The room suddenly goes silent, and the ringtone fills the space like a noxious gas. Nausea overcomes me. I press my hands to my mouth, forgetting I’m holding the damn thing and drop it. Tanisira catches it deftly, and before I tell her I can’t, I can’t answer it, not right now, no—
“Hello?’ she says to Hina.
It’s on speaker. My lawyer’s dulcet tones filter through.
“Oh, hello. Is Marlowe there, please?”
“She’s here, she’s just feeling a little shaky right now. You’re on speaker.”
Hina pauses. “Right. Marlowe, do I have your permission to speak about your case right now? I can call back—”
“Yes,” I blurt.
She wastes no time.
“Mr Gryphon rescinded his accusations. The police have dropped the investigation.”
If Tanisira’s arm wasn’t suddenly there to hold me up, I’d have slid to the floor. I feel weightless with relief. “He dropped the charges? Why?”
“His lawyer didn’t specify, but I imagine whatever you said to him earlier was responsible. Well done, Marlowe. I’m happy for you.”
I stare at the slate. “But I didn’t say anything to convince him. If anything, I dared him.”
“I don’t decipher people, I just dismantle them. Whatever you did, it worked. I’ll let you process everything. Call me tomorrow; there are some things we need to wrap up.”
“Yeah, okay, thank you, Hina.”
Everyone in the kitchen stares at me, and the primary expression is one of happiness. My heart pounds so hard, I can hear it in the resounding silence. Of course, it’s Beau who breaks it.
“Yeah, motherfucker!” they scream, pumping fists in the air.
“Beau!” Everyone yells.
Beau attempts a look of contrition but can’t quite manage it around that beaming smile. Suddenly, I’m mirroring it, and the kitchen explodes into noise. I turn to Tanisira, catch her watching me carefully.
“That’s it?” I ask in disbelief.
“That’s it,” she says, running a hand over the back of my head and coming to rest on my chest, just over my racing heartbeat.
“I know he doesn’t deserve it, but I almost want to call him and say thank you.”
“Well, you wouldn’t be you if you didn’t have that big heart.”
“Is that your way of telling me I’m soft?”
Tanisira kisses me gently, just a moment of shared breath. She laughs. “Not if I want to see you tonight, I bet.”
I’m laughing too when Vee slips between us and throws his hands around my waist. Tanisira immediately gives us space.
“You okay?” I ask him.
His big, green eyes peer up at me, his curls absolutely wayward, face luminous. “Dad finally did the right thing, didn’t he?”
Tanisira had stashed Vee behind the hidden door back at the gala, so he didn’t witness Dominik blackmailing me—but he’s smart, and I’m no longer sugarcoating things for him.
“He did. How are you feeling about it?”
“I don’t know.”
