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“I contain multitudes.”

Everything in her melts as I brush one knuckle down her flushed cheek. My pulse thunders.

“Here’s what I know, Jubilee York. I already know where one of your skeletons is buried. I know your mother loves you fiercely, even when she’s done it badly. I know her daughter is stronger than she ever should’ve had to become.” I swallow past the sudden tightness in my throat. “And I know you can take care of yourself. But I want to take care of you too. If you’ll give me that honor.”

Her eyes shimmer, but they never leave mine. For once, she doesn’t have a smart-ass answer ready. She just stares at me.

Finally, she presses my palm against her cheek.

And she nods.

CHAPTER 15

Jubilee

By the time we leave the apartment, Tyson is in handcuffs, Mom has given Detective Alvarez months of texts, and the hotel suite Gage booked has won her over with the words spa and room service.

“You’re seriously okay with me leaving?” I ask outside as officers drive away with Tyson.

Mom considers this like I’ve lost my mind. “Juju Bean, you’re twenty-seven, not seventeen.”

“I meant going home with him.”

Her gaze slides toward Gage, who’s loading my suitcase into his SUV beneath the streetlamp. “Sweetie, I’ve followed that man for three years. He rescues cats, makes puff pastry from scratch, sweet-talks chickens, and once spent forty minutes explaining why people shouldn’t declaw their pets. At this point, I may know more about him than you do.”

Unfortunately, she might. Except for the body burial. I still have her there.

Mom kisses my cheek before climbing into her rideshare. “Go. Have fun. Send me pictures of the cats.”

Once she’s gone, I find Gage waiting beside the open passenger door. “So,” he says, far too pleased with himself, “I’d say I passed the meet-the-mother test.”

“You cheated.”

His brows rise. “Cheated?”

“She was already a fan.” I playfully touch his arm. “You walked into the exam with the answer key.”

“And here I was feeling accomplished.”

I climb inside. “When the time comes, I expect warning. Names. Allergies. Family scandals. Which relatives bite.”

Gage pauses, suspicion flickering in his features.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

I stab a finger at him. “That was absolutely a something.”

He leans down and kisses my forehead. “No promises, Princess.”

I narrow my eyes as he shuts the door.

That sounds alarming.

A little over an hour later, Chicago has faded behind us. The houses sit farther apart now, the roads darker and quieter, trees crowding both sides while Gage drives with one hand relaxed on the wheel.

I’ve been mostly quiet. Not uncomfortable quiet. More like my thoughts are the inside of a shaken snow globe, and I’m waiting for everything to settle enough to see through it. Mom. Tyson. My father. Gage.