of snow. “I thought you’d never ask.”
She and Carlotta take off, and it’s just Everett, Noah and me.
Everett collects the shovels and pitchfork. “I’ll hose these off and put them back.” He takes off, and Noah wraps his arms around me. His eyes hold a supernatural glow, and it makes this entire scene feel like a very bad dream.
“I’d do anything for you, Lot.” His voice is threadbare. “And this helps everybody in Vermont. Don’t forget that. We did it for the greater good.” He lands a brazen kiss right to my lips and pulls back slowly. “If anything goes wrong, I was the only one involved.”
Everett comes back and quickly puts his clothes back on in haste.
“No.” I shake my head at Noah. “I would never let it go down that way,” I say as Everett navigates me to the front and we move our cars back where they belong.
By the time we get in the house, all of Evie’s guests are gone, the house is dark, and both Pancake and Waffles are asleep on the ridge of the sofa.
Everett takes me by the hand and walks me straight to our bathroom. He runs a hot shower and peels off both his clothes and mine and pulls me in with him.
The steam rises around us as Everett lands those cobalt eyes over mine and he holds me for a very long while, no words, just the deep penetrating, heavy, heavy stare that says so much all on its own. It says what have we done? What have I done for you? Who are we? What have I become?
Everett takes a breath—first one it seems like in hours—and his hands ride over my back before he floats a hand over my belly and the idea of a smile crests his lips. In that moment, the questions in his eyes disappear. He has his answer.
Everett lands his mouth to mine and gives a careful kiss that quickly burns as bright as the sun, just as hot and dangerous.
Everything about me is dangerous these days.
It begs the questions what kind of a wife am I? What kind of a mother?
My downfall feels as inevitable as gravity.
The only real question left is who will I take down with me?
The Hearst curse has nothing on me and my bad luck. I should cut and run—spare both Noah and Everett the horror of prison—the humiliation of losing their careers forever. And poor Evie…
What have I done?
What have I pulled us into?
When will this all finally come crashing down around us?
And it will.
Cosmic justice demands it.
Chapter 9
The Ashford County Courthouse is quickly becoming the bane of my existence.
The irony in that being it’s the very nexus of what Everett loves, or at least in part.
Everett and I clear security and head in the general direction of his courtroom. He came in a little later than usual so I wouldn’t have to sit around for hours waiting for the trial to start. He usually likes to pour over his cases, and any briefings he may have, but he did it all remotely from home this morning. He says he plans on doing a lot of that once he gets back to work after the baby is born.
Both Noah and Everett have told me they plan on taking paternal time off regardless of whose baby it turns out to be. When I think back to last June, a part of me wants to cry despite the fact it’s sponsored what will be one of the greatest joys in my life.
Back in June, I had just told Noah that I was going to give Everett and me another shot—upon his insistence, but it was ultimately my decision. Let’s just say Noah and I shared a rather heated goodbye.
And well, Everett and I shared a rather heated hello all within a very short span of time. And now, in just a little over two months, I’ll be a mother. As excited as I am to finally meet my little sugar cookie, I’m terrified of what the outcome of those paternal results will do to one of those men. Both Noah and Everett already love this child so much. They have spent nights reading children’s books right to my belly. They’re emotionally invested, and the last thing I want to do is emotionally devastate one of them.
Everett pulls me to the side and takes up both my hands in his. His dark coat makes his eyes sing an electric blue, and