Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 99399 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 497(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 331(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99399 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 497(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 331(@300wpm)
There was another pause on the line, which didn’t surprise me. JJ Marian was known for being easygoing and happy. If the extended Marian family had a golden retriever personality in the bunch, it was him. The guy never got upset, or angry, or moody. He was friendly and pleasant. Steady and kind. Not the kind of guy who’d feel comfortable spilling his dirty laundry in plain sight.
So it was surprising when JJ let out a breath and admitted, “We’re separating. But don’t tell anyone, especially my parents. They will salt the earth and destroy Whitney simply for not being the perfect partner to me.”
I snorted. “Was she ever the perfect partner for you?”
He sighed, and I realized it was even earlier in California than it was in Colorado. “Probably not. But I wanted it pretty badly. The whole white picket fence thing. Kids and a chaotic household.” He hesitated. “Which was bullshit. Is bullshit.”
JJ made it sound like Whitney had thought it was bullshit, and I hated that for him.
“Not bullshit,” I said. “Your parents have it. So do your grandparents and pretty much all your uncles.”
He groaned. “Don’t remind me. Do you have any idea what it’s like to have the first divorce in the world’s most perfect fucking family?”
“JJ, your family loves you. They only want you to be happy, no matter what government paperwork is involved in making that happen.”
“I know. I just… I’m not ready to tell them.”
“I won’t say a word. Do you need a place to stay? Wolfe would probably let you use his place for a while since he’s not there.”
“I’m, ah… staying at Aunt Tilly’s house in Nob Hill.”
I played the words back to be sure I’d heard right. His great-aunt was the world’s biggest shit-stirrer and not great at keeping secrets. “Tilly? And you don’t think she’s going to send a group text giving assassination orders on the Whitney target?”
Thankfully, his laughter came over the line again. “Nah. Tilly’s a vault when it comes to important things. She’s probably carrying CIA secrets and the door code to Fort Knox. She sent Harold to Texas to visit his grandkids. Every night, she forces me to share a bottle of wine and binge-watch some reality show called Below Deck. I guess she heard about it from Cal Wilde when she was in Hobie for the holidays, and now she’s obsessed.”
I loved knowing she was looking out for him. There wasn’t a more fierce defender and lover of the Marian family than Matilda Marian, its matriarch.
“Good. I’m glad you’re not alone and she’s forcing you into some downtime.”
JJ and I both had a tendency to overwork, and I wondered if that had been part of the problem with Whitney. Even if it had, he deserved to be with someone who shared his vision of the future.
“Not sure how long I’ll be able to indulge Tilly, though,” he said. “I landed a huge new client who’s trying hard to get me to be hands-on.”
This was surprising. JJ didn’t take bodyguard assignments anymore, now that he was in the process of taking over the company.
“You gonna do it?”
“It’s Juni Mezzo,” he said, like this answered the question.
I supposed it did. Juni Mezzo was almost Scarlett Johansson big. And she was married to Nick Caron, the lead actor of the Final Meridian action movies. The two of them were the current Hollywood “it” couple.
“Fuck, JJ. How can you turn that down?”
“I can’t. And they have little kids, which makes it even harder to say no to her request for my personal involvement.”
“Might be the change of scenery you need.”
“Also something I considered.”
“You gonna do it?” I asked again.
He let out a breath. “Yeah, probably. But they split their time between both coasts. It’ll be hard to run the company.”
“Talk to your dad. Maybe he can take some of the responsibility back temporarily.”
We talked through it a little longer until JJ was called away to take a meeting. Then I dove into my own work after scarfing down an egg sandwich and fruit salad, along with my second cup of coffee.
After a while, I paid and left, relocating to a small park with picnic tables. The weather was perfect—deep blue skies and a few fluffy white clouds. The kind of sunny day Colorado was known for.
I tried not to obsess about what was happening with Wolfe and Jake, but it wasn’t easy. When I thought about it, jealousy flared like molten lava in my stomach, bringing out parts of me I hadn’t realized I had.
In an effort to distract myself, I called Robyn at SERA to check in.
“Shit, Trace,” she said. “I was trying not to involve you, but since you called…”
She proceeded to tell me about a regulation change that required SERA to update several of our certification programs. It meant revamping the syllabus for several courses, but also meant our instructors would need to recertify their own credentials.