Well played, Carlotta, Well played.
“Mom,” Evie wails. “What the heck are you doing here?” she hisses. “Don’t answer that. That’s my mom, everyone!” She starts to clap and the rest of the room follows suit.
I blink out at the white fog blinding me as I struggle to find a familiar face, but it seems everyone is lost in shadows and light.
“Um, I’m Lottie. Evie’s mom, Hot Baker,” I say that last part in less than a whisper, but the applause is still carrying on from the fact I’m Evie’s mother.
“Let’s hear it, Mom!” Evie calls out. “It can be short and sweet, just so long as it’s from the heart.”
“From the heart.” My hands rub over my belly as I lean into the microphone. From the heart… All those years I spent as Bear Fisher’s girlfriend come to mind, then the louse I almost married from my time in New York. Two cheaters. At the time that’s all I thought I would ever attract.
I clear my throat into the mic. “There was a time where love eluded me, where I wet my pillow with my tears, where loyalty was scarce and my fragile heart was fractured, broken glass under the heel of the shoe of the one I had entrusted it to. But then, I met two very special men.” I bite down on my lip as I look in their direction and I see them, Noah and Everett. “Hot Cop, Hot Judge, and all was right with the world again. Evie came into our lives, and no matter how complicated things were already, she made everything perfect. And now there’s this little sugar cookie,” I say, patting my belly. “Who knew perfection could grow? Life is complicated, but it can be perfect, too. Remember to always love deeply.” I give a little shrug as I step down from the stage and the room lights up with applause.
“Mom!” Evie pulls me into a tight embrace. “I’m, like, so proud of you.”
“I’m so proud of you. And I’m glad I didn’t miss it even though I didn’t have a clue about any of it.”
She shrugs. “It must be fate.”
“It must be.”
Noah and Everett show up and offer their congratulations to both Evie and me and we share a group hug for the ages.
Love.
It might be the month the world chooses to celebrate it, but with a family like my own, every moment is forever cherished, every month of the year.
Evie dots my cheek with a kiss. “I gotta run. I’ll be home early tonight. I promise.” She takes off and Noah nods my way.
“How’d it go with Bambi?”
“It was interesting, to say the least.” I blow out a breath. “I’ll tell you everything in the car.”
“Good,” Everett says. “I need to make a pit stop before we hit that chicken stand.”
Carlotta runs over with a giant bag in hand.
“Don’t worry, Lot Lot. I boxed up all the goodies to go.”
“Perfect,” I say. “Everett was just about to tell us where we’re headed to next.”
Carlotta juts her head forward. “Where to, Sexy?”
“Down the street to Red Satin.” His eyes land over mine and he doesn’t say another word.
He doesn’t have to. I have a feeling I know exactly what’s about to go down at that nefarious club, and it has very little to do with women prancing around with next to nothing on.
I might be eager to make sure Verity Prescott’s killer gets their just desserts, but I have a feeling someone just as nefarious is about to try to do the same with my handsome husband.
Over my dead body, I say.
Let’s just hope the Grim Reaper sides with me on this one.
Everett
I debated coming here alone tonight—keeping Lemon in the dark.
But since keeping things from her last December, when I was busy trying to surprise her with the plans for our new home almost cost me my marriage, I’ve thought better of it.
It’s probably best this way, with Lemon and Noah here to witness my demise. And well, let’s not forget Carlotta. I don’t see why she shouldn’t witness the carnage either. But unfortunately, or rather fortunately for the three of them, they’re going to have to witness it from afar. I want to hear what Jimmy has to say on my own. This talk is going down man-to-man.
Red Satin Gentlemen’s Club is cloistered with bodies, some of which are scantily dressed, the other of which are three sheets to the wind, and tonight, at this late hour, there doesn’t seem to be much of an in-between.
The walls, the carpet, and the stage that bleeds out into the center of the room, all share the nefarious hue that’s embedded in the name. The lighting is dim and it smells like sex and greasy food, a combination I’m no stranger to.
“Lottie?” Meg does a double take as she looks our way and she belts out a laugh. Her dark hair is in a knot, and she’s just about the only woman here who looks as if she could step outside of this establishment and not get arrested for public nudity. “Let me guess. You hauled your boys out for a peep show because you’re too tired to host your own?”
“Very funny.” Lemon ticks her head back a notch. “Everett is here for a meeting.”
Meg’s mouth opens wide with surprise. “As if life wasn’t bad enough already, Judge Baxter.”
“That’s right.” Carlotta slaps me on the back. “Not only is he staring down the prospect of playing catch the soap, but now he’s gotta crawl over broken glass while Jimmy arranges to have his kneecaps busted.”
Lemon gasps, and I shake my head her way.
“No one is busting my kneecaps.” I offer her the shallow assurance.
I’m pretty sure messing with the corpse of a crime boss’ niece warrants something a bit more theatric in nature, like slowly immersing me into a vat
