Page 60 of Like You Love Me

“Thank you. I just need to relax my mind and focus on something else.” She swallowed and said, “Where’s my cousin?”

“Rance is in the shower. He got in pretty late last night. He’ll be flying back out shortly to get to practice.”

“We missed you both at the ball last night,” Bianca told her.

“I’m sure you did. But I needed some quality time with my husband, so Aunt Jessica will just have to be mad at us.”

“I’m sure the generous donation you sent will make up for it.” There was a chuckle, and Bianca couldn’t resist a laugh of her own. The first laugh of the day, and she hoped it wasn’t her last. Shortly after, Rance came to the phone, and she listened to his words of love and support before she thanked them both and ended the call.

Bianca made another cup of tea and carried it into the family room, where she curled up on the sofa. The room was a little chilly, but she didn’t feel like making a fire. Instead, she reached for a Sherpa throw blanket and draped it over her legs. As Bianca sipped, she stared out the window and said a silent prayer for London.

London pushed the double doors open and stepped outside the building. A gush of cold air hit his face, and he took a deep breath. Nothing had ever quite felt so good. He pulled the collar up on his wool coat. Looking left and then right, he walked down the steps of the police station and around to the side of the building to the visitors’ parking lot. He spotted Jaden sitting behind the wheel of a classic 1967 candy-apple Ferrari he had restored. As soon as he spotted London, the vehicle purred to life. London reached for the door handle and quickly slid down onto the seat.

“You good?” Jaden asked, eyeing him curiously.

“About as good as can be expected.” London said and then added, “Let’s go.” The sooner he got away from the police department, the better. He leaned back, feeling nice and warm, courtesy of the seat warmer. He reached over, cranked up the music and closed his eyes. Hopefully, Jaden would get the hint that he did not feel like talking not after several hours of being interrogated by detectives.

Caleb had been found in a ditch on the side of the road after being struck. After the news media had reported his death, the video made its way to the police station, making him a suspect. They questioned him repeatedly, wanting to know what happened that night and where he had gone after leaving the bar. The sad thing was he didn’t have an alibi. At least no one could corroborate his story. Nobody. All he had done was drive and try to clear his head.

And it just happened to be at the same time Caleb was struck by a vehicle.

London opened his eyes, sat up tall on the seat and glanced over at Jaden long enough to say, “Thanks, bruh.”

“What the hell are you thanking me for?”

“Having my back and for your father sending that attorney over to see me. If it weren’t for him, I would probably already be locked in a cell somewhere.”

“Are they talking about charging you?”

London shook his head. “No. At least not yet.” He dragged a frustrated hand across his head. “I guess they don’t have enough evidence to book me. I did exactly what my attorney said to do, and that was to cooperate.”

“What about your vehicle? What did they say about the Hummer?”

He shrugged. “I don’t think they believe I hit a deer while out driving.” London had planned to call his insurance company on Monday and schedule to bring the vehicle to a body shop for an estimate of the damages. With all the excitement over the weekend, he didn’t even think to tell Bianca. “By now, they should have the vehicle towed since I gave permission. Hell, I don’t have anything to hide. I was nowhere near Caleb after I left that restaurant.”

“Well, at least Ryan can testify that he saw you leave,” Jaden said reassuringly.

“Sure, and so can a hundred other people. But the issue isn’t what they saw me do at the bar; it’s what happened after I left.” London blew out a long breath of frustration. “Bruh, I fucked up. I really fucked up.”

“What do you mean by that?”

London saw the way Jaden kept giving him a side-eye. Almost as if he expected him to confess.

“Bruh. Chill. No, I did not run my brother-in-law over.”

He saw Jaden’s shoulders sag with relief. “Oh shit! You scared me there for a minute.”

London released a chuckle that lacked humor. Maybe they could laugh about this later but not now. “What I mean is… I don’t know why I went to Spanky’s looking for him and let things get out of control that way. I was so pissed off after I found out he had hit my sister and stole money from my niece. Now I’m in this mess, and I’m not sure how I’m going to be able to get myself out of it.”

“Bruh, I know you didn’t have anything to do with his death. We all know that, and we got your back. You also have one of the best criminal attorneys in the tri-state area representing you.”

London nodded in gratitude and took a deep breath, releasing some of the tension in his body. “I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to thank your father.” He grinned. “Hell, I don’t know what I would do without all of you.”

“Hey, we gotta take care of you. Nobody else wants to deal with my sister but you.”

Jaden’s response caused London to bellow with laughter. Once he sobered, he asked. “How’s she doing?”

Jaden took his eyes briefly off the road to say, “She’s worried sick. But we’ve been taking turns checking on her. Brenna picked up Sierra from your sister’s and took her to school.” At the stoplight, Jaden’s gaze shifted again in his direction. “I let Bianca know I was on my way to pick you up, but have you called her?”

---