Chapter 26
Lucy
Iwake in the morning to voices in the kitchen.
“Lala, are you sure? I have to be one hundred percent sure before taking it to the police.” Aria’s voice drifts towards me. I can tell she is trying to keep her voice down, but the reality is that the apartment simply isn’t that big.
“I’m sure, Ari,” a voice answers from the phone. I vaguely recognize it, but I’m not awake enough to figure it out.
“And you learned this information via legal means?” Aria says, her voice dryly skeptical.
“Yes,” the voice responds, sounding exasperated.
I peek my head over the arm of the couch and lock eyes with Aria, causing me to freeze. Damn. Caught.
“Then send me over what you have and how you found it out. I will talk to you later, Lala, Lucy is up and we are about to do breakfast. Love you.”
“Love you too, Ari. Talk to you later and tell Lucy hi for me!”
“Yeah, yeah, you menace,” Aria rolls her eyes good-naturedly, “as long as you tell the girls hi from me too.”
“Can do! Bye, sis.”
“Bye.” As Aria hangs up the phone, I finally realize that it was Lila, Aria’s sister that she’d brought into Karma.
“Good mo-orning, Cherry.” A yawn splits my words. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop.”
“Good morning, Princess.” She comes over and presses a kiss to my forehead. “It’s not a problem. It was just my sister. She figured out who posted the photos and videos.”
“Who?” I ask, the news more effective than caffeine for kickstarting my brain. She just gives me droll look and I nod. Jacob. Of fucking course.
“Yeah, so I get to take the bastard to court,” Aria continues as if I had answered aloud. “If Lila says the proof is indisputable, then I know it’s solid. She’s like a bloodhound when it comes to sniffing out secrets.”
“I love that you don’t have to work on this alone,” I say, a genuine smile working its way onto my face.
“I have to ask, though: why did you have to clarify the knowledge was obtained through ‘legal’ means?” I laugh, assuming it was an inside joke, but my curiosity is piqued when her expression remains fond but serious.
“Let’s just say that one of Lila’s roommates is Lilith MacBride and leave it as that, yeah?” Her reply sends a short chill through me; everyone knows that the MacBride family unofficially runs the city. Yeah, I am definitely leaving that one alone.
“Got it,” I reply, my tone matching hers in seriousness. “So, you’re taking it to the police, then?”
“I have to look through it first and take it to a lawyer, but yes. I am going to try and pursue both criminal charges and a civil suit. He doesn’t get to get away with this.
” The fire in her eyes is breathtaking. I pull her down to my level and capture her lips with my own.
The feeling of her lips sliding against mine makes the world narrow until nothing but this moment exists.
All too soon, she pulls away.
“Busy day ahead,” she says, tucking a curl behind my ear. “You go jump in the shower and I’ll have breakfast on the table when you get out.”
“Or,” I purr, grabbing her hand and intertwining our fingers, “you could join me in the shower and we can grab breakfast on our way out?”
Her pale skin flushes a beautiful pink and she clears her throat, her fingers flexing between mine.
“Well, it would save water, I suppose,” she muses in a faux casual voice.
We did not, in fact, save any water.
***
Three hours later, Aria drops me back off at the hospital (despite my objections that she shouldn’t have to go alone). I walk through the lobby, nod my head at the receptionist, and head back up to Mama Betty’s room.
Her door is slightly open when I arrive. I hear Dr. Stone’s voice, so I slip in quietly.
“—and if you decide to go this route, I would plan to have three months at most to get your affairs in order. Ms. Gonzalez, I want to work with you. This is your journey and your decision, but I have to be honest with you. This will not be pretty. Cancer is an ugly disease. I hear that what is most important to you is that we maximize the time you are mentally present during the next few months, is that correct?”
“Yes,” Mama Betty says, her wrinkled face alert and calm.
“Okay,” Dr. Stone answers, nodding like she expected that answer.
“In that case, we have a few options we can look at for pain management. Instead of opioids, we can consider a combination of non-opioid medications along with natural remedies and therapies. As long as it doesn’t negatively impact your health, I can help look into those alternatives.
However, I would like to see you once a week for updated imaging and labs.
We can reassess at any time, but does that sound like a plan for now? ”
“It does,” she responds, a smile growing on her face. “Mija, stop your hovering and come in here.”
Attempting to look like I wasn’t lurking, I stride in past Dr. Stone. I catch the flash of amusement in her eyes, but it is gone as quickly as it came. Mama Betty’s hand reaches out to grab mine and I am please to note that her arm seems steadier and her grip stronger than before.
“Mama, I was trying to be polite,” I tease, leaning close to press a kiss to her cheek. She just tsks at me.
“When I become unable to make decisions, Luciana will be your point of contact,” she says, briskly brushing past my comment. I look towards her in shock.
What the fuck? I try to convey with my eyes.
Later, her expression and the hand stroking my own seems to answer.
“As long as all the legal paperwork is in place, that is no problem at all.” Dr. Stone’s eyes seem to light with a genuine warmth watching us interact. “Since we are all here, then, let’s go over what your needs might be in the upcoming months.”
I listen intently, taking notes on my phone, trying not to think too hard about anything but this moment and the feeling of Mama Betty’s hand on mine.