slowly. He walked over to me, tugging me by the belt of the bathrobe toward him. “What are you saying? Be clear with me. My head is befuddled.”
I smiled, stealing a phrase for Phoenix. “Oh, look, SAT word.”
“Princess?” He was dead serious right now. Not the time to joke with him.
“I thought we could get in your shower together and make out in your bed. Maybe… maybe move things along a little bit if you want to. If you don’t, I understand. That’s fine, too.”
He bent over to whisper in my ear. “Yes. I want to. So much you can’t believe it.”
I probably could. “I just had the IUD put in, I feel pretty good, but we could stop short of actual… penetration.” I was getting good at saying these things. “We could, ah, touch each other.”
I had to be red in the face. Completely and totally red. But I’d done it. Jeremy didn’t make it any easier because he seemed tobe determined to hold my eye contact the entire time. He simply, through the force of his own gaze, wouldn’t let me look down.
He nodded. “Have you, ah, ever done that before?”
“I have… touched someone but never been touched myself. Oh forget it. If you don’t want to then…”
