Chapter 26
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Mom smirked as she took in my horrified flush then turned to Kaya.
“The more time they spend together, the sooner Sophia will adapt to being Konni’s mate. She has a rather significant stigma to overcome.”
Oh, she’d meant time in general. My relief was instant.
“You make an excellent point.” Kaya looked at Konni. “Did you make any progress last night?”
Nope, I wanted the floor to open and swallow me whole again.
“No,” Konni said. “They’re maintaining their stance that the information is accurate. Whatever pictures we take today will help prove the article’s false and make it easier for the defamation lawsuit Felix is working on.”
Knees weak with gratitude, I sat at the table, where breakfast was already waiting.
“Yes, let’s eat,” Kaya said, taking a seat across from me. “We have a lot to do today.”
Konni sat next to me and poured my orange juice for me. Ignoring the glint in Mom’s eyes as she sat beside Kaya, I cut into my avocado toast.
“Any ideas how we want the article to angle our association?” Kaya asked.
“As a Steele Corp employee working directly with the CEO, it’s not impossible that you met for business reasons,” Konni said. “Nothing in the photo proves it was a check for Sophia. It could have been for anything. A charity. Whatever.
“Today’s pictures can focus on you enjoying shopping together, which isn’t unheard of for two women who know each other. It’ll clarify the tone of your relationship with her without touching on ours.”
“Yes. That. I like that option,” I said as Mom’s phone started to ring.
Kaya nodded in agreement as Mom frowned at the caller’s name.
“It’s not Dad, is it?” I asked. He’d been quiet since the reception, and I didn’t know if that meant he’d backed off the Hestian deal or if he was regrouping to focus on Konni now.
“It’s our neighbor.”
She answered with a polite hello. A second later, she bolted to her feet.
“What? Are you in the house? Good. Thank you. We’ll be right there.”
She hung up, on the verge of tears.
“What happened?”
“Our house is on fire. Jenny and the kids are safe. She called the fire department already and is getting the neighbors out of their houses too.”
Konni stood. “I’ll drive.”
Forty minutes later, Mom and I stood in the road with our neighbors, watching the fire department subdue the remaining flames. Our homes were so close together that the siding on Jenny’s house was warped from the heat.
“I’m so sorry, Abbye,” Jenny said.
“Me too. Thankfully, we weren’t home, and no one was hurt.”
That same thought had rolled through my mind.
We hadn’t been home for two days. How had the fire started? Mom wasn’t the type to light candles, and I didn’t use a curling iron. Nothing had been accidentally left on. Just the normal appliances that stayed plugged in.
I lifted my phone and took a picture, sending it to my uncle and the friend chat separately.
Me: If you see the news, don’t panic. We’re safe and don’t need anything yet. I’ll let you know when we do.
Uncle Jay: Shit, Soph! I’ll come pick you up.
Me: No need. It’ll be a while. I’m sure the fire department will have questions. I promise to call when we know what’s going on.
Uncle Jay: I hate waiting.
Me: You’re better where you’re at. Stinks here and too many people. Make some money tonight!
Uncle Jay: I will.
I switched over to the group chat, which was exploding.
Wrenly: What happened?
Miranda: Were you home?
Wrenly: Where’s Konni? Is he with you?
Miranda: He better be with you!
Me: Konni’s not here. He dropped us off, and I asked him to stay away for now. Too many people and cameras.
Me: We haven’t been home in two days. Not sure what happened to cause a fire. I know we didn’t leave anything on.
Miranda: You think it’s not an accident?
Me: Too much has been going on lately for this to be a coincidence, don’t you think?
Wrenly: When I find out who’s behind all of this, Bennett is going to kill them.
I almost laughed, which would have been extremely inappropriate, given my location and the circumstances.
Miranda: He’ll need to stand in line for what’s left after Konni and then me.
Me: I’m putting on a sad face for appearances, but we didn’t lose much. Family photos are all online and I sold off my designer clothes a year ago. Anything new, I took with me to Konni’s. Same with Mom. Besides her outdated laptop, it’s just the house itself. Being poor has perks.
Wrenly: You’re not poor. Not with me around. Unlimited spending shopping spree tomorrow.
Me: (Laughing emoji). Actually, I already have that covered. Konni’s mom. We’re going to publicly prove we’re on good terms.
Wrenly: Good.
Miranda: But I love shopping with you.
Me: Soon. And on Konni’s dime. Promise. Lunch meeting next week is mandatory.
They both agreed, and I pocketed my phone to wrap my arm around Mom’s shoulders.
The firefighters who spoke to us throughout the process were compassionate and calm, asking questions about the house, how the fire might have started, and just listening.
Mom did most of the talking, with Jenny adding in that the smoke detectors had been working since that’s what had alerted her.
Apparently, they’d found Mom’s bedroom window open, which she verified hadn’t been when we left.
Once the fire was out, they said they would investigate the cause and let us know when it was safe to enter. They took Mom’s number, ensured we had somewhere to stay, and said we didn’t need to stay there any longer.
I ordered a rideshare. Neither of us spoke as we waited.
In the car, though, Mom said, “I didn’t leave that window open.”
“I know,” I said, holding her hand.
And knowing that was the scariest part of all of this.
Someone was so desperate to take everything from us that they committed arson. What was next?
The driver dropped us off at the cafe in the strip mall close to our house. Konni and his mom stood when we walked in. Kaya hugged Mom while Konni hugged me.
“You’re not homeless,” I heard Kaya say. “We’re family. You’ll stay with us.”
I glanced at Mom and saw her nod.
She’d actually agreed?
“We should talk,” she said. “But not here.”
Once we were in Konni’s car, headed back to his place, Mom recapped everything. That Jenny heard the smoke detectors. That the fire had been in the kitchen and Mom’s bedroom, opposite sides of the house. That her bedroom window, which she’d locked, had been open.
“I saw someone taking pictures from the other side of our block,” she said. “It was when the fire was pretty much out and Sophia hugged me. Was it one of yours?”
“Possibly, if there were a lot of people around you that they didn’t recognize from the neighborhood.”
“Find out,” his mom said from the backseat. “If it wasn’t your people, we need to watch for another article.”
He waited until we were at the townhouse to excuse himself to make some calls.
Kaya sat down with Mom.
“I’m worried, Abbye. I want you and Sophia to come back to the family estate. The security is better than here. No one will be able to photograph you or start any fires.”
Mom glanced at me. I met her gaze, hoping she wouldn’t refuse. We were lucky this time, but what about next time?
Mom’s gaze softened as she looked at me.
“We’ll stay with you,” she said.
Kaya hugged her again, crying in her relief.
“I thought I was going to need to do a lot more begging,” she said with a teary laugh.
Mom patted her back and smiled—a real one without any hidden stress or strain. “You’re acting like I’m doing you a favor. We both know it’s the other way around. Thank you for opening your home to us until we can figure this out.”
Kaya pulled back. “This living arrangement doesn’t come with an expiration date. I won’t hold you hostage, but—”
“Yes, she will,” Konni said, coming down the stairs. “Through teary hugs and guilt.”
Kaya scowled at him. “Stop it. Don’t scare them away before they move in.”
“Abbye should know what she’s signing up for. Dragons are notorious for multi-generational living. My grandparents are still at the estate at least forty percent of the time. That’ll probably change once you move in. They’ll come back and start asking when the next generation will arrive.”
His mom’s frown grew. “Konni.”
The warning in her tone had me smirking as I glanced at Mom. She looked amused, too.
“Thank you for the warning,” Mom said. “I’ll still accept, though, if the offer stands.”
“It does,” Kaya said emphatically. “Why don’t I help you pack?”
Konni waited until the two of them went upstairs to say, “The one your mom saw was one of ours. A reporter was taking pictures from another angle.”
I was grateful they hadn’t been crass enough to ask for a statement from us while our home was burning.
“What now?” I asked.
“I’ll have my people comb through any security footage from houses nearby. Hopefully, one will have caught someone coming or going.” He paused to pull me into his arms. “I’m surprised you agreed to move to the estate.”
“I can’t stop thinking that, if whoever is behind this is willing to commit arson, what’s next?”
He held me just a little bit tighter.
“I’m not letting you out of my sight from now on.”
“What about my mom?”
He chuckled. “You don’t have to worry about her. My mom won’t let her out of her sight either.”
I tipped my head back to look up at him. “Is your mom really that lonely?”
“My dad brought her home the day he found her working at an Italian restaurant in town. Since that moment, she has had my dad and his parents around, and then me. After I moved out to focus on Steele, my grandparents also started traveling. My dad travels for work, too. Despite my joke about never letting you move out, she wouldn’t hold anyone back from doing what they wanted.
And I don’t think she’s lonely as much as I think she’s ready for the next step. ”
I didn’t ask what he meant. I knew.
He studied me. “What were you just thinking? You made a face.”
“I want to focus on my career.”
“And?”