Total pages in book: 139
Estimated words: 128083 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 640(@200wpm)___ 512(@250wpm)___ 427(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128083 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 640(@200wpm)___ 512(@250wpm)___ 427(@300wpm)
He considered her, getting the first inkling that the difference he’d spotted in her seemed to be a modicum of that peace she’d just mentioned. And that was an interesting thing, considering she’d just had her ass kicked. His own fingers stretched, wanting to curl into fists at the thought of the jackass who’d done that to his mom. “The house is yours if you want it. I’d love that.” All the work he’d done, it made him even more glad now that he knew it’d been for her. He’d planned on giving her the money from the sale anyway, but picturing her here made him happy and felt surprisingly right.
She nodded and then picked at the hole at the knee of her jeans. “I watched the news. Not just the public execution of that Barclay woman. That was crazy enough. But I saw the story about what Cami Cortlandt went through too. I knew . . . all those years ago, but I was focused on you and what they tried to blame you for. I felt bitter toward her.”
“She didn’t deserve that.”
She looked up at him. She’d obviously heard the defensive tone of his voice. Her eyes softened. “I know that now. Bitterness, it destroys, doesn’t it? That’s part of what I was thinking about in that musty motel room.”
Bitterness destroys. Yes, yes it did. Bitterness and blame. It’d destroyed Glory Jacobson and then by extension her daughter, even if by a different route.
Then it’d destroyed the Cortlandt family as well. So much destruction. He thought of Josephine Kiss, too, but thoughts of her only made him smile. She was going to be all right. She was going to be just fine.
As the investigation unfolded, more was coming to light every day. Posey had been able to give the authorities AJ’s given name, a petty thief with substance abuse issues named Andrew Jones. Anton Kiss had had him taken care of once he’d come up for air a few days after he’d escaped from the Cortlandt crime scene. He was just another loose end, and Anton Kiss couldn’t afford loose ends.
Posey, however, knew where the bodies were buried, both literally and figuratively.
Authorities were planning on exhuming Jones’s body in order to extract the DNA and compare it to that taken from Cami’s sister’s body. Rex had seen the deep pain in Cami’s eyes when she heard the news, but he’d also seen the relief, and the peace that closure brought.
The police were attempting to find something substantive that would connect Felicia Barclay to the Kiss family, and more specifically the kidnapping of Cyrus, but so far, none had been forthcoming. They had Posey’s declaration, and Cami had recounted her conversation with Seraphina, but so far, no hard evidence had been found. Proof, perhaps, that Seraphina had been accurate in her belief that the woman would never face justice, at least not in this world. And so, Seraphina had taken matters into her own hands.
They’d watched her being led away from the crime scene in handcuffs, a small, serene smile on her face. And if Rex had to guess, he’d say that she’d live the rest of her life behind bars. And he’d also say it was exactly what she’d planned. And likely what she’d determined she deserved.
Both Rex and his mom had been quiet for a moment, each distracted by their own thoughts. But now, Rex’s mother looked back at the house again. “I’m going to do everything in my power to get over the bitterness I’ve been toting along with me most of my life,” she said. “I don’t expect it to be easy.”
Warmth spread throughout his chest. He loved this mess of a woman—fiercely. And he hoped to Christ she’d make things work this time. “Go with your gut,” he told her.
“Fuck no.” She laughed and slapped her knee. “I already promised myself I’d go against my gut. That’s only gotten me in hot water. Whatever my gut says from here on out, I’m doing the opposite.”
He laughed too. “For now.”
“For now,” she agreed with a wink. “Maybe not forever.”
She reached out and pushed at his shoulder. “So, speaking of Cami Cortlandt . . .”
He smiled, but even he could feel that it was laced with pain. God, he missed her already, and he wasn’t even gone. It was a sharp ache in his gut. “Her life is here with her son and her father and stepmom, and mine’s in Colorado,” he told his mother. It was going to take some time for Cami to process everything that had happened with Seraphina Arnoult and the Barclays, and also the truth about why and how her mother and sister had died. But she’d healed before, and he had faith she could do it again. She had Cyrus to keep her strong, and it was Cyrus who needed to be her focus now.