Her plan had been a good one, logistically speaking. Eliminate her aunt, cause public humiliation to Kat on an intimate yet catastrophic level at the gala, while also arranging to have Kat’s identity as Sloane Daniels blasted all over social media in a synchronized attack.
Thank fuck for my team.
My heart swells with pride and relief that we managed to pull this off even if we were down to the wire.
Samson relayed that Amelia was resting comfortably, and despite her involvement in the online nonsense, a part of me sympathized with her. She just had her world turned upside down and now she’d have to grieve losing both of her nieces.
And Hazel for real this time.
“I don’t understand,” Jace says as we wait for Emerson to bring Kat back into the fray. Royce said he wouldn’t be taking any chances and spent the last twenty minutes loading theorganization’s presentation onto his laptop and ensuring there was nothing hidden or encrypted that would interfere with Kat’s moment.
No more surprises.
“What?”
“How did the medical examiner misidentify Hazel?”
“Small towns like that don’t always have a designated medical examiner, and when the case looks fairly cut-and-dried, there’d be no reason to dig any deeper, especially with one sister mourning over the other.”
“And the DNA? Fingerprints? Dental records? They had to run that.”
“They were identical twins; they’d have the same DNA.”
“Seriously?”
“Yes. Portia could have tampered with dental records and whileshe’snever been fingerprinted, Royce was able to track down an application that Hazel filled out to work with kids before she got into writing. She had a background check done and he’s put in a request to obtain a copy to compare against the prints the medical examiner took. I have no doubt they’ll match.”
“Damn.” He chuckles. “He works fast.”
“All the pieces were in play; we just had them in the wrong order before tonight.” He bobs his head as I hold out my hand. “You did good today,” I tell him, his features softening with relief as he returns the shake.
“Thanks, boss.”
I can’t deny the relief I feel too. He tracked Portia’s movements and stopped her before she was able to hurt Kat.
Before I’d even had a chance to raise the alarm.
He did his job and didn’t let a mistake derail his future.
Maybe this is what those people feel when they put that “proud parent of an honor roll student” sticker on their car.
Or maybe I’m just a little more emotional knowing he was a part of ensuring Kat’s safety.
Happiness.
Maybe this is how life is supposed to be.
“So…” Jace starts, his eyes scanning the room, “you and Miss Harrington?”
Fucking hell.
“Yeah,” I tell him, making sure he can see the sincerity in my eyes, “me and Miss Harrington.”
His grin is immediate and he’s not even attempting to hold back his amusement, but there’s also something else.
“It’s good to see you happy, boss.”
“Thanks,” I tell him as the lights dim and a woman takes the stage, her dark hair twisted up on the top of her head to show off the modest cut of her maroon gown. Relief floods through me that we were able to salvage this for Kat because she deserves to shine tonight.
