Page 129

“Based on how he’s prioritized you, he’s in deep.” Kiera wiggled her eyebrows.

We all shook our heads.

“What?” She reached for a crab rangoon and bit into it. “Since I’m carrying two babies, my hormones have been all over the place. I’ve been horny as hell.”

Laughing, Vivian placed more appetizers on Kiera’s plate. “I’ll tell Arrow to let Forrest know his wifeneedshim.”

“I have something else I need to tell you,” I said. “But before I share anything, I want to let you know I sincerely appreciate your friendship. Thank you for accepting me into your circle. I’ve never had a lot of friends because I didn’t want to answer questions about my past. But you’ve proven that I can trust you.”

“Did you burn someone’s house down? Did you kill someone?” Michelle asked. “You can trust us with anything because we trust you.”

“I’ve never burned down any house. But . . .”

Audri leaned into the table. “You killed somebody?”

I nodded and described the incident that had led to my mom serving a life sentence in prison.

“That’s self-defense,” Natalie said.

“I’d kill him too,” the other girls said in unison.

I cried at their empathy for my situation. “Attikus is helping me get my mom out of prison.”

“That’s wonderful. Your mom is gonna be okay.” Vivian reached across the table for my hand.

Audri placed both hands on the table. “Since we’re on this topic of danger, let’s discuss ways we can help the boys.”

Elena looked at me. “We can research individuals associated with The Trogyn.”

“The boys are already doing that, but there are a lot of angles to look at. Maybe we’ll see something they haven’t.”

“We could start with Harris Pharmaceuticals,” I suggested. “They’re connected to The Trogyn somehow.”

“I swear there’s a scam with health insurance and the pharmaceutical companies,” Kiera said in frustration. “They wanted my mom to pay an obscene amount of money for something that wasn’t even necessary. The doctor made false claims so he could get kickbacks.”

“Ugh. I can’t stand people like that,” Natalie said. “They’re taking advantage of the vulnerable.”

“I’m sure the boys have plenty of info on The Trogyn.” Michelle grabbed a green baby carrot and dipped it in the sour cream. “We can focus on Harris Pharmaceuticals.”

“The boys are doing everything they can to protect us. But we’re not useless. We’re not going to sit around and do nothing.” Kiera smirked. “We’re smartasses. We can think of ways to help.”

Natalie’s face brightened as she looked at me. “Do you have a piece of paper and a pen I can borrow? I’ve got an idea.”

I walked over to the sales desk, grabbed paper and a pen, and returned to the table. “What are you thinking?”

“I’ve been thinking of creating a new label inspired by us girls.” Natalie wrote. “Smart A.S.S.—the initials are for Achieve, Strive, and Succeed. We can have a collection of clothing and accessories to promote independent women.” She glanced around at all of us. “We all get to design it together. It’ll be our girl’s thing. What do you think?”

“We can use the proceeds to fund a women’s organization to help people,” Audri added.

I nodded. “Love that idea.”

“Don’t mess with the Smart A.S.S. Enterprise.” Kiera laughed.

“Let’s do it!” Vivian cheered.

“Sometimes, we have to go outside of the law to get things done properly,” I said. “The Smart A.S.S. is like the boy’s V.A.T.V.—Vigilantes Against the Villains.”

“We should make a themed T-shirt for each,” Michelle said. “Have two labels and see which one does better.”