I Was Done Begging novel · Chapter 14 of 24

Chapter 14: It's Filed

Lucas's POV

I took Simone's phone out of her hand before she could change her mind.

The statement was open on the screen.

Twelve monthly transfers from a private account at a small bank, each one for the same amount, each one marked with a number I knew.

It was the same account that had paid the two brothers.

"She told me it was a gift for the baby," Simone said. "Then she told me what the gift was for."

"What was it for?" Celia asked.

"To keep Julien happy until you woke up. And to make sure that if you didn't, I was the one who stood next to him."

Celia looked at her for a long time.

"And if I did wake?"

"She said there were ways to deal with that."

The baby had started to cry, thin and tired.

Simone put her cheek against his head, and her whole body shook.

"I walked you to that door," she said. "I'll say so to anyone. I won't lie about what I did."

"You'll say it to a police detective in the morning, with Hattie Broussard sitting beside you," Celia said. "You'll sleep tonight in a hotel with two of our guards outside your door."

"And the baby?"

"The baby is not a punishment," Celia said. "He stays with you."

I sent two men with her and forwarded the screenshot to the forensic accountant who worked for Samuel.

Then I drove Celia home.

Her parents had gone ahead in the other car.

She sat in the passenger seat with her cane across her knees and her eyes closed, and she did not speak until we were through the Everhart gates.

"Where do you live?" she asked.

"The guesthouse. Past the garden."

"Take me there."

I looked at her.

"Your mother has had your room ready for twenty-five years."

"I know. I'll sleep in it tomorrow. Tonight I want to go to yours."

I parked at the end of the garden path and came around to her side.

My phone buzzed once in my jacket.

I pulled it out and read it with my thumb over the screen.

It was from Hattie: Filed at 12:04. All yours.

I put the phone away.

Celia stood on the path, and the porch light caught the side of her face.

I walked her to my door, unlocked it and held it open, and I did not go through.

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