“We heard.” Troian nodded. “Weird timing with what Casper and Cheyenne did to Thayer.”
“Weird timing is always Warren’s calling card.” She sighed, crossing her arms in defiance. “That’s how he keeps getting away with all this crazy shit.” She shook her head. “But that’s about to come to an end.”
“It is?” I asked.
A smile proceeded her again. “Aspen’s arrest certainly didn’t look good, and the timing was most likely planned by Warren to give him an alibi, but Aspen never name dropped him. Not even during her interrogation about why she kidnapped all those petrylle in D.C.” She gave me a curt nod. “That’s where Cas and Chey fucked up. Letting it slip that Warren gave them the order to kidnap you, or Troian rather, implicated him in a way that he can’t weasel out of. Warren’s still Warren though, so there’s a chance he might get away with it because of his connections, but he’s at least under the police’s scrutiny now and he can’t avoid questioning forever.”
“He’s being questioning about the warehouse kidnapping?” Qwill interjected.
“Not yet. He’s using everything he can to avoid flying down here and speaking with the police, but now that Aspen’s name is being thrown across every cop’s screen within a hundred mile radius from D.C., it’s inevitable for him to be forced to speakwith them.” She uncrossed her arms to hold her hands together in triumph. “Which means, the family has way bigger fish to fry than to worry about tracking down money that my son gave to his husband upon his death.” Madison nodded at Troian. “It’s over.”
“Overover?” He said back.
“As in, no one’s going to come looking for either one of us again?” I added.
“Casper and Cheyenne are missing. No one’s heard from them, seen them, nothing. They’re fucking ghosts and those girls willnot be foundunless they want to be. Aspen’s in jail as they build a strong case against her stupidity. Lafayette is trying to do damage control with his media influence, so he’s been in New York trying to buy our family’s name back.” She chuckled incredulously. “And Warren is dodging fires left and right, since headlines saying that the White House Chief of Staff ordered his sisters to kill their cousin’s husband and kidnapped his twin by mistake instead. The only one back at the family estate in Massachusetts is Lincoln, and who knows how long that’ll last.”
I had no idea that there were that many Rhodes siblings, but hearing that they were otherwise occupied was all I needed to hear. That didn’t mean that Troian and I were completely out of the woods as far as danger was concerned, but it sure as hell made me let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding on to.
“You’re sure Thayer’s safe?” Hearing the concern from my twin was heartwarming.
“The family is officially fractured.” Madison stated, to prove her point and really make it twist in the flesh of her story. “Our father isn’t going to live much longer. When he eventually dies, the siblings will be more concerned with the money that they might get from him. All thoughts of the money,my money, that Alec’s father and I gave him, that you were rightfully given, will be all but forgotten.” She placed a hand on my brother’s shoulder. “It’soverover.”
“Thank fucking god.”
Troian came over to me and pulled me into a quick hug. “I’m so sorry about all of this.”
I pulled him back by the shoulders to stare into the dark eyes we shared. “Once again, this isnotyour fault, Troy.”
“Thayer’s right.” Madison said as we stepped apart. “This is my fucked up family’s fault. Always has been, always will be.”
I strolled back over to Qwill, wrapping an arm around him in a half hug as Madison meandered her way over to the window in the living room. I was just about to subtly ask them to leave now that everything was looking better on the Rhodes-getting-back-at-us front so that I could return to the evening I had planned with my boyfriend, but Madison sighed deeply and giggled to herself before rejoining us back towards the front of the apartment.
“Now that the family is fracturing, you know, Piper wouldn’t be the worst town to settle down in.”
Troian snickered. “It’s way more small town than what you’re used to back in Massachusetts.”
“Small town,” Madison cooed, echoing Troian’s words in a more sing-song way. “I like the sound of that.”
“Well,” Troian grabbed Madison’s hand and began to steer her towards the front door of the apartment. “My brother’s too nice to kick us out, but we should go. He was having a night in with his boyfriend, after all.”
“Ahh, young love.” Madison placed a hand over her heart as Qwill and I followed them towards the door. “Enjoy yourselves!”
I would’ve been embarrassed by all the implications but I was too wound up with all the good news both internal and external that I really didn’t give a fuck. “Thanks for telling me in person, Madison. And it was great to meet you.”
“You as well.” She said as she spun on her heels, giving Qwill a curt nod. “It was nice meeting you as well, Qwill.”
“Likewise.” Qwill said back.
“I’ll text you.” Troian said to me knowingly.
I nodded like a puppy dog eager for them to get out, because I was. “Sounds good.”
They started to depart and I closed the door to cut off the view of them. I turned around to face Qwill again, tossing my arms around his neck, minding his gills of course, as he pulled me close.
I’d been dying to tell him how deeply I felt for him, but the greed to spew my feelings was waning. There’d be time for those, and I didn’t want to rush the words out simply because I was running the high of my day, of my past few days. I wanted to tell Qwill how I felt in a more appropriate setting.
So instead, I wanted to tell him about all the life updates I’d had a hand in since the last time we’d seen each other.
