Page 119 of Angels & Whiskey

“He never included me in anything to do with his business. I’m not even sure I know what he did.”

“That’s probably a good thing,” Detective King said. “The less his enemies know, the better.”

I nodded. “But they’ll know about me if they go to his funeral.”

“I got you, angel,” Gabe said, kissing the top of my head.

I knew he did. Gabe had a way about himself that made me think we were bulletproof when we were together.

We received the information we needed to claim Rich’s body. After Gabe had walked the detectives out, we sat in silence. I looked up at him.

“So … I need to plan his funeral.”

“I know you don’t want to, angel. But I agree with the detectives and think you should keep up appearances.”

“I guess.” I sighed.

“Angel, you won. You beat him. Yousurvivedhim.”

It doesn’t rain that often in Las Vegas, but it rained the day we held Rich’s funeral. It felt as if it were one more jab toward me—like Rich was looking down on us and wanted me to stand in a black dress while the cold rain surrounded me.

I hated that I needed to keep up appearances, but as Trista, Trina, and friends of Rich’s arrived, I did the “wife” thing and hugged when I was supposed to, gave a tight smile when someone told me they were sorry and nodded when they said they couldn’t believe he was murdered.

Gabe briefly said hello to Trista and I smiled. I couldn’t imagine walking in and finding someone dead—let alone two people.

I was going to say hello to Trina, but she steered clear of me and I was okay with that. If she wanted to be the grieving mistress, then whatever.

As the service started, Gabe stood on one side of me while my dad stood on the other, the rain beating down on us. Paul, Brandi, her husband and my mom stood around us as I stared down at the mud, pretending to listen to how Rich was a great man. I wanted to stop the service, tell everyone that what the priest was saying were lies, but instead, I waited until it was my turn to throw dirt on Rich’s grave. I didn’t want to give a speech, and I didn’t shed a tear until I felt the dirt in my hand. I felt a rush of relief wash over me as I tossed it onto the lowered casket.

The tears streamed down my face as I finally realized that he’d never hurt me or anyone again.