“And capitalizing on the very worst moment of my life is the only way to handle the consequences of your own decisions?” Cricket says.
“Quit being a bitch about this and help your family out,” he says.
I’m at her side before I realize I’ve moved, leaning over the back of her chair. “What the fuck did you just say to her?” I growl.
“Am I on speaker? Fuckingdammit, Cricket, take me off?—”
“Listen up, you puny little excuse of a human being,” I say. “If you don’t shut your fucking mouth and send Cricket every dime you made off of her, plus interest, I will be at your doorstep first thing in the morning with a few friends.”
“I don’t know who the fuck you think you are, but you don’t scare me.”
“Friends who have video of this call. Friends who can hack your computer. Friends who know how to drain your bank account and never get caught. Friends who will be lurking around every corner, watching and waiting for you to make a mistake that they’ll broadcast around the internet. That I’ll feed into AI myself to make it ten times worse but still recognizable as you. Your bosses will see. Your wife will see. Your children will see. Your fucking dog will see. You want to profit off of someone else’s life being ruined? Let’s see how it feels when it’s your life being ruined.”
“You don’t know a goddamn thing?—”
“We know everything, Romeo,” Mabel says. “Everything.”
“I’m sending the email,” Cricket says to me.
For as furious as I am, it’s the most natural thing in the world to kiss her softly on the head. “That’s my girl.”
“Okay, fine, that was swoony,” Olivia says to Samantha.
“What email?” Romeo says. “Cricket, don’t?—”
“Buh-bye, asswipe,” Cricket says cheerfully.
She hangs up on him, and then she hitssend.
We all listen to the swooshing noise as the email heads out into the ether, all of the evidence Mabel gathered of Romeo’s betrayal included.
“I hope they believe us,” Samantha whispers.
“I’m not holding my breath,” Cricket says. “It’ll still be my fault for making the video to tempt him with.”
“I hate your family,” I mutter to her.
“My family isthe best,” she replies, grinning up at me. “You. Lav. Fluffy. Mabel. Ginny. Olivia. Samantha. Dori. Pip. The Cluckinator. Rachelle. Elizabeth. Your parents. My soul sisters on the wall of shame.The best family. Those other people? They’re just relatives.”
It’s impossible to not kiss her.
This woman?
She has me captivated.
Heart.
Soul.
Mind.
Body.
She’s taught me how to live again.
How to take chances again.
And how to accept myself and my own flaws as much as I accept them in everyone else.
