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“Oh. My. God.” I didn’t know which news shocked me more, the fact that Bonnie was dead, or the fact that Mueller was. I knew Bonnie, and though she’d been a pain in the ass for the Ashby family, she’d been nothing but kind to me and a good mother to Ava Rose. “I, uhm, I have to go.” I turned to Jamie and said, “Alone.”
Jameson stood when I did, concern etched on his face. “Text me when you get there.”
I nodded and practically ran to my brand new car, starting it up and pressing on the gas as hard as I could. I wasn’t sure if I was in a hurry to get back to Ashby Manor or if it was fear mixed with adrenaline at the idea that Mueller was dead.
There were so many nights over the past year that I dreamed of his death, dreamed that I’d be the one to kill him, but that was back when I thought I could find Molly own my own.
Or with the help of Kat Ashby.
Neither had happened and now that piece of shit was dead. “No!” The reality of it hit me all at once and right on its heels came panic. My heart raced so fast and so loud, I barely heard the cars honking behind me when I stopped at a green light. Tears started to blur my vision as the thought I refused to allow over the past few months took hold of me. Molly could be dead by now, and if she was alive, how would I find her without Mueller?
The pain in my chest amplified at the thought that my last conversation with my sister might actually end up being the last time I ever heard her voice. “No. It can’t be.” The words came out on a teary whisper as I passed through the gates of the Ashby mansion and parked crooked in my haste to get inside.
As I headed toward the sound of muffled voices, I sent a little prayer up that the baby was here, safe and not at that hotel room with Bonnie.
Oh, God, no.
I ran into the parlor and saw Ava Rose in Cal’s arms while he sobbed, so overcome by his grief that his legs buckled. I raced to him and took Ava Rose into my arms, offering a supportive hand to the man I considered a friend. “I’m so sorry, Cal. So sorry.” I held Ava Rose close until her sniffles faded. Even though she didn’t know why she was sad, the little girl responded to the grief that emanated from her father.
“Sweet girl, I’m so sorry.” I kissed her downy soft hair and bounced her in my arms, our heartbeats aligned so she could feel some peace in this moment.
“Who the fuck did this? It doesn’t make any fucking sense. None!” He tossed his tumbler across the room and it shattered as it made impact with the wall, hundreds of tiny pieces falling to the ground. “How am I supposed to do this without her?” His shoulders fell and his head dropped forward as a new round of tears fell down his already tear-stained cheeks.
Kat snorted and shook her head. “The more important question is what the fuck was she even doing with the pervert priest? At my goddamn hotel? Heads are going to fucking roll. Bitch was probably getting her fix or giving him dirt on the family.” Even though Kat was probably right, her cold and callous words when Cal was so wrapped in grief seemed extremely cruel.
I watched Sadie and Jasper have an entire conversation without saying a word and felt my belly flip with anxiety when Sadie gave a small nod and turned sad eyes to her youngest son. “Not the time, Kat.”
“I just lost my fucking wife, you miserable bitch! What the hell is wrong with you?” Calvin shouted at Kat. I held Ava closer to me.
Kat shrugged in response, but guilt flickered in her blue eyes at her brother’s grief. There had been no love lost between her and Bonnie, but at least she felt something for the sadness that took over Calvin. “I’m sorry for your loss, Cal, but we have to think about what she might have told him and what he did with that intel.”
Cal shook his head and reached for Sadie’s silver cigarette case and lit one of the long cigarettes his mother favored. I didn’t even know he smoked. He groped the wall to help him stand and stumbled, from shock I think, to the bar to fill a new tumbler with amber liquor. “You think about that shit, Kat. I have to think about burying my wife and finding the prick that murdered her. Murdered. Her. You don’t get that do you?”
“Of course, I do Cal, but—”
