Page 100 of Terms + Conditions
“I know I shouldn’t have said anything, but…I came looking for you when you weren’t here yet, and—”
“Thank you,” I say, halting her explanation. Elizabeth smiles, standing on her tiptoes to kiss me, and drags me down the hall to our awaiting doom.
Walking into the office, Brie is showing off a long sleeve lavender-colored sequin dress that looks like it won’t even cover her ass. There are multiple shopping bags at her feet from the shopping haul and I’m scared to see what else lies in those bags. Nina sits behind her desk and only seems half-interested in the display Brie has been putting on, meeting my stare from the doorway. I doubt she’s happy I was late, and even later now with my altercation with Mom.
“Where’s the rest of it?” I ask, motioning toward the dress. Nina raises a brow before she glances at Elizabeth.
“It’s a lot longer than it looks,” Brie defends, stuffing the dress back into the bag.
“Come along, Brie,” Mom says. “We best leave them to their business.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I told you, call me Grandma.”
Brie tries to hide her giggle. “Yes,Grandma.”
The corners of Brie’s lips pull back slightly when she passes by me, but she doesn’t say any more until they’re outside the office, and then they burst into a fit of giggles. The whole interaction makes me sick to my stomach thinking back to what Mom said in the hallway.
When their voices fade down the hall, Nina motions for me to close the door, and a new fire ignites in my nervous system.
Fuck, we are so fucked.
Being across from a disappointed Nina is almost worse than being across from a disappointed Ric. Being here reminds me of the day he called us to his office because he discovered the truth about our marriage. Ric was angry, rightfully so, I suppose. He had opened his home and his family, to me and my family. And weeks before we were supposed to walk down the aisle, he found out it was all a farce.
That was one of the hardest conversations I’ve ever had, but it almost feels worse letting Nina down.
Nina motions with her eyes for me to sit in the chair, but I lean over the back of it instead. I can’t sit, I’m too full of nerves.
Elizabeth doesn’t waste any more time, sitting in the other chair. “What is this about, Nin?”
“I want to have someone do some digging.”
What does that mean?
Nina looks between us before settling on Elizabeth. “We know next to nothing about this girl. For all we know, she could be some scam artist.”
“You can’t be serious,” I say, but her face doesn’t falter. “Nina, she’s not a scam artist. She’s a kid!”
“Who can easily be manipulated.” Her piercing gaze sets on me now. “When was the last time you saw this Juliet person?”
I’d like to say it hasn’t been fifteen years, but that isn’t the truth. While I may have “heard” from her, I haven’t seen her since I left her in the parking lot of that motel. I sigh, lookingdown at my folded hands over the edge of the chair. “I haven’t seen her since Daytona.”
“You’re part of this family, Josh,” Nina says. “And with that comes situations like this. When things like this happen, actions have to be taken. Whether you like it or not.”
There’s a knock at the door, and my stomach sinks. Who the fuck is that? Nina glances at the door and back at us. With a tight smile, she pushes from the desk to answer the door. It feels like five years as she walks around the desk, crossing the room. There’s a click of her heel against the floor with each step until she grips the handle and takes her sweet time swinging the door open. An older gentleman stands on the other side. He removes his hat briefly and nods toward her, stepping inside.
“Josh, Elizabeth, this is Ed Brown, private investigator,” Nina introduces us, and Ed tips his hat toward us. “He’s gonna help with your little…problem.”
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
NOW
“HAVE YOU SPOKEN TO her mom yet?” Nick takes a sip of his beer.
It’s been three days since we met Ed Brown in Nina’s office, and he has yet to turn up with any information. He’s a gruff man with a medium build and a bald head that he hides underneath a black fedora. His pressed three-piece suit looked tailor-made, with a Christmas tie and leather shoes. If you saw him on the side of the street, you wouldn’t think twice; he looked like your normal businessman, but something told me he was anything but. Ed told us it could take up to a week before he could provide us with any information, depending on how well Juliet covered her tracks. The way he said it made it sound like we were looking for some master criminal.
“I tried to call her the other night and then again last night,” I sigh. “But she didn’t answer.”
