Page 82 of Ransom

"Can I see?" Maggie asks softly. I hand her the phone, and she smiles, looking down at it.

"That's the only picture I have that everyone's in. Everyone was all over the place at Christmas. And the kids… hell, the adults were on sugar highs, so pinning them down was tough."

"Where was this taken?"

"My penthouse."

"What's a penthouse?" Max asks, snatching the phone back, staring down at it.

"It's like a big house, but on the top of a building."

"Does it have grass?" he asks me, frowning.

"No, we don't have grass. But we do have a pool on the roof."

"Cool! Could the wind pick you up and throw you out of the pool?"

I can actually feel my eyes bulging out of my head. "Ah… no. That doesn't happen."

"Huh," he mutters, handing the phone back to his mom, sliding off my lap and wandering to the fridge. He pulls it open, grabs a yogurt, takes the spoon he used at supper off the table, then goes to the living room. "I'm gonna watch my shows."

Maggie and I trade a look when the music of a popular survival show comes on. She just rolls her eyes. "I give up. If he's gotta watch those shows, I'd rather that one than the housewives."

"Good call." Not that I actually know what housewives she's talking about.

Maggie's gaze falls to my phone in her hand. It vibrates like it's been doing on and off all evening, and her eyes widen. She drops her head in her hand with a choked laugh and hands the phone to me.

My family text thread is blowing up.

I glance down at my phone, and groan.

NICK: Which of you fuckers ate my pizza? I'm going to come down there and shove a shoe up your ass.

COLTON: Where did you leave it?

NICK: What do you mean where? In my fucking kitchen.

MAVERICK: Which kitchen?

NICK: My kitchen for fuck's sake.

COLTON: So touchy. It's a reasonable question. We have many kitchens. It could be in mine, or in Jonas's or?—

JONAS: I saw a concerning report about pizza-related food poisoning on Channel 7.

COLTON: Nick's.

KADE: Not helping, Jonas.

COLTON: or Kade's.

JONAS: Did you know 1 in 6 Americans get food poisoning annually?

MICAH: Remember France? Those snails?

COLTON: Oh god, don't remind me.

NICK: CAN WE FOCUS ON MY PIZZA?

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