Page 43 of Belonging to Them

“I—”

She waits, but I’m not sure what to say, except one thing.

“I’m sorry,” I say.“You’re right.You’re there, and you have met this woman, seen her with your own eyes.I’ll trust your instincts.”

“Thank you.”She sounds mollified, but overly polite.

“Hey,” I say, “are we good?”

“Yes.”She heaves a great sigh.“I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

I’ve got to get back to San Esteban.The sooner the better.I can trust Ella’s instincts only so far.She is partly right—I’ve been burned, so it makes me cynical.But I need to meet this Gianna character before jumping to any conclusions.

* * *

Ella

The next morning, I wake up to the weight of Schrödinger sitting directly on my chest.When I open my eyes, his yellow ones are staring directly into mine.

“Shit, kitty, you scared the crap out of me,” I say.

The light coming through the curtains is brighter than normal—I must have overslept after the late and emotional evening with Natasha and Gianna…and then the brief argument with Kingston.Ugh.

I can’t believe my brother had a long-term girlfriend who is having his child, and he never even tried to tell me.

I sit up, dislodging Schrödinger from his perch, and check my phone.I slept right through my alarm, but I still have time to get ready for work.There are a couple of texts from both Kingston and Sebastian, wishing me a good morning.My chest carries a faint ache—not from Schrödinger’s assholish wake-up call, but from missing my guys.I miss Kingston’s stern scowl and Sebastian’s humor-filled smile.

Kingston’s text takes some of the ache away, because he reminds me that he’s sorry about last night, and he’s coming home tomorrow evening.I can’t wait.

I also can’t really blame him for thinking the worst about Gianna.But he didn’t meet her.He doesn’t know.She was surprised to see me, didn’t even know who I was.

At least now he’s willing to trust my instincts.

As I’m heading toward the elevator to leave, a call comes in from an unfamiliar number.

Oh, crap.What if it’s them—whoeverthemis?Tommy, or people who might have him hidden away somewhere?Or friends of his, if he’s running some kind of scam to get money from Kingston and Sebastian through me?

With my heart pounding way too fast, I answer the call.“Hello?”

“Miss Marchand?This is Detective Marks, from the San Esteban Police Department.”

I think my heart’s going to explode.“Is Tommy okay?”

“I have no information to say that he isn’t,” the detective says.

“Oh, good,” I say.“I just met his girlfriend last night.He’s going to be a father.”

“Interesting,” Detective Marks says.

I pause.“Interesting?”

“Well, we can’t find anything useful from your phone records or the text,” Detective Marks says.“What’s more, you’re telling me he has a baby on the way.He doesn’t sound like the most dependable person, Miss Marchand.It sounds to me like he got cold feet on fatherhood and bolted.”

“No, he wouldn’t do that,” I say.“No way.He can be flaky, sure, but he wouldn’t do this.”

“If something else happens, please get in touch.”