Page 92 of The Best of Us

Me: What part of “no questions asked” do you not understand?

Enzo: Since when have I listened to you?

Alessandro: Never. He never listens, you know that.

Me: I just need everyone here. Mom. Dad. All of you. Izzy and Hudson.

Enzo: Shit, are YOU going to die?

Me: No one is dying. I’m sending the jet for you both Monday morning.

Alessandro: Callie’s due date is soon, so she can’t come with me, and I won’t leave her for more than a day. But if you need me, I’ll be there.

Me: I do.

Enzo: Send the big jet. The twins are old enough to fly now. I’ll bring the whole family. Sure Mom and Dad would love to see their grandkids. The restaurant is closed on Mondays anyway.

Grandkids. Yeah, they were about to meet one more.

Me: Thank you.

I closed out the group text and opened up my favorites to call Hudson. I’d been so sidetracked by the Carter-and-Rebecca news and Juliette’s drinking (and mine and our handshake deal) that I nearly forgot there was a case he and my sister were working on my behalf.

“Hey, how’s it going?” Hudson answered on the third ring, sounding out of breath.

Please tell me I didn’t interrupt something.“You good?”

He cleared his throat. “Yup.”

Liar.“You need me to call you back?”

“No, no, I’m fine.” Another lie.

“Hey, it’s me, Izzy,” my sister joined in. “We’re on speaker.”

“Thanks for the clarification that voice belongs to you. For a minute, I was worried I’d have to kill Hudson because someone other than his wife was in bed with him.”

“How’d you know we were in bed?” she responded in an amused tone. “It’s not even dinnertime yet.”

“Unlucky guess.” I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my thighs. “Anyway. You have news? I know you haven’t reached out after I texted you everything Colin told me, but just tell me you have something, and you’re not?—”

“Not rolling around in bed mid-afternoon when we’re supposed to be on the clock?”

“Bella.” Hudson wrapped an entire lecture in her name alone. “Forgive my wife.”

“Out of curiosity, how much did you have to drink before this call?” How the hell did Izzy know that?

“Well, how many would be too many if you were in my shoes?”

“I’d be drunk as fuck.” Hudson with the truth, and Izzy’s silence was her dodging it with a lie, knowing damn well she’d handle anything and everything the polar opposite of me.

“Are you okay?” Izzy’s one simple question was all it took for me to slip out of sated and happy and into fucked in the head.

“Considering Juliette’s brother works with Carter Dominick at The Sapphire Hotel, and Juliette and Colin were at Rebecca Dominick’s wake when I was there in 2019, and I briefly met my son there and didn’t know who he was . . .” I stood and dragged my hand through my hair, angry all over again that I was robbed of time with my son. If only I’d stuck around the wake a few minutes longer, I might have bumped into Juliette.

If. Fucking. Only.

“I’m sorry,” Izzy said softly, “but . . .what?”

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