Page 79 of Best Laid Plans

My phone beeped, and I saw it was my mother. She was still on the warpath about Bailey and me breaking up.

Mama: I need you to make dinner this evening. Tyler will be proposing to Alma.

Poor fucking man, I thought, to be married to a woman like Alma when he was in love with someone else. My story wasn't so different. I'd tried to make it work with Bailey because it would be easier from a societal perspective. Well, not when she was fuckin' Pete and was going to be charged with embezzlement, I thought smugly.

I tried to analyze how I'd gotten here, to this place where I was alone, not that I didn't deserve to be. Why had it been easier to believe Pete over Nova? It was simple. I'd known him all my life and I trusted him. I'd known Bailey for just as long.

Nova had been an unknown, and even though I'd fallen in love with her, I didn't trust her. In my world, trust was earned over the years, built brick by brick through shared experiences and proven loyalty. Nova hadn't had the time to lay those foundations. Her sudden entry into my life had been a whirlwind, and I'd let my guard down too quickly, something I never did.

I sighed, rubbing my temples as I replayed the events in my mind. Maybe it was my upbringing, the ingrained belief that people had to prove themselves to me. Pete had been my friend since childhood; we had a history, a bond forged through nearly a lifetime of camaraderie and mutual respect. Nova, on the other hand, was a wildcard. She represented change and the unfamiliar, and I'd always been wary of both.

But now, in the quiet of this moment, I began to see my mistakes. Trust wasn't about the length of time I'd known someone but about their actions and integrity. Nova had shown me nothing but honesty and vulnerability, yet I'd allowed my doubts and fears to cloud my judgment.

Had I let my insecurities and need for control dictate my actions? The answer was painfully clear now. I had been too afraid to trust someone new in my life, too scared to open my heart completely. That had resulted in Nova getting hurt repeatedly. Now, I hoped it wasn't too late to make things right, for both Nova and me.

Chapter 30

Nova

Iwent to work and pretended like nothing happened. I couldn't just sit at home and brood because that wasn't healthy for anyone, especially me, who was a world-class brooder.

I asked Nina about the Larue Homes project's status when I met her in the office breakroom. She told me it was on hold, and legal was looking into it. This was a big project for Savannah Lace, and I didn't want us to lose it.

"Put someone else on it," I told Nina as I made myself a cup of coffee in the kitchen. "That's a lot of business for us and it's an important project that'll put us on the map."

"He had you arrested," Nina exclaimed.

She wasn't very excitable as a person. Usually, she was calm and controlled, even when the shit hit the fan. But this had really wounded her. That her brother's friend had so relentlessly gone after me and set me up to take the fall for something was untenable to her.

"We don't know what happened," I told her, asking her to give Larue Homes the benefit of the doubt, though Anson was getting none from me.

"Well, he asked for a week before I made a decision," Nina added some cream to her coffee and stirred. "How are you holdin' up? I thought you were told to stay home?"

"If I stay home, I'll go out of my mind." I drank some coffee. "And there's a whole lot of work to get through."

Nina narrowed her eyes. "You're avoiding dealing with what happened."

"Yeah," I said easily, "I certainly am. I don't want to think about it right now."

"Why?"

"Because," I smiled wanly, "I don't have the energy for it."

Nina put a hand on my shoulder. "You're the toughest bitch I know, Nova King, you remember that."

"High praise coming from you."

She chuckled. "It takes one to know one—and from one tough bitch to another, you're not a young girl in Sentinel with no resources any longer. You have everyone at work. You have Noah, Gabe, and even Dom would have been at the station, but he was out of town. Trev made one call to Beau, and he rallied everyone. That's your village, your support system. You can't fail with so many people ready to catch you if you fall. You understand?"

My eyes filled with tears of gratitude. I was still in awe of how there were so many people waiting for me at the police station. I still hadn't digested the fact that Beau knew the truth and accepted me—no questions asked. I had an inheritance of a few million dollars. A few million dollars!

Usually, with bastard children, the legal heirs fought not to give them anything—with Trevor and Beau, it was the other way around.

I was still worried about how it would all go down with Donna Bodine, but Beau had told me that she was a grown-up and she'd just have to deal. Seeing Beau's reaction, both Trevor and I felt enormously guilty for keeping the truth from him—and Katya gleefully chanted, "I told you so. I told you so." That was one winner who didn't know how to be graceful in victory.

"Thanks, Nina," I murmured.

She smiled at me. "We tough bitches need to take care of one another."

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