Page 30 of Seven of Hearts

Kylie found the swatch books and tucked them under her arm. “So, you’re still not telling me?”

I decided to play dumb. “Not telling you what?”

I knew exactly what she wanted to know—the identity of the baby’s father.

Kylie and I didn’t keep secrets from one another. It’s how we had managed to stay friends through the ever-evolving life changes we experienced in middle school, high school, college, our early twenties, and now our late twenties.

But now I was keeping the biggest secret.

“You didn’t hook up with some rich guy you met through the Lawsons who made you sign an NDA, did you?”

I laughed. “No, of course not.”

I was no stranger to NDAs. Working for the families I did required the utmost discretion. Gio’s parents were a little more relaxed, but Ellie was well protected from the digital internet mob. No pictures were posted. Not even a mention of who I worked for or what I did online or outside of people who knew the families.

I was an excellent secret keeper. Which was exactly why Kylie knew she wasn’t getting this secret out of me.

10

LOGAN

“Alright, folks. We made it to the end of the slide deck. Now, if you’ll turn your attention to...”

I tuned out Bryan’s spiel as he went over the change in the scope of his team’s project and what it would mean for the overall direction and end product.

Through the video call grid that made Bryan’s development team and the ladder of VPs and leadership look like the Brady Bunch, Will cut his eyes at me.

Shit. Was I actually muted or did they hear me groan when Bryan said ‘slide deck’ for the sixty-fifth time?

I glanced at the microphone icon and let out a sigh of relief that I had been muted.

Today was one of those days I wanted to grab the thumbtacks from the top drawer of my desk and stick them into my eyeballs.

“I think that about wraps it up. Any questions for Mr. Lancaster’s team?” Will asked.

It was so strange hearing Will call Kylie’s husband, “Mr. Lancaster.” I suppose it was just as weird hearing both him and me be called “Mr. Solomon.”

One by one, the grid squares on the video call feed darkened until it was only Will, Bryan, and me.

“You heading up?” Will asked.

“Yep,” Bryan said as he closed his notebook.

“Heading up?” I asked.

Bryan chuckled. “I’m at Will’s house. He’s upstairs. I’m in the basement. The office is where the Wi-Fi is.”

“Kristin and Kylie wanted to do a family dinner and game night,” Will said as he looked over his shoulder. “Sounds like Hunter just got here.”

“Is Zoey bringing the boy?” Bryan asked.

Will grinned. “I hope so. I want to interrogate the little fuck. I didn’t get a chance at the wedding.”

There was a sharp pang in my gut at hearing Will and Bryan talk about messing with my little sister’s boyfriend.

I had been in Chicago for a little under a year. I texted with my siblings and their significant others and talked to them on the phone. But I hadn’t truly missed them until now. I never understood homesickness because nothing had ever felt like home to me.

“Sounds like fun,” I clipped as I popped my headphones out and rubbed my temples.

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