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The latter chuckles. “Even they knew I’d be terrible holding the reins. Pun very much intended.”
The lawyer stares at him for a moment, as if he can’t understand how he could be making a joke in the wake of their parents death, but Rayne ignores him and grabs Emerson’s hand on top of the table before the reading of the will continues. “There are some assets that will be distributed between the six of you.”
“The six of us?” Emerson asks, her eyes wide as they meet mine across the table. She didn’t know them long enough to know that the Saint James’s adopt people the moment they meet them. They did it with me, and they did it with her the night they met her at the gala.
“Yes, Mrs. Saint James.” He gives her a tight smile, barely looking up from the strew of papers laid out in front of him.
“The late Mrs. Saint James has divided her jewelry up between the three women and has some set aside for the future Mrs. Storm Saint James,” he explains and earns a scoff from the man himself.
“Even in death, she’s holding on to pipe dreams of me getting married.” There’s no humor in his voice, only affection for the woman who raised him.
“They also wrote you all a letter which my assistant will pass around to you now.” He motions to the older woman who looks just as uncomfortable being here as the rest of us.
We each thank her as she hands us an envelope and I stare down at mine for long moments, emotion bubbling in my chest as I stare down at my name scrawled across it. The familiar handwriting makes my heart ache for the only parents I ever really knew. They took me in when I had nowhere to go. They gave me food when my father refused to give my mother money for groceries and I was starving. And they showed me what a family is meant to look like.
I tear my eyes away from my own letter and look around the table as each one of my family members is looking down just the way I had been a few moments ago. This makes it feel real. The funeral was one thing, but even that we turned into a mission to deliver a threat to Angelo. This is divvying up their personal belongings between us like they were nothing more than money to us. It has me biting back nausea as I reach for the untouched glass of water sitting in front of me and downing it in several long drinks.
“The estate will transfer into Storm’s name effective immediately, however there is a clause in the contract that states if any of your siblings, including Mrs. Saint James and Mr. Masters, and any future generations, need a refuge, the estate is to be open to them at all times.” The lawyer continues through list after list of assets, and as each item is distributed to the people sitting around the table, the more heavily it weighs down on me.
“Now, the final thing on the list is the funds in their bank accounts. As I’m sure you can appreciate, your parents knew none of you are hurting for money, and as such they decided unanimously the last time I saw them that the money sitting in their account will be donated to the Chicago Center for Youth.”
Emerson’s hand seals over her mouth as a muffled sob claws up her throat as the lawyer continues. “As you can imagine, that is quite the sum and I will have final figures by the end of the day now that the interest from last month has carried over. I understand you’re the best person to speak to about how to make this donation, Mrs. Saint James.”
She nods quickly as she leans into Rayne but doesn’t say anything. She’s overwhelmed by the generosity just like she was the night of the gala, back when she was just a person I did recon on for Rayne. But as I watched through the security feed I hacked into to get a glimpse of Wynter, I knew she was different, that she would be the first person to join the family since I did so many years ago.
“Very good, well in that case, I think that’s all that we need to discuss. I’ve had a copy of the distribution made for each of you for your records, and there will be some paperwork I need each of you to sign, but I understand this is a very hard time for you all and don’t want to keep you from your time of grief. If there’s anything I can do for any of your through this difficult time, please let me know and I will be happy to do anything I can.”
We say our goodbyes and walk together to the elevators, none of us saying anything as we clutch the papers to our bodies. Before I can think better of it, I pull Wynter against me, needing to feel her close even if she pulls away a moment later. But to my surprise, she doesn’t. She nestles into my side and the moment makes my heart clench with relief. She’s not pulling away from me anymore. Last night did exactly as I hoped it would, it made her see I’m not going anywhere again, and finally she believes I won’t leave her like I had to in the past.
“Same plan on the way home?” Rayne asks, his arm wrapped tightly around Emerson’s shoulders.
Storm nods. “We’re all going back to the same cars. I considered switching them out, but that would look suspicious and we risked the new cars being tampered with, at least these ones Everett scanned before we left… twice.”
The smirk on his lips brings a smile to my own lips. Okay, so maybe I went a little over the top, but having Wynter out of the estate is making me antsy with every second that ticks by.
By the time we make it to the parking garage below the building the girls have wiped the tears from their eyes and the masks they’ve worn every time we’ve been out in public appears back on their faces. I hold Wynter for a moment longer than I should before letting her go as I cross to the car I arrived in. Storm was smart not to switch out the cars, I guess he’s learning, but I don’t trust anyone outside the six of us.
I’m just climbing into the back seat of the SUV when I hear a sound that makes my heart shatter into a million pieces.
“Everett!” Wynter screams in terror, and I’m moving long before I’ve even processed the sound.
27
Wynter
Considering we just divided our parents’ worldly possessions among ourselves, we’re all in a pretty good mood as we make our way to our respective cars. I didn’t say anything this morning when Everett and Storm were talking about it but knowing that everyone I care about is out in the open right now has wave after wave of nausea rolling over me.
I had hoped once we got here that it would settle, but the longer we’ve been exposed, the more anxious I’m feeling. The Russo family is ruthless, and Elijah Russo is the worst of them. He doesn’t get involved in a lot of the politics within the city, but he’s a stone-cold psycho, and he’s set his sights on us. On me.
Security stand around each of the cars and the moment Everett moves away from me I feel the loss immediately. I don’t know when, or how, it happened, but he’s quickly become my security blanket again, the only thing that can make me feel safe as we weather the storm the Russos are bringing down on us.
The door is opened for me and I thank the guard quietly as I take my seat, and the moment I do I hear a click as my weight settles. My stomach drops through the floor as tears spring to my eyes, horror washing through my entire body.
I’ve seen enough movies and read enough books to know what that sound is, and somehow the Russos have delivered their next move before we could even think of our own, before we could wade through our grief and come up with the best way to bring them down once and for all.
Before the meaning of that click can process, I call for Everett, needing him with me, needing him to tell me everything is going to be okay when we both know that’s the complete opposite of the truth.
Thomas, one of the security guards, looks at me with panic in his hazel eyes. If I remember correctly from when he’s guarded me in the past, he was in the marines before he signed on with my family, so he knows exactly what that sound was and his face reflects exactly what I’m feeling.
