Page 68 of The Final Deal

Glancing between the twins, I comment, “Y’all are so nonchalant about all this.”

Adrian shrugs. “Kris is a big girl makin’ her own decisions. What’re we gonna do, chain her up and keep her prisoner when she clearly doesn’t want to stay?”

My teeth sink into my bottom lip as I watch Shannon comfort his daughter. Dree’s right: we can’t fix what Kris doesn’t want to mend. But we can be there for Shannon and Andrea as they gain their footing without her.

Eventually, Shannon moves toward us. His cheeks are tear-stained, and Drea clings to him lifelessly, like she’s given up and has decided to nap on Daddy’s shoulder.

He clears his throat. “Think we’re gonna head out,” he says with a low and raspy voice.

Zak and Adrian both pat his shoulders reassuringly. I gently rub Andrea’s back. “We’ll figure it out. Home, botanica, band—we’ll get everything figured out.”

“I can’t do this without her,” Shannon says softly, like the life has been sucked out of his voice. “Any of this. The shit I did for the band… I did it all for her. If there’s no more Kris, there’s no more Timeless.”

My heart plummets. “Shan, you don’t mean that?—”

“Don’t you get it?” he snarls with fury burning in his eyes. “This is it. Timeless is done.”

Chapter 26

Heartfelt

–Novelists

Four coffees areout in the studio today instead of two guitars, a bass, and Adrian behind his kit. A platter of leftover pan dulce is already half empty, stress eaten by the four of us as tense silence stretches out in the studio.

“Fuck, dude,” Robbie sighs. He rubs a hand over his face. “I’m sorry, y’all. I couldn’t imagine dealing with that.”

“Between Shannon doing the single dad thing and us picking up the slack at the botanica, I think taking a long break is the right move,” Adrian says. “After the last album and all the bullshit we’re dealing with, we need a break. We’ve been nonstop since high school. I don’t think Darkline will have a problem with it, especially if we let them know we already have most of the next album already written.”

“I say we do it,” Robbie says.

Zak and I nod. “Yeah.”

“I could use a break with all the NYB BS.” I gesture toward my brother. “You definitely need time off with a baby on the way. We all need some time to handle things.”

A phone rings. Zak grabs his phone off the coffee table and answers. “Hola, Tia. Como estas? Si, uno momento.”

He leans over to press a kiss to my cheek and rises from the couch. He whistles at Dree and jerks his head toward the front door. They both head outside; guess Rosa has some urgent botanica business.

Robbie eyeballs me curiously. “So… Zak and Adrian, huh?”

“Oh, shut up.”

“I didn’t say anything! Not like it’s unexpected, anyway.”

“What do you mean?”

He shrugs. “Everyone knows you’re their princess. Not like I never saw the way they looked at you, either.”

My brow raises. “And you never beat them up for pining after your little sister?”

“Oh, no, I definitely gave them both the what-for. Both of ’em said they’d keep their hands off you, but then—” Robbie gestures toward the door, “—Zak asked you out. He was a good guy and I trusted him, so.”

I don’t miss his wording. “Was?”

“Yeah. Was a good guy until he killed you.”

“And now I’ve got his ring on my finger?”

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