Page 27 of A Burning Rage

Giving me a sad smile, she nods as she reaches out to cup my cheek. “I know you will. But it’s not just me who’s affected by this. It’s all of us. You, me, our kids. Even the rest of our family. We have to endure this for the rest of our lives. How is that fair?”

“If you want to move—leave Chicago—we can. We could go anywhere. Just say so.”

She stills for a moment, going silent as she processes the thought. “No,” she finally says, her voice sounding quietly defeated. “We can’t take the kids away from the family. Chicago is our home.”

I squeeze her hands. “It’s an option. Remember that. What about living full-time at the Kenilworth property? That’s totally secure.”

“That sounds wonderful, but the kids would be so isolated there. They play every day with their cousins here. I don’t want to take that away from them. Plus the grandparents are right here, and the aunts and uncles.” She takes a deep breath. “We’ll just have to learn how to live with this as our new normal.”

As Beth excuses herself to change into her pajamas, I stand at our bedroom window and stare out at the cul-de-sac. We’re surrounded by family.

Beth’s mom lives directly across the street from us. At the moment, she’s sitting outside on her front porch swing sipping a cup of hot tea as she watches the sun set.

Lia and Jonah are out taking an evening stroll, walking hand-in-hand—something they could never do outside of these secured walls. There are no paparazzi here to hound Jonah. No screaming teenage fans. Lia is prattling on about something, and Jonah smiles indulgently. They wave at Ingrid as they pass by her house.

My brother Jake, who lives next door to us, is out in his driveway checking the oil in his wife’s minivan.

Next to his house is our parents’ house, and beside them is Sophie’s and Dominic’s house. On the other side of us is Jamie’s and Molly’s house.

I can’t imagine leaving Chicago, but if it means keeping my family safe, I’ll do it in a heartbeat.

Beth comes out of our bathroom wearing one of my T-shirts and a pair of knit shorts. When she’s stressed, she likes to wear one of my shirts.

She walks over to where I’m standing at the window, slips an arm around my waist, and leans into me. “What are you looking at?”

“Your mom, for one. And Lia and Jonah are out taking a walk.”

She peers out the window just as Annie comes outside to join Jake at her minivan, and he pulls her into his arms for a pretty heated kiss.

“No wonder Annie’s pregnant again.” Beth laughs. “If they kiss like that all the time, she’s bound to get knocked up.”

“Speaking of knocked up.” I turn to face Beth and lay my hand against her lower belly. “You still haven’t started. Shouldn’t we test?”

She frowns. “I don’t want to think about that right now.”

“Honey, the Andrew situation isn’t going away, and we can’t put this off forever. If you’re pregnant, we need to—”

“I know,” she says with a sigh. “Soon, okay?”

There’s a question lurking in the back of my mind that I have to ask. “Are you regretting the thought of having another child right now?”

“No! It’s not that. The thought of bringing a defenseless little baby into this nightmare scares me, that’s all.”

I understand her concerns, but I refrain from bringing up the obvious fact we already have two defenseless children. One more isn’t going to make much of a difference. I’m pretty sure she’s pregnant. Peeing on a stick is just a formality at this point, but it needs to happen soon because she needs to see her obstetrician.

I kiss her forehead. “I’ll grab a quick shower, and then we can watch something in bed and relax.”

She goes up on her toes to kiss me. “Sounds good.”

After I’m showered, I walk out to the kitchen to find Sam and Cooper making popcorn on the stove. “It must be movie night around here.”

Sam is sitting on the kitchen island with a bag of M&Ms in his hands. He’s wearing a pair of gray knit shorts and nothing else, swinging his bare feet as he watches Cooper making the popcorn. I’m getting a rare glimpse of his nipple piercings.

“Don’t eat all of those,” Cooper says to Sam. “Save some for the popcorn.”

Sam holds out an M&M, and Cooper comes close and opens his mouth so Sam can pop it in.

“I’m glad I caught you two,” I say. “I just gave Beth the news that Troy shared with me today. Andrew’s release has been approved.”