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“Yes, it is. Sit. I’ll do your hair.”
She pushed Lyla onto a bench in front of the vanity and took the brush from her. Lyla stared straight ahead. It was clear she was still in shock. Who wouldn’t be? Carmen let her be. Lyla lived in her head and needed time to work it out on her own, but she would get through this. She always did.
“Mom’s awake,” Lyla said quietly.
“Aunt Beatrice woke from the coma? Is she okay? Is she talking?”
“We got a call last night. I went to see her. She asked about Dad.”
Of course, Aunt Beatrice would ask about her worthless husband above everything else. Lyla wouldn’t meet her eyes in the mirror. She could feel the silent pain radiating off her cousin. She wrapped her arms around her from behind.
“You did what you had to, Lyla. Your dad would kill Nora—”
“I know,” Lyla said and shook her head. “I couldn’t tell her what I did. I just said he was dead. She didn’t ask who killed him.”
Lyla couldn’t catch a break to save her life. She survived Hell and now had to deal with her mother who woke from a coma, asking for her husband who Lyla killed in self-defense. She gave Lyla another squeeze and kiss on the cheek before she resumed brushing her hair. “Just leave it be, Lyla. You have time. It’ll work out.”
“You think we can have a happily ever after?” Lyla asked quietly.
“You and Gavin deserve it.”
Lyla met her eyes in the mirror. “And you too, Carmen.”
She blinked hastily and focused on French braiding her hair. “I need to tell Vinny it’s over.”
Lyla nodded. “And we can finally spread Manny’s ashes. It never felt right before. I miss him so much.”
Vinny and Manny, gone too fucking soon. She breathed through the pain as she finished the braid. “I know.”
Lyla reached back and grasped her hand. “We got him, Carmen.”
Their eyes met in the mirror.
“I threw a dagger in his back and crushed his bones with a shield. Gavin ran him through with eight swords, and then Lucifer cut off his head.”
“You crushed his bones with a shield?”
“Oh, and I kicked his severed head into the stands.”
She would have taken great delight in getting her shot at Vega for all the pain he caused her family, but it seemed that Lyla and the others had taken care of it. He died in pain. That had to be enough for her. She looped her arms around Lyla’s neck and pressed her cheek to her cousin’s. “You’re a fucking savage. I’m so proud. You’re a true crime lord’s wife.”
The corner of Lyla’s mouth twitched. “I’m the wife of a retired crime lord.”
“Yes. I just met Angel.”
“I’m worried,” Lyla murmured.
“Why?”
“He’s family. I don’t want him in the line of fire.”
Carmen read between the lines. “Angel isn’t Vinny.”
“But …”
“Let Angel and Gavin deal with it. We’re going to move on and watch Nora grow up and drive Gavin crazy. We’re going to laugh, eat, and enjoy life because we fucking deserve it. We made it, Lyla. He didn’t break us.”
“You’re different today.”
