She might’ve felt alone in this, but she wasn’t. She’d see that, after the shock cleared her system and she could think clearly again.
I gently squeezed her hip. “I’ve never gone through a loss like this, but I can imagine how terrible it is. I’m sorry about your father. I only met the man once, but he seemed like he was just a man trying to do some good in this city. A man like that should be commended. The city is surely in a worse place now that he’s gone.”
When she didn’t say anything, when she didn’t respond at all, I pulled my hand off her and stood. “We’ll be downstairs when you’re ready. Take your time. Do you need anything? Something to drink or some food?” A plate of some kind of takeout sat on the nightstand, completely untouched, from what it looked like, along with the matching soft drink.
Though I got no answer from her, I bent over and placed a gentle kiss on her head before I left, giving her the space she wanted.
She couldn’t be alone forever. Sooner or later she’d realize she’d feel better if she let someone in. Pushing her right now, though, was probably unwise. I’d never gone through what she had, so I couldn’t imagine what she was feeling or thinking, but knowing Laina as I did, I bet she was so lost in her thoughts, in her grief and her shock, that the surface had never seemed further away.
I rejoined the others in the living room right as the chief of police of the jurisdiction handling the case interrupted the localprogramming with a live report. Though the camera was zoomed in on the older man, you could tell there were dozens of other reporters there. A big banner ran across the bottom of the TV screen, saying:Mayor Vance Hawkins found dead in his home.
“At one-thirty-two this afternoon, my department responded to an emergency call at the mayor’s home residence. There they found the mayor deceased. I cannot release any further details, as it is an ongoing investigation.”
One of the reporters called out, “Is foul play suspected?”
The man behind the podium’s expression said it all, but he clearly chose his words carefully when he said, “Foul play is not being ruled out. As this is a brand-new investigation, we are working as quickly as possible to get to the truth, and if this is a result of foul-play, my department and every other department in the city will not rest until the perpetrator is found. Thank you.” He gave a nod to the cameras, and then he turned around, and the screen cut out, going to the local news station, who was covering the shocking event that was, in their words, rattling this city to its very core.
Lola grabbed the remote and turned the volume down. “I think it’s safe to say who’s responsible for this.” When no one said anything, she went on, “It can’t be a coincidence that Tessa makes her triumphant return, pregnant, right before her soon-to-be ex-husband gets a bullet in the chest.”
Kieran rubbed his jaw. “I don’t get what her game plan would be. She likes being one step ahead, but this? I thought her goal was for her and Vance to rise up through the ranks—mayor to governor to congressman to senator. Without him, what does she have?”
Mike was the one who answered him, “A story.” His curt reply earned him looks from everyone in the room, even Lola. “She has a story that’ll garner national attention. Maybe she’s tired of being the woman behind the politician…”
Ah, I understood where he was going with that. “And she wants to be the politician herself,” I said.
“Being a politician’s wife doesn’t automatically make you politician material,” Maddox said.
“True, in some cases,” Lola said, “but there are plenty of wives who’ve stepped out from behind their husbands’ shadows and become politicians themselves. She’s been in the spotlight, so she knows how it all works. Essentially, the bitch just cut out the middleman.”
Viper looked to Kieran. “You think your father could be the one who pulled the trigger for her?”
With a sigh, he shook his head. “I don’t know. I don’t think so. I—” A phone rang, his phone, and he pulled it out of his pocket and checked who was calling. “Speak of the devil. His nose must’ve been itchy.” He stared at his phone for a few seconds before he looked around the room. “I could invite him here. We could question him, see if he knows anything.”
Mike grumbled out, “And if he does know something, if he is the killer, you’d be inviting him to the exact place Laina is.”
I had to remind him, “He’s had quite a few opportunities to take Laina out of the equation, if that’s what you mean. I’ve never met the man, but from what I’ve heard, I don’t think he’s the one who did this.”
Ultimately, it was Lola’s home, so it was Lola’s word that was law, so when she said, “Give him the address. We’re all packing. We can easily take the fucker down if we have to,” that was that.
Kieran got up and wandered out of the room to answer the call, while the rest of us festered in silence. Personally, I hated knowing Laina was up there, practically disassociating out of grief and shock, and I hated the fact that there was nothing we could do right now to make her feel better. She had to go through it. Time had to pass. Unfortunately, that’s all there was to it.
A minute later, Kieran returned and said, “It’s done. He’s ten minutes away, so one way or another… be ready.” He collapsed on the same chair he inhabited earlier.
I asked the room, “Should we warn Laina he’s on his way?”
“Why? So she can get ready to jump his bones?” The half-hearted joke was out of Kieran before he could stop it, and immediately guilt washed over him. “Shit.”
Maddox didn’t get it. “Your girl wants to fuck your dad?”
Lola was quick to jump in on her behalf: “Speaking as a girl myself, there is something sexy about it. Your father hates me, but he’s a good-looking guy, too. I’d bone him, or, technically, let him bone me.” She flashed a smile, but that smile didn’t have any heart behind it, and it died within seconds.
“You know, I could’ve gone my whole life without knowing that, so thanks a fucking lot,” Maddox huffed as he frowned. Viper, who sat on Lola’s other side, looked like he was torn between being amused and slightly grossed out.
Kieran didn’t say another word, but he did get back up and wander out of the room. I followed him, trailing after him as he walked into the room across the hall, a lounge with no TV but a grandiose fireplace centered on the outer wall. He went to stand near the window overlooking the front driveway, sighing to himself.
I stood beside him, not saying a word. Turned out, I didn’t need to.
“It’s not a good time for me to be bitter or jealous over the fact that my girl has a crush on the man who gave me life,” Kieran spoke with another sigh. “I know that. Still, it’s… it’s just hard. Believe it or not, it’s not something I have experience with.”
