Page 117 of Smith

“No, it can’t. I know I messed up and I know you’re going to be pissed at me and probably not want me to come over but I need to tell you. It’s killing me.”

“Ivy—”

“It was me,” she blurted out. “I was the one who accidently told Aria about…her. I didn’t know Zane was on the phone with Aria when I said her name. That doesn’t make it right, me not knowing, but I didn’t do it on purpose. But, it was me.”

Her.

I closed my eyes, lifted my free hand to the back of my neck, and squeezed, trying to release some tension.

I didn’t know if it mattered knowing who told Aria about Valerie. On one hand it was good to know one of my brothers hadn’t gone behind my back and betrayed me. On the other hand, if someone hadn’t told Aria, I wasn’t sure how long we’d be sitting on that ticking time bomb. Aria finding out and confronting me meant there were no secrets between us. Aria knowing meant I was free to move on.

“I’m not pissed.”

“You’re not?”

“No, Ivy, you did me a favor. I wasn’t strong enough to tell her myself.”

“Still, I’m sorry.”

“Nothing for you to be sorry for.”

My phone beeped with another call. I pulled my phone from my ear, saw the caller’s name and sighed.

“Your husband’s calling me. What time will you be over today?”

“Lunch time. Text me what you want us to bring.”

Nothing. The thought of food made my stomach churn.

“Will do.”

I clicked over and braced for Zane.

“Yo,” I greeted as I made my way to the kitchen.

It was forty-two steps from my bedroom to the kitchen. Each one of the steps felt like a mile. The separation from Aria, even when she was sleeping, made my chest ache.

“Cleanup crew is finished at Aria’s.”

Right. Good to know the crew Zane had hired to clean Aria’s blood off the floors and walls didn’t fuck around. But she wasn’t going back there.

“And the window?”

“I called that guy, Philip. Jonas met him at Aria’s and they boarded the window. Philip said it would take a few days to get the window in, then he’d be back to replace it.”

Again, good to know her house would be secure. But she still wasn’t going back there.

“And the Grasonville house?”

“Ran that by Philip, too. He’s meeting Theo and Cash there tomorrow. Linc ordered a Dumpster, it’ll be delivered tomorrow. After they meet with Philip, Theo and Cash will clean up the mess we made.”

Aria was going to flip her shit when she found out all the drywall upstairs had been torn down. Another tin box of pictures was found. At this point, the evidence was moot; Billy Rice was dead, but the police still had jobs to do.

“Thanks again for arranging Blackburn to come to the house.”

A perk of working for Zane Lewis—the police didn’t question or bitch at you for taking the victim and witness from the scene of the crime. They also made house calls and sent a sweet, older female detective who handled Aria with care.

“Seems those hefty donations to FOP are paying off.”

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