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I don’t answer his question until we get in the car, and I know he’s heading for the real estate office.
“I think Neal’s going to take a plea deal. My lawyer said they refused to entertain one, but I have a feeling they’re going to make some calls now that he’s a flight risk. Hopefully, they can talk some sense into him because there’s no way he’s going to be found not guilty at a trial.”
“He was caught red-handed,” Easton says, his voice full of venom. “Like, so many witnesses it’s ridiculous. I can’t believe he’s foolish enough to think he could get away with it.”
“His ego has always gotten in his way,” I tell him. The real estate office is around the corner, and we’re there before I can finish my thought. “I have a good feeling this is going to be it.”
“Your divorce is soon,” he says.
Not soon enough, but yeah. It is. In a handful of weeks, there will be no connection between me and Neal apart from the civil suit and a history that I will eventually bury. And with any luck, he will spend the next several years in jail.
Easton takes my hand again as we approach the office, and I feel a slight pang of nerves when we walk in the way I always do when I’m holding a man’s hand and meeting strangers. But the woman at the first desk looks so much like Camilo it’s impossible not to clock her as his sister.
“Hello!” She walks around, and my eyes widen. She has to be taller than him. She has long dark hair and equally dark eyes, and it looks like she’s just come off a Caribbean vacation with her tan. “You must be Easton and Rune.”
“How did you know?” he asks.
She pulls her phone out of her pocket and swipes open the screen, then flashes a candid shot that Camilo clearly took. “He sent me this and a list of requirements you need so I could be prepared.”
“He is ridiculous,” Easton says.
She laughs. “Yeah, he is. Anyway, my name is Maria. Come have a seat. I have a list of properties we can go over, and several of them are available to look at today if you have time.”
Easton looks at me, and I see the excitement in his eyes. I can’t do anything but nod.
“Yeah. We have plenty of time.”
He squeezes my hand hard. “And we do have a lot of requirements, but I also think we’re pretty easy to please.”
Easton was not easy to please. The first three houses he picked apart until all I could see were the flaws and places that Elio wouldn’t be able to get around. And while he was right, I rarely ever had the luxury to be that fussy about it.
Elio had been making do his entire life, but Easton wasn’t having it.
Luckily, Maria didn’t seem annoyed by him. She kept making notes on her tablet, and eventually, we reached the place that even Easton couldn’t complain about. It had wide doors, ramps on the front and back, it was ranch-style, so no stairs, and none of the doors had a lip.
There was not just one, but two roll-in showers with built-in center benches so Elio could have his pick of where he wanted to get clean, and the best part was that the builders had installed countertops that raised and lowered with the press of a button.
“What is this place?” I asked quietly, watching the bathroom counter sink with a quiet hiss of hydraulics.
Maria smiled. “The former owner just had a new place built. From what I understand, he’s also disabled, so the house was custom-made.”
I hold my breath. “Ah. Is it in the budget?”
Maria smiles. “It’s a little over—by about two fifty a month.”
“I can make that work,” Easton says immediately.
I think I’m still unused to the idea that I can afford more because this means splitting the rent in half. Though there’s still that prickle of fear at the base of my spine because I can’t afford this place on my own.
And giving this to Elio and then ripping it away from him will be more painful than not having it at all.
“There’s also the option of buying after your first lease is up,” Maria says. “The account says the owner is willing to consider first year’s rent going toward the purchase price.”
“So…we wouldn’t have to build,” I say.
Easton frowns and walks down the hall. I can tell something’s bothering him, so I follow him until he stops by the large bay windows that overlook the wide expanse of trees. It’s not as secluded as where North and Leo live, but the tree barrier that blocks the view and sound from the freeway gives it the illusion that we’re in the middle of nowhere.
It’s also further away from town and work, but closer to the city, which is where all of Elio’s specialists are, so I don’t hate that.