Page 55 of The Marriage Auction 2: Part 4

“What the fuck! Julianne and Giovanni are dead? Jade, Jade, did you hear that?” I slumped into the chair next to Naomi.Visions of Julianne’s bright red hair and big blue eyes flooded my mind.

“I need to go,” Jade’s voice was barely a whisper. “I need to get in touch with Alana now,” she said and hung up.

“Baby…” Naomi reached for my hands. “I’m so sorry. I knew Giovanni as an acquaintance in business, but we weren’t close. Were you close to Julianne?”

I shook my head. “Not really. I mean, she was in the auction, but more than anything, I’m worried about Alana. From what I understood, Julianne was her goddaughter and Giovanni her friend. She’d be devastated right now, and what’s worse is Jade hasn’t really talked to Alana in over a week. And the fact that Alana hasn’t been doing her check-ins. I mean, has she called you at all?”

Naomi shook her head. “I know she mentioned that calls and pop-ins were likely, but frankly with all that we had going on, I’d forgotten about it entirely. I’m so sorry. This is awful.”

“It is. I just can’t believe it. The story says it was an explosion.”

Naomi got up from her chair and slid into my lap sideways, her arms around my neck. She hugged me, and I held on to her for a solid few minutes, letting all the information we’d just received soak in as I tried to make sense of it all.

“I need to call some of the girls. Dakota, Faith, Ruby, or Savannah might have an idea of what’s going on. Plus, they’ll want to be there for Alana as she’s grieving. Shit, we should probably go to the funeral. Did the article say anything about a funeral?”

Naomi shook her head. “No, it didn’t, but these were really rich people. If they announced where the funeral was taking place, a bunch of whackos might try to attend, to find a way into the family.”

“Seriously?”

“Money brings out the weirdos, baby. I don’t know what to tell you.”

I kissed her pretty lips and then patted her thigh. She took the hint and got out of my lap. “Do you want a drink? I sure could use a drink after hearing all this.”

“Yeah, I’m thinking a beer and a shot.”

“Tequila or whiskey.”

“It’s definitely a whiskey moment.”

“You got it.” She bent toward me again and pecked my lips. “I’m really sorry to hear about your…um…coworker?” Her lips puckered. “No, that isn’t right. Your peer. I’ll send up a little prayer that they find peace at the foot of God.”

“I love you, Nay.”

“I love you, too. Now call yourgirlfriends.” She used a silly high-pitched voice when saying the word “girlfriends.”

“They are my friends that happen to be girls, not mygirlfriends. I mean, they are but… Ah, shit, you know what I mean. You’re twisting it up for the fun of it.”

“But you’re no longer frowning, so that means I win. Call your friends. I hope they have some answers about Alana too.”

I pulled up my contact list. I would have called Ruby first because I know her and Alana became really close, but the time difference in London would put them in bed right now. So I pulled up the next best person I could think of and dialed.

“If you think I’m dragging this ginormous body all the way to Georgia to attend your wedding to ‘God’s answer to beautiful women’, you’ve got a screw loose.”

“Hey, Dakota, how’s pregnant life?” I quipped.

“It fucking sucks. I can’t wear any of my clothes, I’ve taken to wearing my husband’s sweats and flannels.”

“You know, there is this thing called maternity clothes…”

“And waste money on clothes I’m never going to wear again? You’re outta your mind.” She huffed. “God, I wish they’d get out of me already.”

“How much longer do you have?” I asked.

“Next question!” she snapped.

I chuckled at her outburst. “All right, little mama, I’ll leave it be. Are you really not coming to the wedding?”

“Ugh, I’m not allowed,” she whined. “Sutton put the smack down because the doctor says it’s dangerous to travel in my third trimester. I planned on making that fancy wife of yours send a plane.”

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