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COLE
“I can’t believe it,”I told Jenny on the ride home. “I’m not even sure I understand everything yet. But James said his mother was involved in the death of a woman he dated in college. That was before we became friends, but I remember hearing about her—her name was Danielle. She got into a fatal car accident. It was terrible.”
“Oh my God.” Jenny looked like she might cry. “That’s so freakingterrible.”
We were exhausted after dealing with the fallout from Celia Preston’s arrest. As we navigated the short drive from Logan to the Liberty, I was happy to be heading home and away from the terrible scene. I’d known that Celia Preston was a terrible person, but I didn’t think she was actually aterrible person. Apparently, I’d been wrong.
Amari waited for us at the door, and I was grateful to see him. “Hi, Mr. Preston, Ms. Jenny. It’s nice to have you back,” he said.
“Good to see you, Amari. We’re glad to be home—long flight,” I explained as we emerged from the Porsche, both of us pale beneath our tans and slightly off-kilter. “With a little family drama thrown in for flair.”
He nodded at me as he grabbed our bags. “Speaking of family drama,” he kept his voice low so Jenny couldn’t hear, “there’s been somebody sniffing around here. Asking questions about you and Ms. Jenny. They offered me money to talk and to let them up into your place—I didn’t do it,” he said immediately.
“Fuck,” I groaned. “But thank you for letting me know. You’re a good guy.”
“Do you think it was the Windsor sisters?” he asked. “Do you think they hired someone?”
“Could be.” I scrubbed a hand across my face. “But honestly, I’ve got some other enemies at the moment.”
“I’m sorry to spring it on you first thing,” he said apologetically. “But I wanted you to know.”
“I appreciate that.” I made a mental note to either hire Amari away or pressure the manager into giving him a six-figure raise; I wasn’t sure which.
Jenny and I dragged ourselves into the lobby, only to be accosted by the Windsor sisters.FFS.Greta and Florence sprung out at us, as though they’d been lying in wait.
“Cole? We’ve been waiting for you!”
“I don’t have time for this right now?—”
But they wouldn’t take no for an answer. The sisters fired off a machine-gun round of questions so quickly that I couldn’t tell who was asking what.
“You were with Celia Preston when she got arrested?”
“She issucha bitch! She tried to get me thrown off the board at Children’s Hospital! Did she do it? Did she kill that girl?”
“Iknewshe would do something like murder! Did you know the girl who died?”
“Who is James Preston’s fiancée? I didn’t know he was your best friend. Wait, is he your best friend?”
“Woah—ladies, justwoah.” I gripped Jenny’s hand. She looked at the sisters with mild shock. Florence and Greta were an awful lot to handle after a long day.
“First of all,” I continued, “I thought you weren’t speaking to us. I thought you were getting me thrown out.”
Greta pulled her glasses down her nose. “John called us. He said you wanted to buy out our apartment, and it’s going to be profitable for him. Apparently, we’re the ones in danger of being forced out of the Liberty.”
I scratched my head. “And that means you’re speaking to me?”
“No, it means we know we can’t compete with your resources. So we were hoping to play nice—nicer,” Greta corrected herself.
“And find out the truth about Celia Preston!” Florence piped in. In their hearts, the Windsor sisters were terrible gossips. That might be what actually motivated them to get out of bed in the morning. “So, is it true? Did she kill her son’s girlfriend?”
“I don’t know, and I’m not going to comment,” I said wearily. “And if you two think that interrogating me when we just got home after a long trip and a challenging afternoon is in any way going to dissuade me from buying you out, you’re wrong. Good evening, ladies.”
My arm protectively around Jenny’s shoulders, I hustled us past them to the safety of the elevators.
“They need to get a life,” Jenny correctly assessed after the elevator doors closed. “Also, did they say you’re buying out their apartment?”
“Maybe. But the South End’s sounding better and better.”