It didn’t matter if she was the one who pulled the trigger or not. My dad had to be dead because of her, one way or another.
“She’s a good actor,” Lola remarked dryly. “I’ll give her that. All the best ones always are.”
“The cameras,” Kieran said. “Did you check the cameras?”
I said not a word as I handed him my phone—which was nearly dead. Needed to charge that thing, but today had been such a shitty day, it was the last thing on my mind.
“Fuck. Cameras were out. Of course. Knew it was too much to ask that she’d fuck up that badly.” He gave me my phone back, frowning hard as he glanced at his sister on the TV. “She needs to go down.”
“And she will,” Lola said. “I’d offer my services, but I have the feeling you want to get your own hands dirty on this one. I don’t blame you.”
“Monday I’ll know whether or not she’s faking the whole pregnancy,” Sylvester said. “If she is faking it, it’ll make it easier.”
Jason was the one who asked, “And if she isn’t, what then? I can’t imagine any of you being okay with letting her live her life for the next few months while waiting for her to give birth.”
With a maniacal giggle, Lola deadpanned, “A pregnant woman can be a prisoner just like anyone else. If she’s really carrying and you don’t want to dirty your hands like that, baby girl, I say we lock her up and wait it out. We’ve got plenty of locations that would work.”
With obvious distrust in his voice, Kieran asked his dad, “You really okay with all this? You aren’t going to run to Tessa and tell her about our scheming, are you? How do we know we can really trust you?”
Everyone turned to look at Jason after that, even me.
“Tessa brought me here under false pretenses,” he replied. “She lied to me about damn near everything. She was the one who cut family ties first when she tried to have you killed, Kieran. I am not God. There are some sins I can’t look past. As much as it pains me to say it, she made her choice, and now she has to face the consequences. I won’t be a part of the planning orthe action, but I do want to be here for you.” His dark eyes flick to me. “And for you.”
He stared at me for a few seconds longer, causing Lola to say, “Awe, how cute. Nothing brings people together like a bad guy that needs to get what he deserves—or, in this case, a bad woman who needs to get what she deserves.”
The only other woman in the room got up and sauntered around the couch, stopping only when she stood directly in front of me. “You want to stay here for a while? I got plenty of room. Obviously you can’t go home. One of these guys could take you to their place, but…” She reached for my hair, twirling some of its dyed strands between her slender fingers. “Honestly, I’d feel better if you were here.”
The thought of leaving this house right now wasn’t a good one. It made my insides hurt all over. Fang’s place, Kieran’s apartment, even Mike’s; where would I go? Where would feel safe enough? Here I was surrounded by friends and lovers, people who would do anything to protect me.
Lola must’ve sensed my thoughts, because as she dropped her hand to her side, she added, “Everyone can stay here. Like I said, plenty of room. It’ll be fun. Get your mind off things while we wait. Like a sleepover. Can you believe I’ve never had one of those?”
I glanced at my guys. Fang said, “Whatever you want, Princess. If you want us to stay here, then here is where we’ll stay.”
Kieran sighed. “What the weirdo said. I will need to run home and grab some things, you know, like clothes and all that, but that won’t take too long.”
“No one should go anywhere alone right now,” Mike harrumphed.
“He’s right,” I said. “Go in pairs, at least. Or all three of you together, just in case…” I couldn’t finish the sentence, but it wassafe to say everyone in the room knew where I was going with that.In case Tessa had something more planned.When it came to that bitch, you never knew.
Raising his hand, Kieran volunteered himself, “I’ll go with Fang. Big guy, you can tag along with my pops—assuming the guy’s going to stick around and join this little sleepover. What are boundaries? We have none, apparently. Isn’t it great?” The absolute sarcasm that dripped off his tone was enough to choke.
Viper looked like he was going to volunteer to accompany his brother, but Lola moved to stand beside him and whispered, “No, no. Let ‘em handle this.” Her comment quieted him.
Mike silently groaned. “Fine.”
Sylvester’s phone rang, so he walked out of the room to answer it. Still on the couch, Maddox appeared totally unbothered by everything that was going on around him. He was scrolling on his phone for most of it, but after it was decided the guys would go out in pairs, he turned around and looked at all of us. “One of you should pick up some dinner. I’m fucking starving. Pizza?”
I just ate, but I was aware everyone else was on a more normal eating schedule today than me. If they wanted to grab pizza, then they totally could. Maybe I’d re-heat some of it later. Maybe.
Pizza was one of those things that made everything better, it was true. Melty cheese, crunchy crust; you couldn’t beat it. I was a chicken nugget girl through and through, but my second favorite food might just have been pizza. In a city like this, there were countless of pizza joints always popping up, too.
Half of them were probably money laundering businesses, but hey, if you strolled in and ordered a large pizza, they made you the best damn pizza you’d ever have.
And then, as I was thinking about pizza, I had another thought. It popped up out of nowhere, and yet it chilled meto the very core. Everything felt heavy all of a sudden when I thought:my dad will never have pizza again.
Just a simple thought. Nothing deep about it, and yet it was like I was finding his body all over again.
Lola must’ve sensed I was close to losing it again, because she grabbed my hand and pulled me away from the guys, saying, “Come on. While the guys go get whatever they need, we can get the bedrooms ready.” Her hand squeezed mine, and though I didn’t say anything to her, I was beyond grateful she was here for me in what was honestly one of the worst times of my life.
