Page 77 of Cause and Effect

“Yeah. And we won’t be mad if he spends the night again. We like having him around,” Sara spoke.

My heart ached.

“He won’t be spending the night again. He only did last night because it was too late for him to drive home.”

“But you slept in the same bed, which means he’s your lover.” Stella smiled.

Shit.

“Julian is not my lover. We’re friends. He only slept in my bed because—well, he has a bad back, and our couch would have aggravated it,” I lied through my teeth to my children. “But don’t ask him about his bad back. It’s a touchy subject with him.”

We arrived at the office. When we stepped out of the elevator, I saw Julian walking down the hall.

“Julian!” All three girls exclaimed, running up to him.

“Hey, girls. What are you doing here?”

“I don’t know.” Stella shrugged. “My mom said we had to come here for a while.”

“I have some work to finish before heading home,” I said.

My phone rang. Pulling it from my purse, the wordsUnknown Numberappeared. I quickly declined the call.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Laurel

“Girls, have Melinda take you to the kitchen for a snack. I have to talk to Morgan about something.”

“Was that from an unknown number again?” Julian asked.

“Yeah. I’ll talk to you later.” I gripped my purse strap and walked away.

When I entered my office, I saw a beautiful bouquet of roses sitting on my desk. My stomach sank. Looking around for a card, I didn’t see one.

“Hey, Melinda?” I said, walking into the kitchen. “When did those flowers arrive?”

“Right after you left to pick up the girls. Who are they from?” She smirked.

“I don’t know. There isn’t a card.”

I walked out of the kitchen and stepped inside Morgan’s office.

“Can you hack into the school’s cameras?” I asked.

“The girl’s school?”

“Yes.”

“Are you asking me or telling me?” A smirk crossed her lips.

“Telling you?” My brow arched.

“On it! What are we looking for?”

“A man has been hanging around the playground, and I want to see who it is.”

Morgan typed away on her keyboard and brought up a week’s worth of footage.

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