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Chapter Twenty-Four
RICHARD
Iwas grateful my family had the tact not to say anything when we came down for breakfast the next morning. I mean, they couldn’t have heard us, not just because we were quiet but because we were a literal hallway away from anyone else, but they didn’t have to hear to know. And I could tell they knew. I braced myself for teasing, but in an unusual twist—and likely purely out of respect for Lauren—no one said a word.
I could tell Lauren was already nervous to be sitting at the table with the whole family, so any more probably would have sent her running. I got it—she’d met my dad and my mom a few times, but really, these people were mostly strangers to her. Now, here she was, living in their house, eating their food, the morning after sleeping with the oldest son. There was no situation where that wasn’t awkward.
“Good morning,” she said, smiling but reserved. I could see she was putting on her professionally polite face as I led her to the table. My family, on the other hand, responded warmly in an attempt to put her at ease.
“Morning!” Fabri chirped while Selene waved and pushed out the chair right next to her in silent invitation. That was smart—Selene was in law school, so she and Lauren were most likely to hit it off.
“It’s omelets for breakfast,” mom said. “I hope you’re not vegan?”
“Oh, no,” Lauren smiled gratefully. “Thank you for thinking of me.”
“I’m not going to leave you hungry,” mom said simply. “They have cheese, mushrooms, bell peppers, onion, and bacon in them, help yourself.”
“Thank you,” Lauren smiled genuinely. I pushed her chair in for her before sitting myself.
“Thanks Mom, looks great.”
As expected, Selene only had to mention her studies, and Lauren was off like a rocket, completely forgetting about her awkwardness as she launched into an animated conversation about some lawyer stuff I didn’t understand. Apparently, Selene was at Lauren’s alma mater and had the tea about some professor they both knew, so they got to have a lovely little gossip session.
Seeing Lauren happy, enjoying something silly and meaningless, like she hadn’t lived through horrible trauma just the night before, was healing something in me. All it took was a few minutes, and it was like she’d always been here, laughing and chatting with my family at the kitchen table. She just fit right in, and I was more certain with every passing second that I didn’t want her to leave.
“What do you need from your apartment?” I asked, leaning on my elbow. “I’m guessing your phone and laptop, right?”
“She needs clothes, dumbass,” Selene rolled her eyes at me.
“Yeah, and I thought that was a given, so…” I rolled my eyes back. Fabri snickered at us. “Seriously, babe, what do you need? I’ll go pick it up for you.”
“I can get it!” Lauren assured me, and I raised an eyebrow at her.
“But I wanna get it,” I groused. I saw her fighting her fond amusement—I realized pretty quickly that she liked my ways, so I didn’t feel bad about milking it a little. “Besides, I don’t want you going back in there until it’s cleared, okay? I didn’t exactly take the time to look around and see if they left anything behind.” Lauren pursed her lips.
“Oh,” she said flatly. “Right.” I put my hand over hers and smiled at her, hoping to offer some comfort. She was, after all, a civilian experiencing her first targeted attack. It was unsettling to think about someone putting things like hidden cameras or small explosives in your own home. She gave me a thankful look.
“Ew, God, the PDA,” Fabri wrinkled his nose. I glared at him ineffectually.
“Don’t hurl, I worked hard on that food,” mom said drily. Dad chuckled.
“Ignore them, Lauren,” Selene said, rolling her eyes. I realized that Lauren was, in fact, turning quite red—probably from the casual way our relationship was addressed, but she didn’t look altogether unhappy about it either. Good, because I wouldn’t be keeping it secret. “This family just has a weird understanding of romance.”
“Says the one who hasn’t been on a date since high school,” Fabri quipped.
“Says the one who’s been pining after a taken woman for over a year,” Selene shot back. Fabrizio’s jaw dropped. I cackled.
But our blissful morning couldn’t be left uninterrupted, it seemed. Mine and dad’s bluetooth watches buzzed at the same time, alerting us that the front gate guard had let someone in that we didn’t actually want here but couldn’t turn away. In other words, the police.
We shared a worried look, then came three hard knocks on our front door. No time to prepare or plan. “This is Chicago PD, open up! We have a warrant for the immediate arrest of Fabrizio Marino, for the murder of Tobias Cole!”
Chapter Twenty-Five
RICHARD
We all waited tensely in the living room, horribly silent and with a notably empty chair. Well, two, since Lauren had immediately declared herself Fabri’s representation and demanded to go with him to the station, but we knew Lauren would be back, while Fabrizio wouldn’t be.
I was mad. I was so, so fucking mad. Fabri was a goddamn kid, just 21. A giant nerd who sent too many meme reactions in the family group chat. Yeah, he was a Marino, but he wasn’t involved and likely never would be. He didn’t seem interested, and unlike Selene, he wasn’t studying something that could be helpful to the family. He was going to be a fucking biochemist.
