Page 74 of One Filthy Kiss

I smile. ‘Fucking asshole’ is a politer term than the guy deserves.

“He followed them to New York. They were not safe there, so they’ve relocated to my mountain cabin.”

Her eyes meet mine. “Why didn’t you just get your security team to shoot the bastard? Or have him arrested? I don’t understand how he keeps getting away with actual murder.”

If only it were that simple.

“I tried. But we have to catch him first.”

She stands back up. “Look, it’s great that she’s in a log cabin in Vermont, but what happens if he follows her there too? Couldn’t you … I don’t know … pull some strings and get her a new identity? You can pull strings, right?”

I can tell by the way she narrows her eyes at me like she’s trying to hear the parts of the story I deliberately omitted, that sheunderstands more about me in five minutes than Meggie has figured out in the time we’ve spent together.

“A new identity won’t make him go away.”

“No, but it will make it harder for him to find them.”

“I’mmaking it harder for him to find them.”

She sucks in a deep breath, expanding her diaphragm and releasing it slowly. “They’ve been through a lot already. I don’t know how much Meggie has told you, but no seventeen-year-old should have to plan for the event of their mom’s murder.”

My jaw clenches the way it always does whenever I picture young Meggie gathering a bunch of baby stuff, settling her baby sister into her stroller, and walking away from the only life they knew. I think I’ve learned enough about Meggie to know that she would’ve kept right on smiling and singing lullabies so that Amber didn’t get scared.

“I promised to keep them safe, and I’m a man of my word.”

She slants her eyes slyly. “Keep them safe? Is that it?”

I smile. “I asked Meggie to marry me.”

Her eyes grow huge, and she lets out a sound somewhere between a sigh and a giggle. “You fucking what! She never told me this. Wait till I speak to her, boy is she going to get it. I’m her bestie. She’s supposed to tell me everything.”

Just like Meggie, she rambles when caught off-guard.

“Hang on.” She purses her lips, pensive. “She accepted, right?”

“Long story. She hasn’t said yes … yet.”

“Okay, so what are you doing here in LA?” She faces mesquarely, hands on hips. “Why aren’t you in Vermont with them?”

“There’s something I need to do first.”

“Something that’s more important than marrying my best friend?”

Meggie needs people like Nikki in her life, people to look out for her, and I know that I made the right decision by coming to LA.

“Believe me, nothing is more important to me than marrying your best friend. I want to spend the rest of my life with her. But I also want to make sure that when I catch up with the man who murdered her mom, he will not live to tell the tale.”

Her expression is unfathomable, wistful almost. She nods. “That’s what I like to hear. I hope you both remember who convinced her to go on that breakfast date. I want to be maid of honor at the wedding, and godmother to your first child. Godmother to all your children.”

“I will bear that in mind. I have a proposition for you.”

“Wait.” She blinks three times, slowly. “You can’t propose to two women at the same time you know.”

Ouch. That hurts.

But I remind myself that it’s a chance remark. A joke. If Meggie had told her about Lucia, she’d have slammed the door in my face when I arrived and then opened it again to yell at me. Loudly. Using every swear word she knows. She’d have probably thrown something very hard and very heavy at my head too.

“I’m not proposing marriage. How would you feel about an impromptu vacation in Vermont?”