Page 64 of Knotting Hill
Seeing the house loom into view, I hasten my pace, cursing when my phone rings. I pull it out of my pocket and see it’s my dad.
“What’s up?” I ask, answering it quickly.
“Just wanted to check in. How’re things going with the omega?”
“It’s not,” I say with a sigh. “I’m on my way to fix it.”
“Anything I can do to help?”
I snort. “Sorry, Dad, but fathers are somewhat responsible for her doing a runner last night. I’ve got this. Stayed tuned.”
“Fair enough,” he says. “Just thought I’d offer.”
“I know. Thanks.”
We hang up, and I’m so glad my dad isn’t like JP’s. Christopher has always been nice to me, insofar as beingniceis to him. But I had a feeling this was going to come back and bite us on the arse in a big way.
Drawing in a deep breath, I walk up the path and press the buzzer.
Moments pass.
I hear the intercom click on. “Hello?”
“Gloria, it’s Josh St. Luc. I know it’s early. Could I possibly…”
I don’t even get to finish my sentence when the door is flung open, and Gloria is there, beckoning me inside.
“Oh, thank God,” she says. “Is Russell’s dad okay?”
“He’s going to be fine.”
“Good. Now sit. I need to set you boys up with Storm. I know she has her reservations, but…”
“Wait,” I say. “Storm is seriously pissed off with us right now. Christopher St. Luc stuck his oar in, and now she thinks we were only after her to get JP’s final trust when he turns thirty.”
“And why would she think that?” she asks, her shrewd eyes narrowed with something akin to anger.
“Because Christopher made her think that. It’s not true. This all came upafterwe decided we wanted to be with her. But JP delayed in telling her and got stung. Badly. And all of us in the process.”
“Yes, I can see that this especially would rile Storm up like nothing else. She is very peculiar when it comes to money.”
“Peculiar, how?” I’m intrigued.
Exasperated, she says, “She is obsessed with making it on her own. She won’t even take a safety net from her father and me. I worry about her. And then, of course, she fell in with the Robbs, and we all know they’re drowning in debt…” She takes in a deepbreath and plasters a smile on her face. “Never mind that. How can I help?”
“Give me ammo. As much as you can, that will fix this. You know we are right for her.”
“I do. Okay, here’s what you need to do.”
I listen intently to her plan, my eyebrows going up as she lays it out play-by-play. She’s really thought about this. Or, probably, she knows Storm that well, she doesn’t need to think. That’s how well I want to know her.
An hour later, I’m on my way back home, armed with our last shot. If this doesn’t work, we are fucked. Well and truly fucked, because there is nothing left in the tank.
All we can do now is go over there and do what Gloria has instructed and hope to fuck Storm sees the truth and lets us in.
Once and for all.
Forty
