“I appreciate that. Thank you, Mr. Moretti.”
“Please. Call me Nico.” His perfect teeth flashed in a moonlight, little fucking stars in his eyes.
Ah Nico, so smooth. He was butter and cream all wrapped up in a sparkly, pretty Italian package.
“Okay, Nico.” Officer Denver was looking at our friend with stars in his eyes and I made the mistake of glancing at Quinn, then at Alex, then finally at Drew.
Quinn, arms crossed, rolled his eyes.
Alex, his hands stuffed in his pockets, watched the scene unfold with a whisper of a sardonic smile.
Whereas Drew and I shared a furtive smirk.
I admit, the first time I’d met Nico, I was a little starstruck, too. On TV he was so funny. And in person he was just so friggin’ nice.
I’d moved past the starstruck stage after a year or so. Now he was just Nico, funny guy, good guy, great cook. Mostly, I was glad to know him.
But right now? Right this minute?
Thank God for freaking Nico.
“What are you doing here? Do you live here?” One of the other police officers asked while the security guards pressed forward, each handing him something to sign while they took turns snapping pictures.
Caleb glanced at his Rolex, gritting his teeth, then crossed his arms. His eyes darted beyond my shoulder, presumably to Kat, and narrowed into threatening slits. So I stepped in his line of sight, sending him a few eyeball threats of my own.
“Actually,” Nico addressed this to Officer Denver, “Kathleen—Kat—is a friend of mine.”
“She is?”
Caleb sighed, loudly.
“Yep. We’ve known each other for a long time, one of my best friends. And how about this?” Nico glanced at Caleb meaningfully, then back to Officer Denver. “I’ll vouch for her, give you some time to figure things out with the judge. In fact, I’ll give you my phone number and you can reach out if you need anything.”
All the officers were nodding before Nico had finished, with Officer Denver giving Nico a grateful smile. “Yeah. Yes. That’s fine.”
Caleb continued watching us all with his weasel eyes while Nico gave the officers his number, then turned a big grin to the nearest of the black suit gang, offering a handshake and a joke. The joke had everyone nearby laughing, including Quinn.
Or maybe Quinn was laughing at Caleb, like I was.
A few minutes later, the officers were gone, leaving Caleb’s private security to fanboy over Nico. I was struck by the sudden urge to dust off my shoulders with the back of my fingers, disaster averted, problem solved.
I was about to turn back to Kat, suggest we head inside, maybe take Wally for a walk, when Caleb abruptly darted forward, making a reckless beeline for his cousin. I moved to intercept, but Drew got there before I did, interrupting the man’s trajectory and staring him down with a glare of Viking-level frost and ice.
“Back off,” Drew rumbled, taking a threatening step forward. Steven was also there, at Drew’s shoulder, trying to look intimidating.
Caleb ignored them, leaning to the side to snipe at Kat, “You’re staying here?”
“I have nothing to say to you.” Her voice was devoid of emotion.
“Are you sure about that? While you were off getting married to Sinn Féin over here,” he gestured to me as I came to her side, “your father had a stroke, and was admitted to the hospital.”
Kat stiffened. “What are you talking about?”
“Zachariah is in the ICU,” he spat, giving Kat a mocking glare. “He was admitted three weeks ago.”
“ICU? Three weeks . . . ?” Kat’s gaze dropped and I could see she was trying to process this news.
“Marks didn’t tell you?” Caleb’s mouth twisted into a smug smirk and he took a step away, looking satisfied by her bewilderment and his point scored.
Her gaze cut back to his, but she said nothing.
“He didn’t tell you . . .” He seemed surprised. “Of course. Don’t you see? He’s been making all the decisions, keeping the old man on life support for three weeks, so he won’t die, so you won’t inherit. Marks has been pulling your strings for years, he’s pulling everyone’s strings. You’re his puppet. You think he’s going to like your new thug of a husband? Hmm?”
Ashley came to stand in front of Kat, blocking Caleb from view and slipping her arm around Kat’s waist. “Come on, baby. Come with me. We’ll call, check on your daddy.”
Meanwhile, Sandra placed a staying hand on my arm, giving me a little headshake and mouthed, He’s not worth it.
She then inserted herself between me and Kat, wrapping her arm around her from the other side. “Yes. Let’s make tea and check on your father. Now that you’ve crushed this little man’s evil hopes and dreams, I imagine he has a hairless cat to stroke and a monologue to prepare.”