Page 134 of My Brother's Best Friend

Allie playfully rolled her eyes at Imani.

Vera shrugged. “I’m not sure. They have mostly kept to themselves lately.”

Nicole wiggled her brows. “You think they’re hooking up?”

“Whatever it is”—I smirked at her—“Mama Rodriguez wasglowingearlier.”

“Ew,” Vera said, scrunching her nose.

A couple of moments later, Sakura bounced down the hall next to Mr. Avery, both grinning at each other. My lips curled into a smile, and I waved them over to us, desperately wanting to know the baby’s sex.

“So?” I said. “Don’t leave us waiting!”

Sakura gazed up at Mr. Avery, who tugged playfully on her ponytail. “It’s a girl.”

“Yes!” Nicole exclaimed, jumping up and throwing her hands into the air. “I knew it!”

“I am so excited!” Allie cheered.

“We’re already planning a baby shower for you,” Imani said.

Sakura blushed and buried her face into Mr. Avery’s arm, giggling. “You don’t have to.”

“Of course we do,” Vera said, cheeks rounding.

“How are you doing?” Sakura asked Vera. “Are they letting you leave?”

Vera nodded as Mr. Avery’s phone buzzed.

“I have to take this,” Mr. Avery said, stepping toward the side of the room.

After he began talking, Imani’s phone rang. She stared down at it quizzically, then lifted it to her ear. “What the hell do you want, João? I’m in the middle of celebrating Sakura’s gender reveal.”

Then, a moment later, my phone buzzed. Alec.

What the hell is going on? Why is everyone getting calls at the same time?

“Maddie,” Alec whispered over the phone, voice shaky, “where are you?”

“At the hospital. Why? Where are you?” I asked. Alec paused for a long moment, and then I heard someone, who sounded like Oliver, in the background. I furrowed my brow, wondering when they had returned to being best friends again. “Is that Oliver?”

Mr. Avery returned into the room and whispered something to Blaise, who tensed.

“Come with me,” Mr. Avery said, glancing around the room. “All of you. We have some cleaning up to do.”

I followed the girls toward the exit of the hospital.

“Alec?” I asked through the phone when he still hadn’t responded to me. “What is going on? Why is Mr Avery bringing us back to his place? What happened?”

“My mom is dead.”

CHAPTER82

ALEC

When Oliver had killed Mom, I hadn’t thought I’d be burying both of my parents at the same time.

I stared down at the two six-foot holes that my parents had been lowered into hours earlier. The rain had started pouring twenty minutes ago, but Maddie hadn’t left my side as she held an umbrella over my head.

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