She scoffs. “Like you don’t want to.”
“I’m an officer of the law, asshole. It would go against everything I believe in to kill him.”
“Pussy. Are you sure you’re my brother?”
“If he had a fatal accident, however, that would just be karma,” Reggie muses, as he strokes his facial hair.
A warm rush of affection distracts me temporarily from the madness that has become my life. When I was younger and my house became a war zone of arguments, cold shoulders, and neglect, the Baptistes were always there to distract me with a plate of homemade food. They took me in and treated me like their own. I considered Claude and Yvonne, Yasmine and Reggie’s mom and dad, my adoptive parents, and Estelle, Yvonne’s mother, was like my grandmother. I spent so much time in their house during high school and undergrad that they cleaned out the guest room for me to use.
Since my mother’s death, I haven’t been back as much as I should, mostly because it reminds me of how much I’ve lost. It’sa sore ache in my chest to realize just how much I’ve missed it. If I had more time to indulge, I’d stick around for dinner and wine on their terrace, stay up too late watching old movies with Yasmine, and crash on the too-small twin bed I’ve used for years.
“The most important thing right now is distracting Elizabeth. I would do it myself, but I know she’d fight me the whole way. I think she believes she’s being noble by going through with everything. Or maybe she’s trying to please Father. She always admired him even though he’s the last person to deserve it.”
During my rambling, we’d settled onto the benches in the small breakfast nook just off the kitchen. The sunny yellow walls are faded and marked from time, but the bright space does wonders for my dismal mood. Reggie poured coffee, strong and dark, and Yasmine lounged next to him in the seat across from me.
“What are you planning to do, exactly?” Yasmine asks. I open my mouth, but before I can say a word, she’s already hissing in disbelief. “Do I even want to know? Is it worse than the other thing you did that I can’t say in front of Reggie because he’d have to arrest you?”
“Seriously?” Reggie says with a long-suffering sigh. “How many illegal acts have you committed in the past year?”
“I plead the Fifth,” Yasmine says.
“Defineillegal,” I say with a smile.
“Do you need me?” Reggie asks, all traces of humor gone. “I have a shift, but I can call in if you do. Just say the word. Nick wouldn’t even give me a hard time for this.” Nick is Reggie’s boss, and I don’t know him that well, but from our few interactions, I could say he’d definitely give him a hard time.
“Aw, Reg. So you do care.”
“Brat,” Reggie says affectionately as he kisses Yasmine’s brow. He rounds the corner and does the same to me. “Seriously, call me if you need me. I’m only a call away, okay?”
“I will, I promise. Stay safe and thank you.”
“Always,” he says over his shoulder with a cocky smile.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to ask him to stay?”
I sigh into my coffee. “I’d rather not drag him into this if we don’t have to.”
“But you’re willing to drag me into it? Aw. Thanks, I guess.”
“I know I was nonchalant about the whole situation after that night,” I start.
“You mean the night you spent with Aiden?”
I grind my teeth. “Yes. But this isn’t something I can make light of. I know you didn’t want to get involved, but there’s no one else I can ask. Please say you’ll help me.”
“Alright, lay it on me. It’s not worse than crashing his masquerade, is it?” My smile grows, and Yasmine scowls. “I’m not going to like this, am I?”
“This isthe dumbest idea you’ve ever had. And that includes the time that you made me moon that car we didn’t know was an unmarked cop car when we were sixteen. I almost went to jail, and I would rather do that a million times over than help you pretend to be your sister so you can marry this man. You barely even know him.”
“When you say it like that, it sounds like a really dumb idea,” I murmur.
“That’s because itisa really dumb idea. I can’t believe I let you talk me into this shit. We’re probably going to end up getting caught and thrown in jail, and Reggie will make my life hell.” Yasmine’s biting retort comes from over her shoulder, where I’m quickly changing clothes. We have an hour before we’re due to be at the church.
“That’s why,” I interject, puffing out a wheezing breath, “we have your mom.”
Yasmine pulls her head in from the window where she’s watching for the rental car and gives me a disbelieving look. “You think Yvonne Baptiste will go easy on you if she learns you bribed a priest? I swear to God, you are out of your fucking mind.”
“It’s not like I have another choice.”
