Page 150 of And Now, Back to You

Maggie reaches forward and peeks at the folder Aiden discarded. Her face blanches and she flings it away.

“Why do you have a picture of Keith in a tutu at—is that a strip club?”

Gianna laughs, collecting the folder and slipping it into the bottom of the pile. “Like I said, I’m a researcher.” She pats her stack. “No stone left unturned.”

We currently have a lot of stones, but no clear direction. I tug at Delilah’s hands until she’s standing in front of me. We’ve spent most of the past few days together, trying to build a plan while existing on Swedish Fish, but she needs to decide how she wants to handle what happens next.

“What do you want to do?” I ask her.

She glances around the room. My people and hers too. Everyone together. For her.

Delilah stares up at me. She’s wearing an oversized hoodie she stole from the back of my closet, the sleeves curled over her fists. Last night she fell asleep at my kitchen table while updating her résumé (Just in case, okay?), and I carried her upstairs and deposited her in my bed despite her grumblings that she was fine to drive home. She immediately rolled to my side and burrowed her face into my pillow, muttering something about fancy shampoo.

She wraps her arms around herself. “I don’t think I want to blackmail Keith to get my job back.”

“Yeah, I would agree,” I say, secretly relieved. I think she can get her job back without committing any crimes, but I’d do it. If she wanted me to.

“There’s a lot of information,” she murmurs. “I guess I just don’t know what’s expected of me.”

I slip my hand under her hair and cup the back of her neck, rubbing my thumb up and then down. “Would it help if I told you what I expect?”

She nods.

“I expect you to look at the very extensive evidence stacked on that coffee table and realize that you are not the one who should have left the station. I expect you to understand that his shit behavior doesn’t just impact you, but every person who works at YBAL. You bore the brunt of it, but other people are struggling too. And he doesn’t deserve to be in a position of power if he’s using that power to do harm to others. This job is your dream. Baltimore is your home. Don’t let him take it from you.”

A smile quirks the corners of her mouth. “Demand more,” she whispers.

“Yeah, baby.” I squeeze the back of her neck. “Demand more.”

I can see the determination settle across her pretty features. She steps out of my grip and wiggles her way between Penelope and Adeline, taking the marker that’s offered. It does something to me, seeing their heads bent together. It’s the same feeling I got last night when she curled herself around me in my bed. A tight fist of longing, right at the base of my throat. So heavy I can barely swallow around it.

Delilah peeks up at me, brown eyes shining. She tips her head gently to the side, raising both eyebrows. I nod, scraping my palm along my jaw.

“Hey, Adeline?” I call. My sister glances up. She has some dry-erase marker on her cheek. “Can I borrow you in the kitchen for a minute?”

She hops off the couch and dutifully follows me while I collect rogue paper plates and consolidate pizza slices. In the kitchen, she examines the boxes, plucking some pineapple off one that only Lucie has touched. She hops up onto the counter, her long legs swinging, socked feet drumming against the cabinets.

I toss the plates in the trash bin, then lean up against the refrigerator with my arms crossed over my chest. “We haven’t had a chance to talk.”

She’s been avoiding me for the better part of the week. Every time I try to get her alone, she scampers off with her sister. Or drags Delilah off somewhere to do something with coordinated dance routines and too much laughing. But she can’t hide in a house full of people, and I’m determined to hash this out.

Her face falls. “You want to talk about it now?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“But—” She looks hopelessly in the direction of the living room. “We’re supposed to be coming up with a master plan.”

“They won’t miss us for a couple of minutes.”

I’m not sure they even realize we’re gone. Gianna is standing in front of where Delilah sits on the couch, gesturing wildly. Delilah looks concerned, Penelope looks delighted, and Mark looks like he’d like nothing more than to drag Gianna off to the closest dark room. No one’s even noticed we’ve disappeared.

Except Delilah. Her eyes find mine and she winks. That fist tightens. Slips lower to the middle of my chest.

I drag my eyes back to my sister. “We need to talk about it, Addie.”

She sucks in a deep breath, then lets it out slowly. “I made a mistake,” she finally says, her voice quiet.

I keep my face carefully neutral. “Which part?”