Chapter 0314

“What?” I gasp, yanking my hand out from hers. “Janeen! You’re talking to lvan!? He completely betrayed me!”

“Did he?” Janeen asks, her eyebrows going up. “I mean, how —*

“He’s the reason Kent was arrested, Janeen,” I say to her through gritted teeth. I mean — it’s not really her fault, how would she

know this? But still, I'm frustrated. “He set it all up! Ivan is behind all of this —*

“Really,” Janeen says sarcastically, crossing her arms and giving me a dubious look. “Seriously? It’s all lvan’s fault? Kent did

nothing to deserve to be arrested. He’s completely clean.”

I hesitate then, realizing that...well, yes, Kent broke several national and international laws, but...

“Precisely.” Janeen says, smug.

I turn and give my sister a nasty look. “You don’t know the whole story, Janeen,” I snap. “You weren't there.”

“Damn right I wasn’t there,” Janeen says, shaking her head at me. “Because you have pushed me and dad further and further

out of your life, getting completely wrapped up in this Lippert bullshit! So much so that you were in a police raid tonight — you

could have been killed!” Her face pales then, and she raises an anxious hand to her cheek, clearly picturing it in her mind. I

hesitate then, leaning forward, seeing her point.

“Okay,” I sigh. “You’re right. I get it. But Janeen,” I shake my head again. “He’s.

“Whatever it is,” Janeen says, her voice tense as she glances at dad — clearly implying that maybe what I’m going to say next is

not something dad wants to hear — “all I know is that I got a really nice phone call from a good-looking blonde who has a lot of

sexy tattoos and clearly cares about you, Fay. And from my perspective? It looks like he put a lot of effort into getting you out of a

very bad situation.”

I glance at Daniel, who has his head turned towards us just slightly, clearly listening but pretending he’s not.

“The Lipperts are my family, Janeen,” I say, looking at my best friend and then back to my sister. “And yours now,” I continue,

putting a hand on my stomach. “Whether you like it or not.”

Janeen frowns at me for a second, but then looks down at my hand and goes white. Her eyes are wider than I’ve ever seen them

when she looks back up at me. She glances quickly at dad — who is, thank god, oblivious — and then mouths some words to me:

are you fucking serious?

I shrug then, tears springing to my eyes.

Janeen leans back in her chair, giving an agonized groan and covering her face with her hands. I watch her for a few long

moments as she stays precisely like that, clearly processing the news that I’ve barely had time to work through myself. Then,

slowly, she drags her hands away from her face and looks at me again.

Slowly, she cocks her head to the side and points at the back of Daniel's head, clearly asking if he’s the father. I shake my head

no, scrunching my face in distaste, and she groans again before heaving with a long sigh. Then she turns to me and mouths

another single word:

Kent?

Slowly, I nod.

Janeen’s eyebrows go up, almost as if she’s impressed. And, seeing the tears starting to drip down my face, Janeen clicks her

tongue and goes into big sister mode. She scoots across the back seat to wrap her arms around me, drawing me tight against

her and making soft shushing noises to me as we drive down the long empty highway to the coast, letting me silently cry myself

out into her shirt.

“It's okay, baby,” she murmurs against my hair, just once. “We'll get it all sorted out. Though I have to admit, if you had made me

lay a bet on which one of us was going to get knocked up by a mafia guy who was in jail...”

I can feel her shake her head and I laugh, just a little. At that, Daniel looks over his shoulder at both of us, his face clearly worried

and pained.

“You okay?” he asks, looking teiin

me — probably ot yatready to ace

Janeea’elrath, Please read the

original content at .

“Nope,” I reply, giving him a tight little smile. “Are you?”

“No way,” he says with a sigh, sinking back in his chair. “Not at all.”

“Well at least we're on the same

page,” I sigh. And then e alleidetiinI

sign tera to our

h WS listening to the oldies station

dad picked out. Please read the

original content at .

I close my eyes and rest my hea

against my sis Es gteolttier seeking

sleep a SbIion — Please read the

original content at .

But it evades me.

Instead, I just think, and scheme, and plan.

Just as Kent taught me to do.