Total pages in book: 125
Estimated words: 122074 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 610(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122074 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 610(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
“Hey—ouch! What are you doing?!”
Ashton marched him right out of the room and down the hallway.
“He’s getting to the journal first. The detective is letting him,” Trace said to me.
I nodded, not surprised by anything anymore.
The only ones in the room were Trace, Jess, and me. The rest of the guests, they’d all been taken to the nearest hospital to get checked out. From there, Ashton told me the plans had been to have them driven back to the city. Except for Jess’s mom. She stayed and was already up in her own room.
Pialto and Sophie were being taken back as well.
“Sloane will be charged. So that means Nea’s and Nicolai’s bodies will be released into evidence.” Trace added, saying to me, “And guarantee he’ll charge your dad too. Breaking and entering. Anything else because he just confessed to a whole list of crimes.”
I was dazed but nodded. “I’m not posting his bail.”
Jess shuddered, breaking free from Trace’s arms. She crossed the room to the liquor cabinet and poured herself a hefty drink. “It’s our wedding night, honey.”
He had a faint smile on his face as he watched his new wife. His eyes were cast in shadow before he said to me, “Something happened with Ashton out there.”
I frowned. “What do you mean?”
“When we were running around, trying to find everyone. He was shaking. I have never seen him shake like that, and he already thought you were safe. It wasn’t that he was worried about you. It wasn’t that he was worried about me. It was something else, something entirely else, and I have no clue what it was.”
Jess turned our way, holding her drink against her chest. “Molly, you started to talk a while ago about your place in our group. Or about group roles? Something like that?”
I nodded, distracted by what Trace had just said about Ashton. “Yeah. Why?”
“Could you explain that again? Or explain more?”
I frowned, but okay then. “In a group, there’s different roles. There’s a thinker.” I nodded in Trace’s direction. “That’s you. The analyst. Then there’s doers. I feel you and Ashton are mostly doers. Ashton thinks, too—I mean, we all do—but you and him. You guys get shit done. And then there’s me. I’m the in-between. I bring everyone together. I’m the connector.” I kept frowning though. “But why are you asking? Why now, I mean?”
She drew in another breath, her chin starting to tremble. “Because when my brother finally gets released from prison, we’re going to start a whole new battle to try to keep our mother around as long as possible. And right now, I’m feeling a little raw. I lost Kelly all over again today, so I need to remember who else I still have.” She was blinking rapidly, lifting her glass and using the back of her pinkie to wipe away a tear. “I like hearing how we’re a group, and we all have our roles, because it makes sense to me. I need something to make sense to me.”
I walked over to her, my heart breaking, and hugged her. Drink and all.
She was right. We were all a new family, and one I had no intention of losing.
“Just call me the group sealant.”
She barked out a laugh, her one free hand hugging me back. “That sounds so wrong but so right.”
Wrong and right and sometimes inappropriate. That sounded about right.
CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
ASHTON
We were at Katya two weeks later.
The place was closed down, except for the small group on the dance floor. A DJ was booked, and he was enjoying every time the girls wanted a song changed. I was in our private box, coming up here because Avery told me a certain detective wanted to talk to me.
He came in now, stopping to grab a drink that’d been poured for him on the bar. I was standing at the end, overlooking how Molly was dancing with Jess, Sophie, Pialto, Remmi, and half the staff, who Molly had insisted be given the night off. She wanted to extend another “sorry” to them for the night she’d left and put two of them in danger. I didn’t think the boyfriend was in attendance, but Molly had insisted. I wouldn’t be surprised if the boyfriend showed up sooner or later. So far, everyone was having a good time.
Her cousin Glen joined as well.
“What are you guys celebrating?” Jake joined me at the window, sipping his drink.
I gave him a cursory look, noting his badge wasn’t out. “A few things. Jess’s brother is officially out of prison.”
His eyebrows went up, but he wasn’t surprised.
“And Jess sold a large painting to a gallery in Europe.”
The last part had been kept private, or Jess didn’t want to blast it out to everyone because she didn’t want to answer any questions anyone might’ve had.
Jake glanced my way. “And the third?”