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“It would mean basically no jail time, probably house arrest, community service. How likely it would be . . .” She takes a moment to shake her head. “I don’t know. I’m not going to be defending her or standing with the DA. I’m going to be at every one of your depositions if you agree to them, but I have no way of knowing if Jim was ever violent with⁠—”

“He wasn’t,” Luna says, more venom in her voice than normal, way more. “The man was a bastard in several ways, and I don’t have any particular reason to keep that quiet, but he wasn’t violent. Ever. Not even verbally violent.”

She looks around at the rest of us. Avery agrees with a nod and Liv by repeating her earlier words.

“He never cared enough to be violent. About any of us. Or, I believe, our mothers.”

When Beatrice turns to me I consider what to say, then decide that if I can’t be completely honest here, then where?

“He hit me once, but I’m probably the only one he cared about. Not in a caring way, more in a you better not fail me way. He slapped me when I was sixteen, I think, and I’d told him I wanted to play hockey for the Demons.”

This time it’s Avery who takes my hand, and I’m grateful.

“Still, it was more of a . . . wake-up call. I know what a violent punch is like.” I continue looking at Beatrice. “He was really pissed, and he slapped me once, but otherwise I never saw him slap any one of us, so I can’t say for sure if he ever hit Amanda.” I look desperately at my sisters. “I can’t. But what I can say is that I don’t love the idea of Amanda getting custody of the boys if she doesn’t go to jail for this murder.”

“Okay, that’s one instance, and if it comes out in court, then it could carry weight, though less weight if it was only the once and everyone else’s testimonies say never.”

“What are the next steps?” Liv asks, ever practical.

“We wait for the dates of the deposition. It’ll be sooner rather than later, because even though the detectives on the case are still finishing up their investigation, the DA is already working on the case. If you agree to the boys⁠—”

“I don’t,” I interrupt immediately. “There’s no reason whatsoever why they would need to go through that.”

“I agree. I’ll tell the DA.”

“What about the boys?” Avery asks, right before I was about to. “If they rule that it was self-defense, then is there a chance she’ll get custody?”

I appreciate that Beatrice takes her time to think about her answer.

“She could, but we have proof that she signed her rights away in case of a marriage dissolution. Technically, the marriage was dissolved, so we can absolutely win that case in your favor if it comes to that. I’ll prepare for it in case, but I think it will be very hard to find twelve jurors who’d overlook the statements of the majority of you and sympathize with a woman like Amanda. I believe she has a plan to play up her role as a mother, the financial difference between her and your father, and age difference too. If it was self-defense, it’s going to be very hard to prove since there’s no record of suspicious injuries any of you had while living with Jim, including her. It’s a sad fact, and I don’t want to assume anything here, but my gut is telling me she won’t get the result she wants.”

“Okay,” Avery breathes out, and I relax marginally.

Beatrice nods once and moves to gather her leather portfolio, but Avery’s voice stops her.

“Actually, we wanted to talk about something regarding the trust.”

I turn to her, my eyebrows rising.

“What?” I ask, but they all ignore me—typical.

Well no, Luna turns to look at me.

“We talked about it, and we think it would be best if you’d hold a certain position over the three presidents of the franchises instead of becoming the president of the Demons.”

“Yes,” Liv continues, instead of letting me answer, and turns to Beatrice. “Is there any way we can make it so the teams are owned by a corporation and he can be the CEO of it instead of having to manage each team independently?”

I frown at her, but then decide to turn to Beatrice and see what she has to say.

“There isn’t.” She doesn’t wince apologetically or make a single expression. It’s impressive, really. “When your father sold the Kings to Harrison Crawford, part of the sale contract was focused on who Harrison could sell the team to in the case that he’d wish to do so in the future. Your father believed an individual owner is what’s best for franchises, and so the Kings cannot be sold or transferred to a corporation, only to individuals, and in fact, only certain individuals.” Her blue eyes connect with mine for a fraction of a second that tells me everything I need to know—only members of the Turris. “Then he added the same clauses to the trust, and they are quite unbreakable, I’m afraid.”

I think about what this means, and realize that if I want my sisters to be owners of a team, only Liv could be because she’s the only one who’s already a part of the Turris.

That’s not ideal.

I turn to my sisters and hate the embarrassment that floods me all of a sudden. I can’t even pinpoint where it comes from.

“Can you explain why you think this is necessary?” I ask them, my voice coming out lower, and shit, I hate that I feel like a misbehaving little boy, but . . . do they not trust me?