Her smile was shaky, and she nodded.
“Danny was going to record it, unless you’d rather not have so many people here. I can ask my guys to leave.”
She shook her head. “Soon everyone will see it, no privacy needed…sometimes I think there’s been too much, and it festered and grew into what it currently is.”
“There’s a glass of water beside you. Where you’re sitting is perfect because there’s only a wall behind you—nothing to give away where you are,” Penn informed her.
“Okay, thank you. Before I start, did you want to know what I was going to say?”
I leaned back on the couch across from her. “No. You don’t owe me anything, Monica. I’m happy to help you break free and end him.”
She hummed. “Well, if anything I say would harm you in any way, stop recording and we can figure it out.”
“We have a deal.”
“All right. Let’s do this.” She sat up straight in the wingback chair and placed the papers on the small table beside her, clearly not needing them.
I glanced over at Danny. “When she says she’s ready.” I looked at Alex and Raff. “We need silence; make sure no one comes into the house.”
“Got it.” Raff exited the room, likely to stop anyone from entering, while Alex stayed.
She took a deep breath and tilted her chin at Danny. “I’m ready.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Penn
On our way home,we met Gideon’s journalist friend at a seedy roadside diner. We passed it off, obtaining the promise that it would hit airwaves by the following day. Then we picked up the twins, and Gideon was in such a good mood that he stopped for ice cream—who cared that it was almost November?—and we stopped at the park.
“Halloween is in two days!” Owen gave me a sticky grin.
“It is, how excited are you?”
“I can’t wait.”
“Me either!” Olivia shouted.
What a Halloween surprise it would be for Benito…a horror, really. Very festive.
We stayed at the park for about an hour even though it was a little chilly. The day was so mundane, so domestic.
After Monica had recorded her video, which was incredibly damning and no doubt would end his campaign, a lightness filled the air. She’d relaxed as if she’d been dying to tell her story for so long.
While there was an unpredictable cloud lingering above our heads as to what Benito would do, Gideon’s smile could fool anyone.
We were sitting in the living room, the twins nestled in their beds, when his cell phone buzzed with an incoming text. I watched his face as he read it, his grin only getting bigger.
“What?”
“The story will break first thing in the morning, and you know every news station will be reporting on it afterward.”
I squeezed his leg. “Are you going to tell Solange?”
“No, I’m telling nobody who doesn’t already know. Her reaction to this needs to be organic. She’s not stupid and will likely put the pieces together on her own, but I’d rather not give her anything right now.”
I hummed. That made sense. I leaned my head against the pillow on the couch and stared at my beautiful man. So dangerous, so lethal, and yet, he had this moral compass he tended to follow. I was fucking lucky to have Gideon Hendrix’s love.
“What are you looking at?” He reached over and gently squeezed my chin, beckoning me closer.
