Page 80

Three weeks later

The moment Kaylaand Ash entered the Friary’s foyer, Liv greeted them with enthusiastic hugs.

“What did you think of the streamers and lighting along the path leading up to the Friary?” Liv asked.

“Absolutely gorgeous,” Kayla said. “Great way to get everyone in a festive mood.”

“I thought so, too. Alejandro and Neuman outdid themselves. Wait until you see how they decorated the back patio.”

Alejandro Rios was Clay Neuman’s stepdad and managed the maintenance on the estate’s grounds and buildings.

Liv reached for the present Ash held in the crook of his arm. “I’ll put this with the others. Gorgeous wrapping, by the way.”

“Can’t take the credit.” Ash smiled at Kayla and lifted their entwined hands to his lips.

Kayla’s heart warmed. That’s all it took, these days. Just one loving glance, and she turned into melted butter at this man’s feet.

“Wait until you see the Great Hall.” Liv guided them into the expansive room. “Zeke, Rohan, and Phin came up with the idea to honor Grams’s Diné heritage.” She glanced at Kayla.

“Also known as Navajo,” she offered, having done a bit of research after first meeting the Blackwell matriarch.

Liv nodded. “Lynette, Henri, and Clara worked on the menu. Cilla, Lena, and I figured out the decorations. Maddy and Sadie supervised the guys while they hung them.”

Clara was Alejandro’s wife and Clay’s mom. She homeschooled her daughter Sadie and set up scenario rooms in the shoot house the guys used when fine-tuning their recovery plans.

White, blue, yellow, and black balloons filled each corner of the Hall, representing the four sacred mountains surrounding Dinétah, homeland to the Navajo, also known as the Four Corners in the southwestern region of the United States.

A giant rainbow arced across the entire room, from one fireplace to the other, a symbol of Diné’s sovereignty, the tribal nation’s right to govern themselves. Incongruously, music from the fifties—Grams’s favorite—played over hidden speakers.

“How beautiful,” Kayla said. “Did you manage to surprise Grams?”

“Believe it or not, yes. But it took curtaining off the entire Great Hall and watching her every minute. Who knew Grams hated surprises?” Liv smiled at them, then raised a brow at Ash. “Girl time.”

He groaned, eyeing Zeke across the room. “Don’t leave me.”

“Grams will protect you,” Kayla said, grinning. “Go give her a kiss.”

Without another word, Liv whisked her away, leaving Ash to fend for himself. She added their birthday present to the pile of others on the way to what Kayla had begun to think of as the Wolf’s Den, the side of the Hall housing Lupos.

Maddy, Lena, and Cilla jumped up from the plush, leather couches to offer more hugs and kisses. Once they’d all refilled their beverages and resettled around the fireplace, Liv demanded, “Tell us everything.”

Kayla frowned. “About what?”

“Mason, mercenaries, and murders. What else?”

“Zeke didn’t fill you in?”

Liv shook her head. “He said it wasn’t his story to tell.”

Kayla glanced at the other ladies. “Your guys, too?”

“Yes,” Lena said, “so freaking annoying.”

Maddy added, “Phin’s never been this tight-lipped.”

“What the hell happened out there?” Cilla asked.

Before leaving Sybil’s estate, they had all agreed to keep what really happened to themselves, but she never dreamed the guys wouldn’t tell their partners. After all, if somehow the truth ever surfaced, the women in this room would all be affected, too. Maybe the guys were concerned.

“I’m sorry, it wasn’t my intent to keep y’all in the dark.”

Liv waved off her apology. “Family secrets are a prerequisite when involved with a Blackwell. We all knew that when we signed on.”

“But you’re all my friends. You’ve trusted me during pivotal moments of your lives. I should have returned the favor.”

“Sometimes, more than one hand in the cookie jar can cause a bottleneck,” Maddy said.

“It’s all good.” Lena smiled.

Cilla said, “Next time.”

“I’m all out of murdering aunties, I’m afraid.”

Liv leaned over and squeezed her hand. “Before you get into the three M’s, how’s Jillian doing?”

Kayla covered her BFF’s hand with hers. It was good to be surrounded by lady friends again. Other than spending time with Jillian and Harper, she’d had a dearth of female companionship since The Night.

“Doing her stubborn best to ignore her diseased body’s limitations.” Kayla had finally accepted her mother’s decision to forgo medical intervention. Acceptance didn’t equate to agreement, but Kayla refused to spend whatever time she had left with Jillian badgering her about treatment. “Yet her mind,” Kayla searched for the right words, “is at peace in a way I never thought possible. Not for my workaholic mother and certainly not for someone who lost her friend support system and feels death consuming her, every day.”

“Most of our fear surrounding death,” Lena said, “revolves around not knowing how it will happen or when it will come. Your mother has the answers to those questions.”

Mischief twinkled in Liv’s eyes. “Which frees her mentally to focus on ensuring her family’s happiness.”

Kayla groaned.

Maddy glanced between the two friends. “Spill.”

“Last weekend, Mom took Harper and me wedding gown shopping. Said she wouldn’t be deprived of the pleasure of seeing her girls in white.”

An emotional chorus of shock and delight flared around her.

Feeling her own throat tighten, Kayla changed the topic and filled them in on all that had happened, from the time of Vicky’s murder to the moment they set the scene to look like a sadistic burglary-homicide.

When she finished, the ladies sat in silence . . . for about one-point-seven seconds.

“The State Police bought your story, whole cloth?” Lena asked.

“Why wouldn’t they?” Kayla said. “Ash has an unblemished reputation.”

“But didn’t they wonder about who had hired Seb Grimball?” Maddy asked.

“Rohan erased the trail leading to Sybil’s son and created a new one. A more radicalized version.”

“Three friends getting murdered within a week of each other didn’t raise any brows?” Cilla asked.

“It’s possible, but they’d have to find a hole in our story.”

“Will they?” Liv asked.

Someone, maybe Mason, had done a remarkable job of cleaning up the physical evidence, including burying the bodies. Had he been the one who killed the guard Ash left behind and slit the throats of two others? A question that would go unanswered, with him in the wind again.

Rohan had worked his magic on the digital trail and Ash had assessed everything with a law enforcement eye. The holes had been plugged to the best of the team’s ability. Now, all they could do was wait.

To the ladies, she said, “Our story is as fireproof as possible.”

Almost as one, the women relaxed into their seats, having complete confidence in their men.

“Did you find out who vandalized your car?” Cilla asked.

Kayla inwardly winced, still recalling the murder of crows she’d had to swallow during her apology to Natalie. “Using the parking garage video, Neuman worked with my intern Gemma to identify the vandal. Turns out, one of Tommy O’Connor’s teammates, Jennie McIntyre, thought the scare tactic would incentivize me.”

“Unbelievable,” Lena said. “Did you notify the police?”

Kayla shook her head. “A lot was riding on the bill’s passage. She had a valid fear. Several families would have lost their homes if the bill failed.” Her team had secured the votes to pass Tommy’s bill. A win. But Krowne and Associates wouldn’t be partnering with his group again. “I strongly recommended that she work with a professional to find more productive means of expression.”

“You’re a damn saint,” Lena said.

Kayla grinned. “Not even close.”

“Did you figure out Mason’s motivations? ” Maddy asked.

“Not yet.”

“How was the governor’s funeral?”

“Amazing, heartbreaking. The State honored Vicky’s memory beyond my wildest dreams. I think even Linda was impressed, though she would never say.”

Not being able to tell Linda about Sybil and Elsie’s scheme had been one of the toughest pills for Kayla to swallow. But doing so would have put them all in danger. She hoped Vicky would forgive her.

“How did, um, Ash and Zeke get along?” Liv asked, her attention on something behind Kayla.

“Outside of a few verbal jabs, exceedingly well. Best I’ve seen yet. Why?”

Male voices rose above the Penguins singing Earth Angel.

Kayla peered over her shoulder, and all the blood cooled in her veins.

Ash and Zeke stood before the bank of windows that overlooked the backyard. They each held a crystal tumbler half full of amber liquid. Tension radiated out from them, like a slow-moving poisonous fog, bent on killing the festive mood.

Lynette and Grams’s conversation suspended mid-sentence. Phin glanced up from the board game he was playing with Sadie and Brodie. Rohan and Cruz peeled away from the liquor sideboard and headed toward the oncoming disaster. Henri, Clara, Alejandro, and Neuman slipped from the room.

The moment had come, the one the family had been encouraging for years.

Ash and Zeke would finally hash out their shit.

Dread filled Kayla’s chest.

“Everything is always about you,”Ash snarled, ignoring the startled stares of the birthday party guests. “What about me?”

Zeke snorted. “You got exactly what you wanted. Your dream job.”

“And lost everything else. My name, my family, my home.”

“Using your middle name was your damn decision.”

“Guys,” Cruz interrupted, Rohan at his side. “Maybe this isn’t the best time.”

Ash made brief eye contact with Cruz and Rohan before waving them off. If he and Zeke needed to get psychologically bloody to bring an end to their feud, so be it. He would apologize to Grams later.

“You’re right, it was,” Ash said. “Because I realized distance would be the only way to force you to become the leader I knew you could be.”

“What a crock. You couldn’t wait to divest yourself of the family business. Not lofty enough. Or was it the blue-collar taint you despised?”

“I didn’t love towing and repoing. A truth I made clear the day I took Dad’s place at the helm. But you did. You were the one with the grand ideas to transform it into something bigger, something more meaningful.”

“If you thought my ideas were so great, why didn’t you stick around long enough to help me see them through?”

Moments like this, he wished he could time travel back to his conversation with their father, when Duke Blackwell made the narrow-minded comments about Zeke not having the right mindset or temperament to run the company, that he was a great number two guy, and kick the old man’s ass. Or at the very least shut the office door.

Only later did he realize Zeke had overheard everything, doing permanent damage to the teenager’s confidence. Then and now, Ash had understood Zeke’s capabilities, his commitment to the family business. But a brother’s opinion was worth pennies compared to a father’s.

“Because you were ready,” Ash said.

“You threw me into the fucking frying pan.”

Ash’s gaze snapped to where Sadie and Brodie had been sitting by the fireplace with Phin. Gone. He glanced around the Great Hall. Cleared out.

He experienced another pang of guilt, but shoved it into the box with all of his other regrets, embarrassing moments, and painful memories. Neither of them were leaving this room until this cancerous thing between them was settled.

“And you survived.” Ash took a large swallow of his drink. “Hell, you thrived, Zeke. BARS is a multimillion-dollar business due, in large part, to your leadership and vision. You didn’t need me.”

Zeke stalked off toward the fireplace, where the ladies had been engaged in “girl talk” before a pall had settled over the festive mood. In a low voice, he said, “I needed your counsel more than ever.”

Ash ignored the kick to his gut. He moved to the liquor sideboard, made a selection, and joined his brother. Palming the bottle, he held it out between them.

“Your story is a lot like Defiant’s.”

“Are you really comparing me to whisky?”

He gave his brother a sideways you’re-an-idiot glance. “Not the liquor itself. The company’s journey to its uniqueness, its success.” He replenished both of their tumblers before setting down the bottle. “The owners took the tradition of making single-malt Scottish whisky, added their own ingenuity, and created something all their own. Something special.” He clinked his glass against his brother’s. “Like you did with BARS.”

Zeke stared into the amber liquid like all the answers of the world lived in its depths.

“Two years ago, you realized that you didn’t need to possess Lupos”—his glaze flicked to the heirloom mounted above the mantel—“in order to be a respected leader. All you needed to do was trust your team.” He shifted to give Zeke his full attention and laid a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Just like you didn’t need my help to transition your vision of Dad’s repo business into an asset recovery empire.” His grip tightened. “You needed to believe in yourself.”

“Maybe,” Zeke said after a stunned silence. “But I would’ve liked my big brother’s—my best friend’s—ear, support, encouragement, I don’t know what. I just needed you. Except you not only cut the umbilical cord, you burned the fucker to ash.”

Ash set his tumbler down on the coffee table and faced his brother. Zeke wouldn’t make eye contact with him, preferring to stare over his shoulder at the far wall.

“Zeke, I’m sorry.”

Silence.

“I did what I thought would help you be successful, but I realize now I made a big mistake. On many levels.”

His brother’s Adam’s apple moved up and down as if he were battling to keep an emotion from rising to the surface.

Ash clamped a hand around the back of Zeke’s neck. “I’m sorry, brother. Sorry I hurt you. Sorry I abandoned you. Sorry I’m the worst fucking friend and brother to ever grace this earth?—”

“Shut the hell up.” Zeke clamped his hands around Ash and pulled him into a bear hug.

Ash embraced him hard, fighting the rise of tears. He brushed away two escapees, then smacked his palm against his brother’s back once, twice, three times before pulling away. “Forgiven?”

Zeke swiped a wrist across his cheeks. “Forgiving.”

“Fair enough.”

Ash frowned, arching his lower back, then rotating his shoulders. Something felt . . . damp down his spine. He reached behind, rubbing a hand over his shirt. It came away wet.

“Why is my shirt—?” He broke off, peering down at his brother’s hand.

Zeke held up his mostly-empty glass. “Oops.”

“You couldn’t have held it away from me?”

“Our man hug wouldn’t have had the same impact.”

“Clearly.” Ash untucked his shirt, fanned the tail in an inane attempt to dry it.

An amiable silence fell between them, the first of its kind in years.

“You know,” Ash said. “I never did get a chance to make use of the gift you got me last year.”

“I could say something right now about your shitty inability to recognize a peace offering when it’s presented to you.”

“And I could counter by saying a meaningful conversation costs nothing.”

A slow smile spread across Zeke’s face. “Touché, brother.”

Without another word, they turned as one and left all their bad blood burning in the fire.

Kayla pacedthe new pergola-covered patio, which was connected to the Annex by a twenty-foot-long meandering path made of gorgeous flagstone.

The enormous addition was a near replica of the indoor Theater, except the outdoor version had a pizza oven and a gas firepit. Construction would begin in another month on the east side of the Annex, which would include three additional offices for Liv, Maddy, and Neuman.

Not knowing how long the brothers’ argument would rage, Lynette had moved the entire party here. But the ’50s music was gone and the joyous conversation had trickled down to monosyllabic words. Liv stood at the edge of the patio, arms folded over her center, staring toward the Friary.

“Do you think they’ll work it out this time?” Kayla asked, joining her friend in her vigil.

“I don’t know,” Liv whispered. “They’re wading through years of hurt and harsh words.”

“And male stubbornness.”

“That too.” Liv gifted her with an amused glance before returning her attention to the house. Her friend’s expression transformed into a frown. “This can’t be good.”

Kayla followed her line of sight and her heart skittered like a pebble across a murky lake. Ash and Zeke emerged from the back of the Friary and strode with purpose toward an old barn. Neither of them speaking. She couldn’t get a read on their mood from this distance.

“Where are they going?” Kayla asked as they disappeared from sight.

“Looks like Cruz’s garage.”

“I heard my name.”

Liv glanced at the self-proclaimed gearhead over her shoulder. “Why would your brothers be going to your garage?”

Confusion crowded between his dark brows, followed by fear. “The Stutz is in there. I had to change out a hose.” He bolted from his chair. “I’ll break their fingers if they even think about touching Cilla’s car.”

The beautiful vehicle he’d spent years renovating to honor his dad, then gave to Cilla.

Like an amoeba, the entire group followed Cruz as he cut across the lawn to reach the garage in record time. Grams and Lynette piled into what looked like a brand new UTV, after a short skirmish over who would drive. Lynette won.

Kayla peeled off her shiny neutral-colored high heels and released a deep sigh when her toes threaded into the grass.

“Good idea.” As the only other stiletto-wearing woman, Cilla followed suit.

Brodie and Sadie ran ahead, grinning and whispering like they were about to see blood spilled.

Clara, Alejandro, and Henri shook their heads in unison and returned to the Friary. Neuman snored softly in one of the cozy lounges.

Phin rubbed his hands together. “The finale we’ve all been waiting for. Where’s the popcorn?”

Maddy elbowed him.

Rohan shook his head. “How did you ever survive adolescence?”

Lena laughed, weaving her arm through Rohan’s. “I love this family.”

Minutes later, even Phin was speechless. The garage doors stood wide open. Cruz’s Stutz took up one side and the other housed several man toys. Six four-wheelers with custom paint jobs and what looked like a two-seater dune buggy.

Ash and Zeke had already rolled out two of the ATVs. Four windblown gray wolf heads screamed across the front of Zeke’s and a distorted FBI seal stretched over the same area on Ash’s, with Fidelity on the left side, Bravery in the middle, and Integrity on the right.

Brodie sat on a smaller, camo-colored ATV still inside the garage, with Sadie standing next to him, arms crossed and mouth set in a firm line. Someone was feeling left out. Kayla couldn’t blame her. The off-road vehicles looked like a lot of fun.

Zeke had given the ATVs to his brothers last year as a thank-you for all their hard work and his big heart hadn’t been able to exclude his soon-to-be stepson. Although she didn’t doubt gratitude played a part in the gifts, Kayla suspected the big lug simply wanted a way to spend time with his brothers, to knit their bond back together again.

Unfortunately, Ash hadn’t been ready to accept the gesture yet. He and Zeke had too much unresolved stuff between them, and a man toy—no matter how cool and thoughtful—couldn’t fix it.

Fast-forward to today, Ash and Zeke looked happy, as if they’d siphoned out all the bad blood from their system and found a new way forward.

Emotion ballooned in the back of her throat. She forced it down and teased, “Going on a joyride?”

Ash grinned at Zeke. “We have some dirt in the exhaust that needs to be blown out.”

“Speak for yourself. My exhaust got cleaned out last month at the doctor’s office.”

Everyone stared at the normally warring brothers in varying stages of shock. Some laughed, some produced hesitant smiles, and some looked at them as if they waited for an alien transport ship to arrive.

Then a shift occurred.

The pivotal moment spread through the gathering like the sensation of hot cocoa sliding into your stomach on a cool evening.

Zeke put voice to what everyone was feeling. “Family first.”

“Through blood,” Phin chimed in.

“Through hate,” Rohan said.

“Through fear,” Cruz said.

The brothers all turned to Ash. His eyes flared, then he dropped his chin down, blocking her view of his face. His chest rose high and hard, once, twice, before he lifted his head. Moisture rimmed his eyes.

Ash cleared his throat. “Through joy.”

Everyone smiled and a chorus of voices intoned through tight throats, “No exceptions.”

“Ready?” Zeke asked.

Grinning, Ash nodded. “Lead on.”

They started their rides. Phin and Cruz stepped aside, creating an opening in the familial circle.

Ash glanced at Kayla, and she blew him a kiss. He mouthed, I love you, then tore off after his brother.

Lynette, in full-on military mode barked, “Boys, make sure your brothers don’t have a relapse.”

“Yes, Mama,” Rohan, Phin, and Cruz affirmed at the same time. They kissed their favorite ladies, then ran to their four-wheelers.

Phin jumped on the flashy red one, Cruz hit the black with metal flecks that perfectly matched the Stutz’s paint job, and Rohan slid onto the blue with computer code embedded. Brodie roared after the men.

A silence fell over their group, each woman smiling and shaking their heads at the same time.

Sadie propped a hand on her narrow waist. “Why couldn’t we go with them?”

No one said anything. Everyone was probably experiencing the same feeling of being left behind, like Kayla. Her phone pinged with a text.

Natalie.

During her eating-crow session, she’d managed to patch things up with her friend. Even promised to give Alex an opportunity to prove he’d changed.

At least she no longer gagged when she heard the man’s name. That had to mean something.

A loud motor from inside the garage had her head jerking up. A tricked-out dune buggy, with Grams in the driver seat, rolled to a stop beside Sadie. “We can’t let the boys have all the fun, can we?”

The illumination of a million stars couldn’t have competed with Sadie’s joy as she jumped into the passenger side of the two-seater.

“Grams,” Lynette warned.

The older woman waved off her daughter-in-law’s concern. “I won’t go over eighty, promise.” She turned to Sadie and winked. “Buckle up.”

Once the girl complied, Grams hit the accelerator and the electric vehicle shot off after the others.

Lynette muttered something about a heart attack and ran toward the more sedate UTV, a few feet away.

“Don’t worry,” Cilla said, nodding at the dust cloud in the distance. “Cruz picked that style specifically for its low center of gravity.” At their blank looks, she explained. “It’s harder to tip over a dune buggy.”

Lynette raised a brow at the rest of the group. “Who’s coming with me to pick up the body parts?”

Lena, Maddy, and Cilla piled inside the four-seater.

Soon, only Kayla and Liv were left. An ache settled in her throat.

Liv placed a hand over her small baby bump. “You didn’t have to stay behind to keep me company. They could have made room for you.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Do you know how long it took me to get this wave in my hair?” She slid her hand over a blond lock draped over her shoulder. “Windblown isn’t my best look.”

Liv made a you-don’t-fool-me-for-a-second face.

“Besides, I need to make a phone call. Do you mind?”

“Not at all.”

She wandered a few feet away. Natalie picked up on the second ring. “Sorry to bother you, but I thought you’d want to know.”

“What’s up?” Kayla braced herself for whatever bad news her friend was about to impart.

“The governor signed HB821.”

Kayla blinked, not prepared for this news. “On Saturday? You’re sure?”

“Just received word from our Raleigh office. The new governor is working her ass off to get everything back on schedule. Cabrera signed eleven bills today.”

Emotion tingled against the backs of her eyes. The Women Entrepreneur Empowerment Act would help women across the state with startup costs and professional development.

We did it, Aunt Vicky.

Pride in her team swelled in her chest.

“Are you in the office?”

“Yes, do you need something?”

“Can you leave a note for Gemma, asking her to book a private room at Capella on Nine for a team celebratory dinner next week?”

“She’s here. I’ll pass your request on to her, though it might be a hard one to fulfill on such short notice.”

“Have her talk to Stan. He’ll make room for us.”

“The usual bonus for everyone?”

Kayla responded with a higher amount. This had been a particularly hard win.

“Consider it done.”

“Thanks for the call, Natalie. Now go enjoy the rest of the weekend with that loser you hooked up with.”

“I love you, too.”

Kayla laughed and rejoined Liv.

“Good news?”

“Governor Cabrera signed HB821.”

“Congratulations!” Liv hugged her tight. “Vicky would be so proud of you.”

“She did most of the political legwork. It’s more her win than mine.”

“It’s a win for you both.” Liv released her. “Let’s head back to the Friary and celebrate.”

Kayla opened her mouth to brag about her team’s efforts, when she heard the rumble of a distant motor. She squinted into the distance. “Is that?”

Liv grinned. “Yep.”

Ash and Zeke were headed straight for them, clumps of grass and dirt arcing behind the tires as they descended a hill. They let off the gas a few car lengths away and circled around behind them. Ash pulled up next to her and Zeke next to Liv.

Ash’s enormous smile lit up all the chambers of her heart. “Need a ride?”

“Always.”

She climbed on behind him and circled her arms around his waist. “I love you, G-man.”

“Love you too, World Disrupter.”

Leaning back, he turned his head until their lips connected. He was warmth and hope and love all wrapped in a perfect-for-her body. She couldn’t imagine a happier moment than this.

He drew the kiss to an end and revved the engine. “Hold on.”

“Wait!” She glanced back at her friend, who now sat straddled across Zeke’s lap. The father-to-be’s hand resting on her bump.

When she turned back around, she saw Ash watching the exchange too, a smile playing on his lips. Kayla kissed his shoulder and rested her cheek in the V of his neck, comforted by the fact there would be happier times ahead for them as well.

“Hit it,” she whispered.