She smiles, but subtly slides her hand away. “Mr. Pa—you know, still has my passport.”
Morelli pulls out his phone. “I’ll put that on the list of things he’ll be returning when the contract’s signed.”
“That’s amazing. God, I have no idea what I’ll do when I’m free. See my family, I guess?”
She looks around at us as though asking permission.
“You can,” Bobby says. “Your sister, your brothers. Your, uh, stepmom, I guess?”
January’s smile dims. “My stepmom gave him my passport.”
Bobby scowls and even Morelli breaks his tall, dark and serious routine to bare his teeth. I watch hurt ripple across January’s face like wind on a lake and I want to commit homicide. If it was just the two of us alone, I’d offer to kill her stepmother, and looking at Morelli, I know he feels the same way. Both of us know something about clingy, abusive mothers, and Corinne Whitehall is going to be a millstone around January’s neck for as long as she’s alive.
“Bella,” Morelli says. “You’re eighteen. Your stepmother can try to manipulate you, but she’s no longer your legal guardian. Which means you don’t have to see her.”
January brushes a tear from her cheek. “But since my marriage didn’t happen, the money will have stopped coming.”
“Cry me a fucking river,” I say. “Maybe your stepmother can sell one of her ten-thousand-dollar dresses.”
Bobby shoots me a dirty look. “Your stepmom will be fine, JJ. She can always remarry.”
“She always said she wouldn’t. That once was enough.”
“That’s fucking charming, considering what she did to you,” I say.
January looks like I slapped her. Bobby puts an arm around her. “Enough, Doc.”
I splash water at him.
January gives a gulping sob. “Eli, can I please ask you a favor?”
My stomach goes cold. She wants to move back home, go to another country, to get Archie Baskerville’s number—
“Can I live here for a little while? Just while I figure out what to do?”
All three of us laugh, our voices bouncing off the water and the green tiles.
“What?” January asks, confused.
“Bella, you are living here,” Morelli says. “It’s not a question.”
“Oh, thank you.” She frowns. “But I can go, right? I’m not…?”
“We’re no longer holding you prisoner,” Morelli says lightly. “Soon, we’ll sign the contract and get your passport back and you’ll be able to properly consider your future.”
“I… what do you mean?”
“Well,” Morelli says slowly. “Whether you’d like to go to school or work or… anything else.”
January stares into the water, seemingly lost in the possibilities. Morelli toes off his oxfords and rolls up his suit pants. I watch as he sits on January’s right dangling his feet in the water. Bobby is still on her left, his thigh pressed against her. A tension fills the grotto, but a nice tension. I kick back and watch the three of them. My friends, my rivals, and this infuriating perfect girl. I picture Adriano, upstairs cracked out on pain medication. We’re together again. Under one roof if not physically close. The thought unknots something tight between my ribs. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad, sharing a girl. God knows we’re together all the time, devil’s threesomes are hot and no matter what happens we’re never going to find another January Joy Whitehall.
Morelli turns to her and gives her one of his fuck-me smiles. “I don’t want to put any pressure on you, but there’s another aspect of your future you need to consider.”
“What do you mean?”
“The four of us are interested in you, and you’re obviously interested in us.”
January ducks her head. “I… I don’t know.”
