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“Honestly, I’m not surprised by anything my father does or doesn’t do anymore. I’m sure it was a manipulation ploy that he planned to use later for God only knows what reason. I’m just glad that it’s all settled now and it’s getting the love it deserves.”
“So am I. I want to come here often so you can give me whatIdeserve,” I said with a waggle of my brows.
He smiled. “We can come here as much as you want. What’s mine is yours.”
“Well, considering I had my hands and tongue all over it last night, I hope so. I mean . . . I licked it. Pretty sure that means I can keep it.” I winked.
We sat in companiable silence for a while, just breathing in the crisp mountain air.
“What are you going to do about Lamour?” he asked, turning to me.
My stomach dropped a little. Apparently, given everything that had been going on for so long with the mansion, the current owners finally gave up the ghost. Roch called a meeting about four days after our final interview with him to go over the investigation data and told us that the owners had let his entire crew go and gave the property back to the bank.
Given everything that’d come to light during the investigation, representatives for the bank had hired Roch back to finish the job—after the police did what they had to do with the bodies in the storage area, anyway—and then did some digging as due diligence. As it turned out, as Lance’s only surviving child,Iwas the rightful owner of Lamour.
Apparently, Lance’s father’s will had a provision stating that the estate should be passed down in the family until no other family members remained. But it got better. There was even a boatload of money set aside in trust for its upkeep and maintenance. And all of that had been uncovered when additional research was done.
So . . . that big, beautiful home, the one that had been both a dream and a nightmare for me, was mine. And I still didn’t know what to do with it. Luckily, I didn’t have to decide immediately. I’d told the lawyers that I needed some time to think things over but would let them know how I wanted to proceed before the end of the year.
The other kicker? The one that may end up making a difference in the long run . . . Apparently, my biological mom was still there.
Dev and Birdie had helped nearly all of the spirits cross over, but Seiko didn’t want to go. She’d said that she had spent too many years living on this plane and didn’t know where she’d end up if she crossed over. At least on Earth, she knew what to expect. And now that Lance was gone—Burke had told us that he’d decided to follow Moloch, wherever the evil bastard went—Seiko was free to live . . . or, at least,existin peace.
Part of me was happy for her. She had practically been born into a world of evil. And she had done the right thing by trying to save me—both during the investigationandwhen I was just a child. As it turned out,Seikowas the one who’d asked Shelly/Michelle to turn the coven in, even knowing that it would mean her downfall—potentially both of theirs.
The other part of me didn’t know how I felt about her being there ifIwas there. She was still tied to the house as her home base, even if she could roam. And even though I could no longer see her, when I compartmentalized everything I’d gone through, I knew I’d be back on the science-weighted side of things. It was just who I was. I knew I couldn’t explain away anything that’d happened and had to accept that it was real.Somehow.But it was still something my subconscious fought against, and I figured it always would. Before I took up residence in the place—if I did—I needed to make peace with the fact that Mommy Dearest would be there more often than not.
“Earth to Sky.” Pax interrupted my thoughts.
“Yes, that’s my mom’s store’s name. Is this supposed to be one of those brain teasers formatureadults? Reminding yourself of things you already know?” He rolled his eyes as I’d intended, and I just quirked my lip.
I looked at him before answering his earlier question. “I’m still not sure what I’m going to do,” I said honestly. “On the one hand, why wouldn’t I want to live there? It’s stunning, and it’s paid for. But on the other hand . . .”
“You were almost killed there.”
“Yeah, there is that.” My mouth went dry, and I took a drink of my coffee. He knew just how to make it for me with the perfect ratio of cream and sugar. He knew how to dosomany things perfectly. I smiled inwardly.
Things with Lamour had been a shitshow, but I didn’t regret a single moment spent with Paxton. I tipped back my head and closed my eyes, just enjoying the moment.
“Sky?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“Can I tell you something?”
“Sure.”
He cleared his throat. “You know that you—”
“Have a great ass?”
“Well, yeah, you do. But that’s not what I was going to say.”
I grinned and rocked my head back and forth on the chair back. “What were you going to say?”
“I was going to say that—”
“The answer to everything is forty-two?”
