Page 74 of His Pretty Little Lies
KINSLEY
Nix and I lie on the couch watching a crime documentary, pretending to be fully invested in it. We are not.
“He chopped up their body and fed it to the hogs,”the narrator says.
“That’s stupid.” Nix rolls her eyes. “You don’t need to chop them up. Work smarter, not harder.” I snort a laugh.
“How do you girls watch this shit?” Jax asks, sitting down at the end of the couch and putting my feet into his lap. What the hell is he doing? He said he was going to meet up with his brothers this afternoon after I’d told him Nix and I would be hanging out.
It’s a typical Wednesday, which means my mother-in-law has our baby boy till tomorrow. Wednesdays are grandparents' day in the Marino family. We often spend that night staying in the city. We still switch between our condo, or whatever you call this renovated warehouse, and the family home. The time is pretty evenly split now that Bowen is getting older.
“You don’t have to watch it,” I tell him.
“Yeah, I thought you had somewhere to be,” Nix adds. I'm sure she’s having the same thought I am. We’re on a timetable here, and Jax is going to throw us all the way off.
"I'm not watching it." Jax's hands rub up and down my calf. The man is obsessed with my legs. "I'm watching my wife." I'd tease him that he's already going to get lucky, so he doesn't need to lay it on so thick, but the reality is, this is who he is when it comes to me.
One would think with time that the need to be together all the time would temper down, but that's not the case. In fact, I think Jax is worse when it comes to his obsession with me. Not that I'm complaining, well, until right now.
“When you come back, will you stop at Nino’s Diner?” Nix asks. “We’re craving one of their meatball subs.”
“Are you hungry?” Jax directs his question at me.
“Not now; I think she means for later.”
“All right,” Jax says, putting my feet back down on the couch. “I’ll be back in a few hours. I need to go over some shit with Damon and Eros.” I nod.
Jax is a numbers man. That's about all I know because I am not a numbers person. He does a lot of the books for the family. He even has those fancy money-machine counters. He also still does field work. That's what I call it.
He comes to me, leaning down. “Be a good girl.” Jax presses his mouth to mine. I let out a happy sigh and kiss him back. We have been talking about baby number two. If we’re going to have a couple, I want them to be close together like all the other cousins are.
A throat clears. “I’m right here,” Nix says. “Everyone has someone these days. Bullshit.”
“Sorry,” I tell her. Nix is a romantic at heart, and I know she’s ready to fall in love. I’m not sure who will be able to handle her, though. She’s like her mother’s mini-me but on steroids.
“You be good, too.” Jax points at his sister. Nix sticks her tongue out at him.
We both sit in silence. Out of everyone, I’m the closest with Nix. That’s probably why Cosima and I get along so well, too. Their personalities just click with me, and I spend the most time with them. Not that we don’t hang with Mac and Naomi. I’m just not sure they would be down for our little plan. Mac would kill it before it began with her fancy computer work. That takes all the fun out of it.
Nix picks up her phone, checking the time. “It’s been five minutes.”
“Let’s go.” I jump up, grabbing my sweater, and put on my tennis shoes. Nix does the same. I grab one of my notebooks and my camera.
I’m still my nosy self, and Nix is just as hungry for information as I am. I started my own blog, writing stories whenever the mood struck me. After all the loose ends got tied up with the high school drug fiasco, I decided that I didn’t want to be front and center for that kind of action.
Luckily, my mom was able to get the information about the drug to the right people in order to help Trent out. He made a full recovery. The same can’t be said for the Bianco family. It’s one of the only times I didn’t ask for specific details.
I have always loved investigating things and writing. I think that is something I picked up from my mom. That’s really one of the only qualities of hers I have. We’re still not super close when I compare our relationship to the Marinos, but we’re closer than before. I’m good with that, honestly. I love how my life is turning out, and I wouldn't change anything. Everything happened the way it was supposed to, leading me to Jax.
I was content with doing my blog here and there until the other day, when Nix was being nosy scrolling Reddit, she came across a group where people bust their spouses cheating. It all happened so fast. One second, we’re reading horror stories, andthe next, Nix is volunteering us to watch one of the women’s husbands in the act.
I told her she was crazy, but she could tell I was curious, so here we are, about to be up to no good. That’s the only kind of good we’re going to be right now. Not when there are assholes out there to bust!
“We have to be quick.” It’s only a matter of time before Jax knows we left. These Marino men take our security very seriously. That’s why we needed to cover all our bases if we had any chance of sneaking off.
“Mac said she'd cover us.” We had asked her to. She pushed, wanting to know what we were up to, but Nix talked her into it in the end. It’s Nix’s superpower, I swear. Not many people are able or willing to tell her no. Her persistence is unmatched.
“She did, but these Marinos are insane. Jax probably LoJacked me in my sleep. I saw a movie where they did that. It was like a shot.” Nix laughs. “I’m not joking!”
