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“No. We lost touch, but when we came of age, we were able to reconnect. I found Brett. Then we looked for Lix, and when he turned eighteen, we were waiting for him. We lost about ten years, but we’ve been back together for about that time now.”
“That’s amazing, and your mom, how long will she be in jail?”
“She’s serving twenty-five to life. She’s got eight more years, but there’s no guarantee she’ll get out. Brett just got her a new lawyer to see if we can do anything to get her out earlier. It’s part of the reason we started, well, he started the business. So we could afford a good lawyer.”
“I hope it all works out.”
“So do I.”
The following day, I get up and head into the kitchen, finding Cole standing in nothing but a pair of jeans. Drawn straight to him, I lean in and take what I’ve waited to do for the past twenty-four hours. The touch of his lips to mine. This morning, I hold it longer, soaking in the trivial thrill.
I don’t want to let go as my lips break from his.
“Good morning.” He smiles, melting whatever parts of me that might not have turned molten from the kiss.
“Hi.” I smile back.
“We’re going to leave in an hour. Sound good?”
I nod.
“I’ll go take a shower.” I twist around and head for the hallway. I stop with my back to him and take my shirt off. I glance over my shoulder, locking my eyes with his. “Little doses.” I smile, dropping the shirt before walking naked to the hallway and disappearing from the door.
Let him chew on that for the next time he wants to try to deny me what I want.
Chapter 20
I have two options. Follow her into the bathroom, strip my jeans off, and join her in the shower. Or put my shirt and sneakers on and get the fuck out of here. I opt for the latter and head down to the office.
Brett’s going through some paperwork at his desk. He looks up.
“Hey, what’s going on?”
“Harper is getting ready. I’m going to drop her off at the rehab center to visit Willa while I go see Mom.”
“Speaking of Mom, Sofia sent this shit over last night.” He lifts a piece of paper. “When Mom killed him,” he says. We rarely refer to our sperm donor as Dad or Father. It’s either him, asshole, piece of shit, or fucker. “She had an account with thirty-thousand dollars in it. Sofia also discovered Mom had bought four plane tickets to Phoenix, Arizona, for a few weeks after she killed Dad.”
“Is this the discovery you were talking about?”
“Yeah.” He lounges back in the chair. “I guess Mom has a friend in Phoenix. Lucy Deetman. They were best friends when Mom was younger. They lost contact after high school. Lucy went to Arizona for college. The fucker didn’t know about Mom’s friend. Sofia reached out to her. Lucy confirmed she and Mom were talking back then. They planned for Mom to bring us there to stay with her. So I can’t understand why Mom would kill Dad if she had a plan to leave him in a few weeks?”
“Did you ask her?”
“No.”
I lower myself into the chair. “Oh fuck.”
“Yeah, you’re going to see her today.”
“I don’t know. You usually deal with this shit. We don’t talk about that night or what happened. It’s—”
“You’re gonna have to do it, Cole. Sofia is trying to build a case.”
“She’s Mom’s lawyer. She should ask Mom.”
“She did, but you know Mom. She’s not talking. She doesn’t trust lawyers.”
“Wait.” I shake my head. “Why didn’t Mom use the money to pay for a lawyer after she shot him? Why would she use the public defender?”
