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“Aye aye, captain.” She turns over, snuggling into one of the nine thousand pillows my sister has in her bed.
Flipping off the light, I spare a final glance before I shut the door and head down to the kitchen.
“I cannot believe we are still awake.” JP drops his head in his hands as I enter.
“Eh. Those showers were much needed. What time is it, anyway?” Rico scrubs a hand over his face before forcing his eyes wide.
“4 a.m.,” I respond, pulling a water bottle from the fridge and coming to stand across from them. “Everything went okay with the cops?”
“Yeah.” Rico nods. “A few people hung back with us to give statements. They backed me. He got arrested.”
“And I—” JP interjects, “—was able to grab one of her friend’s numbers. They updated me an hour ago. Girl’s gonna be just fine.”
“Good.”
“How’s Daph?” Rico looks toward the stairs.
“She’s okay.” Memories of that fucking prick trying to get into the bathroom flash in my mind, and I swallow against the bile in my throat. “She almost wasn’t, though.”
“And you?” His brow arches. “You looked worse than I did walking in here. We have to worry about anything?”
“No. I grabbed Devon on the way out. Told him what happened. His father’s got his whole future mapped out with law school and eyes on an eventual Supreme Court seat. He’s not trying to be caught up in some drug scandal involving an underage girl. His pops is gonna bury this so deep you’d need a damn archeological crew to unearth it.”
JP leans back in his chair, his hands locking behind his head as he expels a breath. “Tonight was too close for comfort, dude. We got lucky that you were able to get to her in time. This drug shit is out of control.”
“About that…” My words trail off, causing JP and Rico look to me expectantly as I carefully consider what I’m about to say next. “JP, do you remember earlier when I talked about us working together?”
“I’m not shining your boots, Nick.” He laughs, kicking his feet up onto the chair beside him.
I don’t smile, the seriousness of my expression tampering the humor in his response.
“Nick.” Rico leans forward, his elbows resting against the marble countertop. “What’s going on?”
Squaring my shoulders, I take a steadying breath. “I’m going to propose something that is going to sound absolutely insane. Just hear me out, and in the end, I only ask two things. The first being that if we decide not to do this, we never speak of it again.”
“And the second?” asks JP.
“If we decide to move forward and something happens to me, promise you’ll watch out for Joanna and Daph. I need to know you two will keep them safe. Always.”
CHAPTER 11
NOW
DAPHNE
“There’s my girl!” Shannon abandons whatever she’s chopping on the cutting board and rounds the island to embrace me. Jesus, her hugs make everything more bearable. Two seconds in her arms, and I instantly feel lighter. “To what do I owe this surprise?”
“I was in the neighborhood.” I smile, returning her squeeze before releasing her and taking a seat at the counter.
“In the neighborhood.” Shannon snorts, making her way back over to resume whatever she was prepping. “We live in a private community.”
“What do you want me to say?” I laugh as I lean across the island to snag a cucumber slice from the cutting board.
“The truth. That you missed me.”
“I always miss you, Ma. You know that.”
“And you know you don’t need excuses to come visit me.” My best friend’s mother pins me with a pointed stare. “This is your home, Daph. If anything, I’d like to see you around more often.”
