“It’s the police.Guess Amie’s parents finally shot a rocket up their backsides, or maybe it was that attention-seeking sister of hers.If I were the cops, I’d investigate just to get her off my back.”
Chase had escorted the Carlson family to a hotel earlier, and Amie’s sister had complained about everything—the choice of seats on the airplane, the wait for their luggage, the walk to the car, the size of the room, the lack of choice in the minibar.Everything.Chase seemed like an easygoing kind of guy, but when he got back to the house, he’d slammed the front door and said the asshole had kidnapped the wrong damn sister.
“Did you install cameras on my property?”Justin demanded.
“Someone had to.Dawson, can you get the door?”
“I’ll get it,” Justin said.“It’s my house.”
“Did you completely forget the past?You’re not talking to the cops without a lawyer present.Not this time.”
“But—”
“No buts.They had their chance, and they blew it.We’re doing this our way now.”
CHAPTER28
JUSTIN
Justin took the hot chocolate mix out of the cupboard, then put it back again.He had no idea how to make it with real chocolate the way Jessie did, and he was pretty sure Alexa had eaten all the marshmallows anyway.Instead, he found an expensive-looking box of chocolate truffles Chase had stashed in the pantry, opened another bottle of Nolan’s wine, picked up two glasses, and headed to Jessie’s bedroom for what was fast becoming his favourite part of the day.Those few blessed moments of peace between the search for Amie and restless sleep.
He knocked, and she cracked open the door.
“I brought wine, but if you want hot chocolate, I can go make some.”
“I wasn’t sure if you’d come tonight.”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“Well… You seemed a little annoyed with me earlier.”
“I did?”
“I know you don’t want me to speak with Sophy again.”
“I wasn’t annoyed with you; I was annoyed with Alexa.She has no sense of empathy, and she doesn’t understand that you need to decompress.”
“I don’t mind helping.”
“Don’t be afraid to say ‘no’ to her.Otherwise, she’ll keep assigning you tasks, and I don’t want to see you on your knees.Not like that, anyway.”Jessie’s eyes widened, and he backpedalled hastily.“Fuck, I’m sorry.That was inappropriate.”
She opened the door wider to let him pass.“Are you going to open that wine?I need some Dutch courage.”
“Why’s that?”
“Violet helped me to make a video earlier, a super basic one, just me teaching Saylor how to make a chocolate cake without burning down the kitchen or poisoning anyone.”She clapped both hands over her mouth.“Sorry, I’m so sorry.”
“Why are you sorry?”
“Making a joke about your home burning was insensitive.”
“Then it’s a good thing this place has a fire suppression system installed.Maybe I should send the video link to my neighbour—he could use some tips.”
“I’m not sure whether I should upload it.”
“Why wouldn’t you?Are you worried Ridge might track you down?Because once the Amie situation is resolved, Alexa can fix that for you.”
“She already installed a VPN and scrubbed the metadata from the file.”
