“I’d give,” Roxie whispered to me. “She’s relentless.”

I put my hip to the counter on the other side of Ally and sighed. “They’re… good,” I tried.

“Good?” Indy asked.

“Yes,” I replied.

“That’s boring,” Ally muttered.

“Maybe Sadie needs boring,” Roxie said to Ally.

“No one needs boring,” Ally retorted.

“Maybe Sadie does,” Roxie defended my need for boring.

Ally’s eyes came back to me. “Do you need boring?”

I looked at her a second then shared, “I have to admit, I could use some boring. But when I say things are good, I didn’t mean they were boring.”

“What did you mean?” Indy asked and they all leaned forward.

I briefly debated my options.

I could go Ice Princess and tell them nothing (which they were probably not going to accept, nobody was paying the least attention to my Ice Princess anymore). I could tell them everything (which would take all night). I could tell them what was going to happen when Hector and I got back to his place (which might be embarrassing). Or I could tell them about the tattoo.

I told them about the tattoo. When I was done, they all stared at me.

Then Roxie breathed, “Oh… my… God.”

“I’ve just decided Lee needs a tattoo,” Indy declared.

“No!” I burst out. “If you say something to Lee then it might get back to Hector.”

Ally jumped down from the counter, put her arm around my waist and started to guide me to the dining room while Indy and Roxie followed.

“Learn fast, sister,” Ally said. “Nothing stays a secret in this clan for long. And that tat is way too good to stay a secret.”

Well, wasn’t that just great.

We entered the dining room and I went back to my seat by Hector.

After dinner, during the photo orgy, he’d done the scooting my chair close to his move. Now he was lounging with his arm along the back of my empty chair. I had no choice but to sit in it with his arm still there.

The minute I did, it curled around my shoulders and he got in close.

“Ready to go?” he asked softly in my ear.

No. No, I was not ready to go. No, I was not ready to go to his house and have him put his mouth between my legs.

Well maybe I was ready to go and do that since it was almost all I thought about all day (except, of course, my f**king father and also the photos but it was mostly all I thought about).

I didn’t think about it in an “Oh my God no way I can do that” way. I thought about it in an “Oh my God I can’t wait and I hope I don’t mess things up again” way.

However, I did have one matter of business I still needed to attend to before I went onto what would likely be the next trauma of my life.

I’d had an idea and I had to get the wheels in motion before I headed off to Crete because I wasn’t going to be going alone. So I put my latest plan into action.

I turned to Hector and said, “I need to talk to Lee.”

Hector’s brows went up.

“Why do you need to talk to Lee?” Ally asked from across the table. being nosy again and also loud.

Lee heard his sister, his head turned and his eyes came to me. “You need something, Sadie?” he asked.

Oh boy. It was now or never.

“Do you have some time to talk at your office, maybe tomorrow?”

At this point, Lee’s body turned to me but his eyes flicked to Hector before coming back to mine.

“I’m right here, we don’t need to be at the office,” he replied on a (very handsome) smile.

“Well, it’s kind of business,” I told him.

“Business?”

“Yes.”

“What do you need?” he asked.

“I need you to find my mother.”

The air in the room instantly changed, it went supercharged with something I didn’t understand.

The women were all looking at each other in confusion. The men were looking at each other with closed, set faces.

This I did not take as good.

I forged into the crackling silence. “You find people, don’t you?” I asked Lee.

His eyes had locked on Hector but they came back to me and he nodded.

“Well, my Mom disappeared and I thought, maybe, you could find her.”

“Sadie –” Hector said from beside me.

“I’ll pay,” I threw in, just in case Lee thought I was asking for a freebie.

“It’s not the money, Sadie, it’s –” Lee started but Tom interrupted him.

“Tomorrow, we’ll meet,” Tom surprised me by announcing (and inviting himself to come along) and everyone’s eyes swung to him. “Four o’clock, Lee’s office,” Tom looked at Lee. “Be sure Vance is there.”

I looked at Tom, confused as to why he’d want Vance there when Hector said in a weird, low voice, “Tom.”

I turned to Hector. His face was blank but his eyes were active and I was sensing something unsettled in him. This I did not take as good either.

“We’ll talk,” Tom went on and I looked back to him. “I’ll be there, Lee, Vance, Hank, Eddie and you,” Tom said to Hector.

“And me,” I put in and Tom looked at me.

“And you, Sadie,” he agreed.

“Thank you,” I said to Tom.

My expression of gratitude made every man in the room look uncomfortable and every woman in the room look at me with concerned eyes.

This alarmed me. Like, loads.

“Is there something I should know?” I asked Tom.

“Tomorrow, four o’clock,” Tom replied.

“Yes, but –” I started.

“Four,” Tom said firmly but gently.

I pulled my lips in, wanting to push it. But he’d gone out of his way with dinner, photos, giving me the picture.

So instead of pushing it, I said, “Okay.”

Hector pushed his chair back. “Time for us to go,” he announced.

Oh my.

All thoughts of the weird conversation flew out of my head as Hector pulled me out of my chair.

I tried to give Tom a handshake but he refused it and instead gave me a hug. The hug exchange continued throughout the rest of the group, including Hank (who I barely even knew!).

Then Hector led me out to the Bronco, helped me in, got in the driver’s seat, turned the ignition and we were away.

My overnight bag was in his backseat.

My knees were shaking.

My skin was tingling.