Page 176 of Things We Burn

My stomach lurched again.

“Or…” Knox continued. “I take care of it. No one ever finds him. Nothing ever traces back here.”

I eyed him, taking in his demeanor. He didn’t seem shaken at the slightest by killing someone. I was plenty shaken, and it was taking my years of training to keep calm. That and the little being in the other room did not need her mother losing her shit.

“I can’t ask that of you,” I said, my voice raspy and thin.

“You’re not asking,” he replied. “I’m offering. Consider it a wedding present. And an apology. I’ve been keeping an eye on him, making sure he didn’t do anything like this. I got … distracted.” His eyes went faraway for a split second before refocusing on me. “He shouldn’t have ever made it inside this house. That’s on me.”

I shook my head. “That’s onhim.”

Knox’s lips were a thin line. He didn’t agree.

I sighed. I wasn’t going to convince him.

“We don’t need more attention,” I said finally, decision made. I was willfully deciding to break the law Acquiescing to be an accomplice to murder. I’d go to jail if this was ever discovered. Mabel would be without me. I was trusting Knoxwith not only my life but with Mabel’s. It should’ve scared me more, but I trusted him, implicitly.

He nodded once, head tilting to the sound of a motorcycle in the drive.

Mabel shrieked, knowing that sound.

The thump of Kane’s boots sounded as he bounded through the door. “Chef—”

He halted as soon as he could see into the kitchen. Horrified, his eyes went to me, to the body, to Mabel in her play center then finally to Knox.

“I’m taking care of it,” were Knox’s words.

And he did.

Our wedding present from Kane’s brother included body disposal and crime scene cleanup, apparently.

And that was our ending.

Kind of.

Epilogue

Just because thevillain was dead and the family was saved didn’t mean we got a happily ever after.

After murder in our kitchen, life went on.

It had to.

My restaurant opened to glowing reviews. Each night, every table was filled, the reviewers, food bloggers and ‘influencers’ raving about it. Kiera had come for the grand opening then stayed for a little while longer. Both to bask in the joy that Mabel was and to recharge herself. I could see that my friend was burning out. Her social media life had catapulted, so she featured in a constant stream of posts, events, videos. Though she pretended that this was all she’d ever wanted, I knew my friend, and she was fraying at the seams.

Not that she admitted that to me. Which wasn’t a surprise since I knew she was watching me for signs of unraveling. She didn’t know about the big secret, no one except Kane and Knox did, but she saw me, saw the results of it.

Which was part of my not so happy ending.

I had a thriving business, was back in the kitchen, was married to a man I loved, and most of all, I had an amazing, healthy baby girl and a family I’d reconnected with.

And I’d only just started recovering from postpartum anxiety when a former enemy came into our home, armed, and threatening to steal my baby. Brax had been ready to kill me before my brother-in-law shot him and dragged his body away somewhere it, presumably, would never be found.

A counterbalance to our happy ending.

It turned out that almost dying in front of your infant daughter, having the prospect of her being in the hands of a madman and seeing that madman die was pretty traumatic.

I knew in theory that I was dealing with heavy stuff. But I expected to be able to compartmentalize the event, to tuck it away somewhere deep, where it wouldn’t affect me.

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