“Because…” I searched for a reason. “I don’t know. I haven’t really seen much of her lately. She’s been happy, and if I told her what Carol and Hank are trying, she’d be pissed. There’s nothing she can do, so I didn’t want to burden her with it.”
“Oh.” He straightened. “That’s really thoughtful of you.”
I shrugged. I was already lying about Cole. Lying by omission to Sia was nothing compared to that. “Don’t give me too much credit—”
“I can hear you.” Sia’s voice interrupted us.
She stood in the bedroom doorway, dressed in jeans and a sweater, her hair in a ponytail—looking ready to go for a casual lunch. She seemed refreshed, except for the look on her face and her arms crossed over her chest. She was pissed.
“I want to know what the hell happened last night.” She turned to focus specifically on me. “My girlfriend calls me up and tells me something was happening last night between you, my boyfriend, and an attorney. Then I find out Liam’s parents were there, too.” She softened her voice. “Are you okay? Did they say something to you? They weren’t supposed to be there. Alfred Mahler brought them as his guests, and he’s a high-powered attorney. Beth told me she was scared to tell him his guests couldn’t attend.”
“It was fine.”
Her nose wrinkled in disbelief.
“I mean it, Sia. They didn’t even say much. I didn’t keep this a secret on purpose. You’ve just been…” I swung my gaze to Jake. “Preoccupied.”
“Addison.” Her voice softened. “You can tell me anything at any time.”
“I know—”
“Just tell her!” Jake threw his hands in the air. “Sorry. I want her to know so we can talk.” He gave me a look. “So we can talk about the other thing.”
“The other thing?” Sia echoed him, confused.
The other thing was Cole. My insides twisted in a knot. I figured Jake had guessed that Cole was our landlord, but I didn’t relish the idea of having conversations about him.
“Yeah.” I took a breath. “The other thing.”
Sia looked back and forth between us before shaking her head again. “Okay, someone start. I’m dying to know what I’m missing. Missy mentioned there were two delicious-looking guys at the party, but she didn’t catch their names.” Her forehead wrinkled. “Wait. She told me one, but she didn’t know the other…” Her wheels were spinning, and then it hit her. Her eyes got big and wide. “Oh, holy shit. No way. You guys talked to Carter Reed?” She turned to Jake. “The Carter Reed, the mob guy?”
He nodded.
“So?! You guys have to tell me everything now.”
“Okay. Okay.” I held up a hand. “You need to sit down because I know you’re going to get worked up about the first part.”
“She might get worked up about the other part, too,” Jake mumbled, scanning his place. “You can’t throw anything, Si. Promise me that.”
“Huh?”
I ignored that and waited for Sia to sit. Once she did, I took another breath. “First, you have to promise me you won’t do anything.”
“Why would I do that?” She shot Jake a look too. “Why would I throw anything?”
“Sia, promise.”
“Okay. I promise.” She drew an invisible X over her heart. “You get my drift.”
One breath. Then I started. “My in-laws were there with Mahler because he’s representing them against me.”
She turned to look at Jake, but kept quiet.
“And Jake is representing me against them.”
“What’s the case?”
I kept going, not skipping a beat. “They’re suing me about the house, but it’s a bullshit case. They have nothing legal to stand on.”
“What?” Her mouth dropped.
I nodded. “They’re saying I don’t have the right to sell the house, that Liam bought it with their money.”
“Assholes!” Sia said. “What complete, utter assholes. Who do they think they are?” She jumped up and started pacing. Her hands were flying in the air. “And let me guess, next they’ll say you don’t get Liam’s inheritance? I bet they’ll try. I bet that’s why they started with this lawsuit. Don’t tell me—they had to see your bank statements?” She didn’t wait for an answer. Her head bobbed up and down. “I’m livid at them. I want to cast them out of every social event in the city. Wait.” She stopped in her tracks. “Can I do that? How connected are they?”