Page 95 of Set In Stone

“What about any legal trouble forHale?

“I’ve spoken with Thomas Green. The situation is sticky. He needs to look more into the statute of limitations, but even if it falls within, any investigation is going to be tough. As of right now, it’s basically just a story. There’s little to no evidence to support it. I suspect that it will be dismissed and the case will finally be closed after more than twenty years. Only time will tell. And, as a result, Mac Owens no longer has an article topublish.”

She sat up straight and turned to faceme.

“Really? No PR mess? How did you managethat?”

“I spoke to Owens, too. Off the record, of course. You can imagine his surprise when I called,” I smirked. “I gave him the truth, or at least a very loose variation of it. Once I did that, there were too many holes in Charlie’s interview. I suspect that Mac Owens will be back eventually once he looks into the info I gave him, but it is what it is. He knows that publishing Charlie’s version would be career suicide for him. Plus, there’s no proof or anyone to corroborateit.”

“Not evenSuzanne?”

“Justine assured me that she doesn’t know anything of real importance. The only thing she knows is that our name used to be Russo. I’m not too worried about itanymore.”

“What about Justine? How are things with you andher?”

I felt my jaw clench and had to force myself torelax.

“They’re okay,” I offered as aresponse.

“Okay? She makes me so angry,” Krystina spat out and her eyes flashed. “I’m not happy about what Hale did, but she knew that she was the one who killed your father for years and she never said a word. It was selfish andcowardly.”

I sighed, knowing that every word Krystina spoke was the truth. But, Justine was still my sister. And just like Hale, I could never turn my back on her completely. My relationship with her also needed time toheal.

“She did act selfish, but there’s no changing it. I suspect that things might never be the same between us again. I don’t know. Only time will tell. Hanging on to anger in the meantime won’t helpmatters.”

Krystina softened at my words and settled back into the crook of myarm.

“You’re right, Alex. It’s time to let go of the anger. All the hurt,” she murmured. “Considering the chaos of the past week, it now looks like everything is all tied up in a neat and tidybow.

While she had openly participated in the conversation and asked questions, she now seemed far away in thought. So far away. I worried that I wouldn’t be able to reach her. My gut knotted, knowing what she was thinking. She had been through so much because of me. I was afraid she was questioning whether or not it was all worthit.

“Not everything is all tied up neat and tidy,angel.”

She looked up at me, her eyes wide and full of so many emotions. Anger. Sadness. Confusion. And love. I still sawlove.

“What about us, Alex? Where do we go fromhere?”

36

krystina

My gaze heldsteady toAlexander’s.

“Where do we go from here?” he repeated. “Well, I was hoping that you’d still like to take that walk down theaisle.”

That fact that he would even question it astounded me. I was resolute in my decision to marry him, but I did think it was safe to assume that he would want to wait until the dust settled before we tied theknot.

“Alex, ofcour–.”

“Wait,” he said and help up a hand to silence me. “Before you say yes, I need you to listen. I love you so much that it hurts. But there are few things that are going to change. Things I didn’t plan for that I need you to be on board with. If you can’t be, I’llunderstand.”

My heart began to pound rapidly, wondering why he would think I wouldn’t support what he needed. I loved him irrevocably, without any sort of stipulations. Yet, it seemed as if he was going to give conditions to me. Apprehension crept into mybones.

“What is it?” I askedtentatively.

“I’ve made an appointment to see Dr. Tumblinagain.”

“Oh! Well, that’s a good thing,” I said, feeling shocked and relieved all at the same time. I thought therapy was completely off thetable.

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