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I haven’t seen Mom in five months. Not since I showed up at the prison drunk. I was hitting the liquor hard back then. My brothers knew it. So did Mom.
Hence, why I thought I was walking into an intervention.
Mom thought it best not to tell Brett and Cole. Luckily, the warden offered me the opportunity to regain my visitation rights. Six months of AA meetings, and he’ll let me back in. I have a month to go.
Yeah. I’m the baby, so she’s got a soft spot for me. They all do. That’s probably why I went unscathed growing up in our house of hell.
Brett sits forward in the recliner, holding me with his telling glare. “What’s going on with Luna Moon?”
“Oh, that.” I wave my hand, mindful it’ll piss him off.
I can’t help myself. He’s so serious all the time. Not that the Luna Moon, aka Chosen Ashley, situation isn’t serious.
Hell. My lips are still afflicted from that unexpected kiss.
“Don’t give me that shit.” Brett’s nostrils flare.
Yep, I’m getting to him. It’s not the first time, and it sure as hell won’t be the last. I make it my job.
“I’ve got it handled.” I take a swig of my water.
“What does she want?” Cole stands. “Is she really trying to expose us? For what?” Mr. Dramatic throws out his hand. “A story? Doesn’t she know what that’ll do? It’ll shut us down. Is that what she wants?”
“I’m working on finding out.” I twist the cap back on the water bottle.
“I talked to Willa,” Brett says, ignoring my answer. “I guess some woman went into the paper offering her story to the highest bidder.”
Cole’s eyes flash to Brett. “Who was she?”
“I don’t know. The woman claims Lix showed up at her house for an escort, and—” Brett’s dark eyes slither back to me. “You beat up her boyfriend. Said she tried to stop you.”
“Wait.” Cole snaps his fingers. “Remember that escort, the one with the meth heads? You said the Julia jumped on you while you were trying to take down her boyfriend.”
Yeah, I remember the Julia. The victims are all Julias when we discuss shit among ourselves. It’s to keep their identity safe. The first one’s name was Julia, but hell, that was five years ago. We stumbled into that shit. Brett was doing a job for her, found out her husband beat on her, and we all went there and helped her get out. Unbeknownst to us, it was the start of the escorts.
“Yeah, they were both high on something. She was pissed. Scratched the fuck out of my face. Do you think that’s who went to the paper?” I turn to Brett.
“Willa said when she looked into it, no one would listen to the woman making the claim. The Julia and her abuser have been in and out of jail for drugs, theft, and all sorts of shit. Not a reliable source for our reporter. But apparently, it’s got Luna Moon’s interest piqued.”
“Yeah.” Cole nods, dropping his arms. “That’s all it took. Now she wants the story.”
“I don’t know.” I shake my head. “I ran into her tonight—”
“You ran into her!” Cole’s eyes widen. “When were you going to tell us?”
“Relax. It just happened, Cole, and I’m telling you now.”
“Where did you run into her?” Brett’s tone matches his ominous glare. He studies me for a long hard second, waiting for my reply.
“At a bar.” I look down, twisting the cap off my bottle.
“What did she want?” he snaps.
That’s a good question. “I’m not sure.” I take a swig of the water. “When Harper told me about her, I looked into it. I immediately recognized the reporter and told her I knew who she was.”
“What’d she say?” Cole holds out his arms again, impatient for an answer.
“She didn’t say anything.” I grin from the recall. “She kissed me.”
