Page 82 of In Spades

The three of us looked over and saw Hannah Jane and Maddie standing a few feet away. Maddie crossed her arms. Her usually bright disposition was stone-cold serious. “What the hell is going on? Do y’all know each other?”

Fuck.

I scratched the back of my neck. “Kind of.”

Hannah Jane put her hands on her hips. She looked lethal in those high heels. “Well, I don’t have all night. Are we telling Kristin we killed her boyfriend before or after we dump the body?”

Boyfriend. Disposing of bodies. I had so many questions.

“I mean, I listen to a lot of true crime podcasts while I’m decorating wedding cakes. They’ll never find his body,” Maddie said.

Hannah Jane pointed at Isaac. “That’s the face Isaac makes when he wants to kill people.” There was a vein about to burst in his neck.

“Let’s just take a step back before y’all start committing crimes. Okay?” I craned my head around and caught a glimpse of Chase and Kristin deep in conversion. Luna was at her feet. I didn’t want her to overhear what I was about to say. “Okay, yeah—technically, I’m the one who bought the Taylor Creek Inn.”

Hannah gasped.

Before she could interject, I raised my hand to stave her off. “I’m not running it. It’s just an investment. But after my accountants got their hands on the books, they found some discrepancies.”

Hannah nodded slowly as if the puzzle pieces in her mind were clicking together. “So, that’s why I saw you talking to all the employees while you were staying there.”

Luca cocked his fist. “If you’re using Kris?—”

“I’m not!” I interjected. “Okay, maybe at first I started talking to her to see what I could find out about the inn. But it’s not like that now. I care about her.”

Isaac scoffed. “Yeah, you care about her, so you’re lying to her face?”

I cut my eyes to Isaac. “You and I have discussed this.”

Hannah looked at her boyfriend. “You knew all this time, didn’t you?”

Isaac sighed. “It’s complicated, Princess. I told you there were details I couldn’t talk about.” He glared at me. “But I didn’t know he was the Will who’s dating Kristin.”

I knew the longer we were out here, the antsier Kristin would get inside. I didn’t want to risk her walking in on a conversation that I wasn’t ready to have with her yet.

I knew she’d be mad, but our relationship was still on rocky ground. One wrong step, and I’d lose her. And I couldn't lose her.

“I’m going to talk to Kristin about everything. I promise I won’t hurt her, but I need a little discretion from all y’all.” I looked at Hannah Jane. “That means no one else at the inn can find out. I don’t want anyone giving Kris a hard time.”

“Yeah,” Hannah muttered. “Rich has it out for her as it is.”

I looked at the rest of them. “Are we good?”

Maddie and Luca looked at each other.

“Tell her,” Maddie urged. “Sooner rather than later. She’s been through enough as it is. Don’t give her a reason not to trust you.” She looked at Hannah Jane and Isaac. “But… We can keep it quiet and give you some time to get your ducks in a row.”

After the showdown outside with Isaac, Luca, and their women, poker night was pretty damn fun. I was kind of disappointed that they stuck with Texas Hold ‘Em. I’d clean house if they switched to blackjack. Counting cards was a specialty of mine.

Still, it was fun to crowd around a table and shit-talk each other like old friends. After getting a bite and a beer at Jokers, I learned that you were only a stranger around the poker club the first time. After that, you were family.

We only played a few rounds before calling it a night. Like Kristin said, it was more about hanging out than placing bets. Kristin and I said our goodbyes and then headed to Havelock in my truck.

“Did you have a good time?” I asked as I reached across the console and grabbed her hand, sliding her fingers between mine.

“Mhmm.” Kristin’s phone was in her free hand, and she was rapidly firing off text messages.

I chuckled as I looked back at the road. “Let me guess—you’re telling the kids to make sure everything’s clean, right?”

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