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“She didn’t elaborate, but I bet that guy is feeling it this morning.”
Or not.
Because he was dead.
I opened the freezer and grabbed one of the ice packs. “Where is Sammy anyway?”
“Dunno. She said she had something to do and left about an hour ago. Maddie got here right after.”
Maddie took a drink of her coffee. “You guys had an adventure. I’m not sad I missed it. Although, one of you should have called me. I could have sent security to help you.”
“We didn’t really think about that at the time.” But we should have. Maddie’s dad was retired military and co-owned one of the biggest private security firms in the country. A few of their bodyguards definitely would have been handy at the fight club.
Meticulously cutting another piece of her waffle, Hayat asked, “How would you have explained that to Jarrett without it sending up red flags and getting my brother murdered by our parents?”
“Easy. I wouldn’t have gone through my dad.” Pink filled her cheeks, but she had a confident grin on her face. “Bosco owes me a few favors.”
“Bosco, huh?” Hayat teased. “Your dad’s second-in-command happens to owe you a favor or two. And what exactly did you do to earn these…favors?”
“Things.”
My brows lifted toward the ceiling. “Sexual things?”
“We’re not talking about me today. I came to ask a few questions of my own.” She set down her mug of coffee and gave us a faux glare. “Like, how did Abi get married and not invite us to the wedding? And who the hell is Christian Vaughn? Googling the name only led me to a few teen boys, which I know aren’t your style, an adorable baby boy in Michigan, and three men ranging from ages fifty to seventy-six. Again, not your style. But to be fair, you never had a type that any of us was aware of.”
“Oh God,” I groaned. “Please tell me it was Hayat who told you and not Auntie Trinny.”
Her silence told me it was the latter.
Fuck.
“How long do I have before my parents find out?”
“Calm down. Emmie only told Mom because she needed to know to start on any damage control that might be needed. And Mom told me because I handle the social media accounts for Tainted Knights.” Maddie stole a strawberry off Hayat’s plate, risking loss of limb. Hayat stabbed at her with her fork and would have gotten her if Maddie didn’t have such quick reflexes. “Mom and Emmie both agreed you need to be the one to tell Jace and Kin. You’re an adult, and they have an NDA. So legally, they can’t say anything to your parents since they technically work for you as well.”
“Can’t Mieke just bury it deep on the dark web?” Hayat reasoned.
“She tried a half dozen times. But according to Emmie, it kept popping back up on alerts she set for Abi.”
“That’s creepy as fuck,” Hayat muttered. “Whoever doctored Abi’s test scores and filed the marriage license is a better computer expert than Mieke if they did it without leaving a trail that she could follow. I didn’t think there was anyone out there who could out-geek Mieke.”
Maddie tapped her nails on the counter in frustration. “At this point, I’m not sure if whoever this person is wants to help Abi or destroy her. Doctoring her grades is one thing. But marrying her to some random guy? Seems like they have a grudge.”
“He’s not a random guy!” I snapped, causing my friend’s mouth to fall open at my outburst. “He was everything to me. Everything.”
“Was?” Maddie sucked in a sharp breath. “Is that past tense because you two broke up, or because he’s dead?”
Tears filled my eyes, but I blinked them away. I was tired of crying, damn it. Instead of answering, I carefully pressed the gel ice pack to my face.
“He’s dead, isn’t he?” Maddie whispered to Hayat as I walked out of the kitchen.
“Mm-hmm.”
“Fuck.”
* * *
Legs bouncing nervously, Ali stared at the front door. Our parents would be home any minute, and she was practically jumping out of her skin with nerves.
