“Little sis!”

Pangs of jealousy curl in my stomach as I watch Easton wrap Ella up in a big hug before passing her off to Sawyer and Seb. But the closeness they all share with her is a good thing. Especially for East.

I turn my back and walk into Ella’s room, forcing myself to quash my negative feelings. They’ll need each other after I’m gone. I can’t be angry about this.

I’m the one who put myself in this situation when I decided to sleep with Brooke. And then I made stupid decision after stupid decision. The what if game will probably drive me insane in prison. What if I’d flown to D.C. for dinner with my family? What if I hadn’t answered Brooke’s call? What if I hadn’t gone over there, thinking I could reason with Brooke?

It was my own damn pride that got me into this.

I wait for everyone to walk in before I start. “I wanted to give you guys an update on the case.”

My brothers perk up. I know they’re starving for details. But Ella… She’s frowning deeply at me.

“Is this about…?” She trails off, glancing at my brothers and back at me. She’s obviously not sure if I’ve told them about the plea offer yet.

I nod. “Yeah. And there’s another new development.”

Slowly, I go through the statements that I’ve read so many times I can recite them by heart. I offer only the highlights and leave out the stuff about Easton and the twins’ relationship with Lauren and focus on the crap the police have compiled against me, finishing with the statement from Ruby Myers.

Ella grows paler and paler with each passing minute.

“That’s an incredible amount of bullshit,” East declares once I’m done.

“If Brooke was still alive, I’d kill her myself,” Ella mutters darkly.

“Don’t say that,” I chide.

“We should fill out our own statements,” she suggests.

“Yeah.” East nods. “Because that shit with that waitress never happened.”

Seb and Sawyer join the chorus, swearing that they’ll testify, too. I realize I have to put a stop to this before their bedroom lawyering gets out of hand.

“I’m going to take a plea deal,” I announce.

Easton’s jaw drops. “What the fuck!”

He and the twins stare at me as if I’ve gone crazy, but I can’t take my eyes off Ella, whose face is full of fear.

“You can’t,” she protests. “What about the Delacorte deal?”

East perks up. “What’s that?”

Ella starts talking before I can shut the idea down. “Judge Delacorte offered to lose evidence if Daniel gets to come back from juvie military jail and if I agree to say I lied about the drugging.” She crosses her arms. “I say we do that.”

“Yeah,” Seb agrees. Sawyer nods excitedly.

“Not happening. Ever.” I glare at my brothers until they turn their hopeful expressions to the floor.

Ella holds up her hands, mimicking the scales of justice. “You going to prison for twenty-five years, or me living with Daniel.” Her left hand drops down and her eyes burn angrily at me. “Take the Delacorte deal.”

“Even if I was remotely okay with that, which I’m not, there’s too much evidence to get rid of. There is no Delacorte deal anymore,” I say through clenched teeth. “They have no one else to pin this on. Grier says they have me on means, motive, and opportunity, which is all they need to convict me of a crime.”

“You’re not pleading guilty, Reed.” Her tone is harder than steel.

I swallow hard. Then I lock my gaze to hers and say, “Yes. I am.”

27

Ella

My emotions are all mixed up right now. I hate Reed for thinking I’d ever be okay with his stupid plea deal, but I love him for wanting to make this whole mess go away. I know that’s why he’s not fighting this. He’s decided that he needs to save his family from a stain on their reputation.

I get it, but I hate it.

“For the record, I’m not on board with this plan,” Easton tells the room.

“Same,” the twins say in unison.

Reed nods at them. “Noted. But it’s happening whether you like it or not.”

Bitterness jams in my throat. Well, I guess that’s the Royal decree. And to hell with what anyone else thinks about it, right?

A soft tap on the doorframe has our heads turning. “Everything okay in here?” Callum asks, his tone oddly gentle.

Nobody says a word.

He sighs. “I assume Reed’s told you about the deal?”

Easton frowns at his father. “And you’re cool with it?”

“No, but it’s your brother’s decision. I’m going to support him no matter what.” Callum’s stern eyes imply that we should all be doing the same thing, supporting Reed.

“Can I have a moment alone with Reed?” I ask tightly.

At first, nobody moves, but then they notice the look on my face, and whatever they see spurs them into action.

“Come on, boys, let’s go down to the kitchen and rummage up some dinner,” Callum tells his sons. Before he leaves the room, he glances my way. “Oh, and Ella, I’ve already arranged it with Steve that you can spend the night here. I’m sending Durand over to your hotel to pick up your uniform.”

“Steve was okay with that?” I say in surprise.

“I didn’t give him much of a choice.” With a wry smile, Callum ducks out of the room and closes the door behind him.

Once I’m alone with Reed, it’s impossible to contain my anger anymore.

“This is crazy! You didn’t kill her! Why would you ever, ever, ever say you did!”

He slowly sits down beside me. “This is the best option, baby. Five years in prison isn’t the end of the world. But the alternative? Going to prison for the rest of my life? That is the end of the world. I can’t take that chance.”

“But you’re innocent. You can go to trial and—”

“Lose,” he finishes flatly. “I’ll lose.”

“You don’t know that.”

“The statement from Ruby Myers is too damaging. She’s going to tell a jury that I threatened to kill Brooke.” He sounds frustrated. “I don’t know why that woman is lying about me, but her testimony will put me away.”