Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
Laurel
I was in the kitchen helping Morgan prep the salad.
“So, what took you and Julian so long to get back? Did you stop at his house first?” Morgan smirked.
“How did you know?” I asked.
“I can tell.” She smiled. “I thought you weren’t letting it happen again.”
“I know. I know. But?—”
“You don’t need to explain. I get it. Once you’ve had a Hamilton man, there’s no going back,” she said. “They’re like a drug, and you’re the addict.”
“Ain’t that the truth.” I sighed. “I need your help with something regarding the Bennett case.”
“Anything. What do you need?”
“This has to stay between us for now,” I said. “The guys can’t know.”
“Don’t worry. I can keep a secret like nobody’s business.”
“I need you to do a deep scrub into Georgina. Her phone records, charge cards, recent locations, bank records, anything and everything you can find on her.”
“Why?” Morgan’s brows furrowed.
“Because she’s lying. I think she hired that woman to kill her husband. She’s good. She even had me fooled at the beginning, and believe me, that’s hard to do.”
“Did you mention this to Julian?”
“I did, and he’s not buying it. It would be one thing if she confessed and we represented her to get her the best deal. But if she did put that woman up to killing Derek, she lied to us about it and expects us to get her off.”
“I’ll look into her further tomorrow morning.”
“Thanks, Morgan.” I smiled.
The front door opened, and we heard voices.
“Hello. Hello.” All three of the boy’s moms walked in.
“Laurel, it’s wonderful to see you again, darling,” Calista hugged me.
“You look lovely, dear.” Katherine hugged me.
“We didn’t get a chance to meet at Calista’s party. I’m Pippa.” She smiled.
“It’s nice to meet you, Pippa.”
“Where is our granddaughter?” Calista asked.
“She’s outside with the guys,” Morgan said.
I couldn’t help but smile as I turned and glanced out the sliding door, staring at Julian as he held Maddie in his arms.
“Julian has her,” I said, and the three of them stepped onto the patio.
“Have you met Harry yet?” Morgan asked.
“Not yet.”
“You’re in for a real treat when you do.” A smirk crossed her lips.
“I can’t believe he was cheating on all three women and knocked them up at the same time,” I whispered .
“He’s a real character. Then there’s Love.”
“Oh, I can’t wait to meet her.” I smiled.
My phone rang with another unknown number.
“Hello? Hello? Listen, asshole. I can hear you breathing.” I shook my head and ended the call.
“What was that all about?” Morgan asked.
“I keep getting these stupid calls from an unknown number, but when I answer, the person on the other end never speaks.”
“It could be a computer,” she said. “I can try to locate where the calls are coming from tomorrow.”
“Thanks, Morgan. But I’m sure it’s just telemarketers.”
“Babe, the burgers and hot dogs are ready,” Roman said, sticking his head through the sliding door.
“Okay. We’re coming.”
“You two are the perfect couple.” I smiled at Morgan.
She laughed. “We’re not perfect, but close enough. I bet you and your husband were the perfect couple. I’m sorry, Laurel. I shouldn’t have?—”
“It’s fine.” I waved my hand. “We had our issues like every other couple in the world. I miss him, and so do the girls.” I grabbed the salad bowl and took it out to the patio.
“Mom, Julian was throwing us in the pool!” Sophie ran over to me.
“He was?” I smiled, glancing at Julian.
“Yeah. Good thing they know how to swim, or else we would have had an issue.” Julian smirked.
Everyone sat around the patio table and ate.
“Your daughters are adorable, Laurel,” Pippa said.
“Thank you.” I smiled, looking over at my girls.
“You’re a warrior,” Calista spoke. “Raising three special little girls on your own must be tough.”
“We have our days. But my parents have been a huge help. ”
After we ate, the girls jumped back into the pool, swam for a while, and then it was time to head home. After gathering our things, I hugged everyone goodbye, and Julian walked us to my car.
“Bye, Julian,” all three girls said, climbing into the car.
“Bye, girls. I hope you had fun today.”
“We had the best time!” Stella exclaimed.
“I guess I’ll see you on Monday,” Julian said, taking a few strands of my hair between his fingers.
“Yeah. I’ll see you on Monday.” I smiled.
Climbing into my car, I shut the door and pushed the button to start the engine, and nothing. Furrowing my brows, I pushed it again—nothing happened.
“Oh, come on!” I looked at Julian, who stood there. I opened the car door and climbed out. “The car won’t start.”
“I can see that. Pop the hood and let me take a look,” Julian said.
“You know about cars?” I asked, popping the hood.
“Nope, but I can try.” He looked under the hood and then scratched his head. “Looks like you’ll have to call a tow truck in the morning.”
“Ugh. I don’t need this right now. I can call my parents to come get us.”
“Why would you do that? I’ll drive you and the girls home.”
“Are you sure? You’re here with your family.”
“I’m always with my family.” He smiled, opening the back door. “Come on, girls. I’m driving you home.”
“Yay!” All three girls shouted.