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They both answered, surprisingly. Almost at the same time.
“Bridget” and “Are you okay?” erupted at once.
Hope was the one who asked if I was okay.
I smiled at them, realizing how much I missed their faces. “Well, yes, I am okay. Michael got shot, but he’s rather remarkably fine. He’s totally not tricking the Russians into coming after him so he can get rid of them as we speak. So, yeah, I’m fine. How are you? Oh, and we’re sleeping together. Also he says he loves me. Aside from relationship stuff, though, I have a lot to tell you, because I’m actually responsible for a lot of the things that went badly in your lives.” I smiled again, if wobbly. “So, how are you guys?”
A baby cried in Hope’s background, and she rose to shut her door. Still, neither of my sisters uttered a word. Finally, Layla said, “I’m so happy you two found your way to one another.”
Hope agreed. “It’s really about time. He’s taunting the Russians?”
I smiled. I always forgot how much I loved them and our bond. When it was the three of us, the Radford sisters.
“Okay. I’ll start over.”
And then I told them all of it, from start to finish, without leaving anything out. It seemed far more fair to let them know everything I’d done before I could ask for their forgiveness. Plus, I wanted Hope to really understand how she had hurt me by talking to Michael about me.
Finally, I swallowed. “Please forgive me.”
The silence hit me again. I sighed. I really hated it when they didn’t say anything.
“You can’t possibly think you’re responsible for what Dad did or for what happened afterward. Youcan’t. I mean, I don’t blame you for any of it.” Tears rushed down Layla’s face. “You were trying to save everyone and stop him from being evil. I wish you had said something earlier. I mean, why have you been carrying that around?”
Hope nodded. “Bridget, you are not allowed to take on the world’s pain and say that it’s your fault. You’re not.”
“You two have always worried you’re like Mom.” I forced myself to swallow. “But I’m Dad, in a lot of ways. And Justin is lost.”
Hope shook her head. “You’re not Dad, and we would’ve noticed. Not Dadat all. I love you, Bridget, but I have to go. I’m so sorry. It sounds like the twins are just losing it in the other room. They both have ear infections.”
Layla smiled. “Mine are just getting up, so I’d better go, too, but stop disappearing. Also, please let us know that Michael is okay when it’s over? Although I’m glad you’re exploring the relationship aspect finally, he’s like an old friend I really care about, especially considering he saved my life. If you make him my brother-in-law, he’ll finallybefamily.”
I gaped at her. “No one has talked about that. No M word at all.”
Hope groaned. “It’s like having to drag you from point A to point B while the rest of us are fully aware of how oblivious you’re being. He wants tomake plans. Love you.”
They both disconnected the call, and I put my phone down on the bed. The door swung open, and Stephen frowned at me. “Come on. He’ll kill me for this, but I get it. I’d want to see it if someone I loved was doing something crazy, too.”
“Do you love someone, Stephen?” I followed him into Michael’s office even as he laughed at my question. Apparently, the thought of him being in love cracked him up. The screens glowed in the office, and I quickly found which ones showed Michael’s other house. How many places did he own? If we made a commitment to each other, would he reveal the extent of his holdings or would there always necessarily be secrets about his life because of the nature of his work? I bit my fingernail fully aware that my head had been open lately, so I could think and reason, but right then it was getting full again.When Michael gets home, maybe he’ll say to give it tohim. I didn’t want to analyze why just thinking of him offered such a fucking relief.
Michael walked across the living room of the other house and sat down in a brown chair with his computer open as though he was working. Maybe he was. A woman with long red hair, about my height and weight, sat down in the chair next to him. Instead of talking to Michael, she opened the book in her hands and started to read.
Stephen’s phone dinged, and he looked down at it. “He wants to know how you’re doing.” Looking up at me, Stephen shrugged. “This is what it’s like when we watch you, by the way. He always wants to know what you’re doing.”
I never met Stephen before Russia, so I wasn’t sure when he kept surveillance on me. “When did you watch me?”
Stephen shrugged. “Oh, I was one of a few who rotated from a distance. We watched you in Hong Kong for your first year there. It was daily dings from Michael.How is Bridget? What is she doing? Does she seem okay?”
Tito shook his head, his smile rueful. “Heispretty obsessed with you. If anything bad happened to you, it would really hurt him.” He stared at the screen, but I noticed his leg shaking. I stared at the familiar bouncing motion. His tell, I remembered.From when he’d been bluffing. Maybe it was just a nervous habit?
“I wouldn’t say he’s obsessed.” Stephen shot Tito a look. “He’s in love with her. He doesn’t even try to hide it, particularly. I think things were complicated between the two of you, but now they seem to be working out. But he wasn’t obsessed, or at least not more than you should be. Might have been just the right amount for when you love someone.”
More and more, I wondered if Stephen had someone in his life he wasn’t discussing. “What’s her name?” I asked bluntly.
The shot echoed through the room, interrupting our conversation with a single staccato burst of sound. We all fell silent. Both Michael and the unnamed red-haired woman pulled out their guns. Back to back, they fired silently toward unseen targets. Neither even had to duck, as though they knew exactly where things were going to happen before they did.
“Roy,” Stephen looked at me, explaining. “He can see where they’re coming from, and he reports it into their earpieces, so they know where to fire.”
And like that…it was done.
