Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 77016 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77016 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
“But still she—”
“I know,” Skye interrupts me. “She apologized to me for laying a guilt trip on me about not going to dinner with them. She admitted that sleeping with him was her choice. And I told her that maybe it wasn’t her choice. Maybe it was the drugs. But she said it felt like her choice.”
I’m not sure what to say. That’s what date rape drugs do. They make the woman think it’s her choice.
“So then I asked her where she got the ecstasy that she took before. She said Peter gave it to her.”
“What?” I clench my hands into fists.
“No, no, no. After I left, she called me and told me she got it from some bartender named Nick.”
“I wouldn’t put it past Peter to give her the drug,” I say.
“I wouldn’t, either, but she swears he didn’t. She apologized for saying it was Peter, that she’s just out of it and so angry with Garrett and Peter. But this whole thing is so un-Tessa-like. Tessa never lies to me. And Tessa would never take drugs from a stranger. I’m worried about her.”
“She’ll be all right,” I promise. “I’ll make sure she gets everything she needs.”
Skye squeezes my arm. “You’re so good to me. But she claims she’s okay. That her mom is taking care of her. She made a joke that her mom might drive her back to the vodka bottle, but then she got serious and said to me that she’s glad her mom is there. That it’s nice to have parents sometimes. And Braden, it hit me.”
“What hit you?” I grin. “I’m the only one who’s allowed to slap that gorgeous ass.”
She smiles. “You know what I mean.”
“Do I?”
“My breakthrough. When Tessa talked about her mom taking care of her, even when she was getting on her nerves a bit, it made me realize that even though we had our struggles, I love my mother, and I’m really glad she’s still around.”
My heart swells a little.
“You’ve forgiven her,” I say. “Forgiven her shortcomings.”
She nods. “Yeah. And it feels all kinds of right.”
I take another sip of Wild Turkey.
Now if I could just forgive my mother.
For dying.
And forgive myself.
For causing it.
Chapter Forty
Monday morning I’m back in the office in Manhattan, meeting with Dimitri and Lizzie on putting out yet another fire while Skye is meeting with her team at Susanne Cosmetics.
My phone dings with a text from Skye.
Eugenie wants to take us both to dinner tonight at eight. Are you free?
Sure, I text back.
Just as I press send, Dimitri clears his throat, reminding me of the task at hand. The next several hours pass in a blur of panicked phone calls, garbled emails, and hastily scribbled notes.
By two thirty, I’m drained and disheveled but ready to face the rest of the afternoon when my phone dings again.
A text.
From my investigator in Boston. He’s been working with me to expose Beau Reardon and his architecture firm in Boston, but they’re smart. They don’t leave trails.
I got you a meeting.
With whom? I text back.
Someone who can help. Louisa’s Ristorante in Little Italy. Tonight at eight. Don’t be late.
Damn it, I need a name.
The Unholy Trinity.
My eyebrows shoot up. I don’t live here in New York full time, but I’m around enough to know about the Unholy Trinity. They’re vigilantes. Vigilantes who feel that the end justifies the means—and the means can be anything.
Any fucking thing.
Fuck.
Has it come to that?
A shiver runs through me, but I tamp it down. I’ve faced worse in my lifetime than a trio of vigilantes. After all, they’re on my side.
I’ll be there, I shoot back quickly.
“You okay, Braden?” Dimitri says.
I clear my throat. “Yeah, I’m good. But I’ve got an issue that just came up. You and Lizzie got this?”
He nods. “You can count on us.”
“Remind me to give you both a raise.”
Lizzie laughs. “You bet we will.”
I head back to my building and ascend to my penthouse.
The elevator doors open to my home office area, which doubles as a living area when it’s not in use. Skye sits in a wingback chair.
“Skye,” I say simply.
“Braden.”
I break the news to her quickly. “I’m afraid I won’t be able to join you and Eugenie for dinner this evening.”
“Oh? Why not?”
I inhale. “Something has come up.”
“What?”
“Nothing you need to concern yourself with.”
“Braden, anything that concerns you concerns me.” She draws in a breath. “Is Addison still stalking you?”
My eyebrows nearly fly off my forehead, but I don’t answer.
“Come on. She has to be. Either that or she’s stalking me. Or both of us. How else would she know all the things she knows? How else would she have ended up at the convenience store across from Tessa’s place the other night?”
“I have this handled,” I say.
“So she is.” She shakes her head. “Why didn’t you tell me?”