Escorting the Billionaire #3(37)

 

Things had changed irrevocably in my family after the allegations surrounding Danielle’s death were made public. No charges were ever brought against my father; there wasn’t enough evidence. My mother, however, had been arrested on a felony-murder charge. The prosecution’s theory was that she had hired someone to kill Danielle by running her off the road. But there wasn’t enough physical evidence for the grand jury assigned to her case to charge her, and she was set free after a preliminary hearing.

 

Still, she’d been briefly incarcerated, and the tabloids had gone crazy over the story. Her face had been plastered over all the gossip columns online. Her arrest had even been featured as a companion piece to the spread of Todd and Evie’s wedding in New England Brides Magazine. The Andersons wrote a novel, a thinly-veiled fictional account about what they believed happened to their daughter, that made all the bestseller lists. Celia Preston had been thoroughly and publicly humiliated. Even though it wasn’t the justice she deserved, it was still something.

 

She would deny her involvement until the day she died. I had made my peace with that. But I also made her donate two million dollars to Danielle’s scholarship fund and include a healthy bequest to the foundation in her will.

 

I never wanted to speak to her again, but Audrey convinced me to invite her to the wedding and to at least send pictures of the children on a regular basis. Just like I’d convinced her to invite her mother to the wedding and to regularly send pictures of the children.

 

“They’re our family,” I’d said, shrugging. “For better or for worse.”

 

“I liked it better when you said that they were dogs. And that we were walking them,” she’d said, but she’d sent the invitations anyway.

 

Audrey now walked down the beach carrying Bella, our two-year-old daughter. Next to her was Jenny, who was pregnant and glowing, holding her daughter Reese’s hand. Our three-year-old son, Rhodes, was running around with Cole and Jenny’s son, Kyle, both of them splashing in the water and screeching in delight. I had the new baby, Mia, strapped to me. As did Cole. Except his wasn’t a Mia—she was an Audrey, named after her aunt.

 

There were a lot of us to keep track of.

 

“Weren’t we all just here a while ago, single, drinking beer, and snorkeling?” Cole asked, looking at our crew. “Jesus, there are a lot of us now.” He looked baffled.

 

“I know,” I said. I looked at Audrey and smiled, wrapping my arm around her.

 

“You look happy,” she said and kissed me on the cheek. “I’m just pointing that out to you, babe.”

 

I beamed at her, the way I always did. “That’s what you’re here for, Mrs. Preston.”

 

 

 

Special Thanks

 

 

 

Thank you for reading this book! I truly hope you enjoyed it. It means so much to me that you took the time to read this story—I love James and Audrey. I’m rooting for them and I hope you are, too!

 

If you’ve enjoyed this book, would you consider leaving a quick review?

 

I also want to say thanks and send huge love to my mom, who always helps me and is an enormous source of support for my writing. I love you lots.

 

A special shout-out to Wendy Myler and Amy Warren, my first readers and two of the loveliest, most intelligent, most patient and forthcoming women in the whole world. I would also like to thank my friends at RD and D. Waganer, who is my proofreader and who is awesome.

 

And always, love and hugs to my husband and my three children. You guys make every day the best.