Page 65 of Finally Home
Ash keeps pushing which makes me think he knows about the phone somehow. “But you did…” he leans in like he’s sharing a secret with her and flips his expression to a flirty smile I didn’t know he was capable of. It would be convincing if it weren’t for the fury in his eyes. “Leak the tape, I mean. Who else would have the audacity and brilliance to do that? How did you pull it off?”
Hook, line, and sinker, she falls for his act. Flipping her hair behind her shoulder, she gloats freely about her fucked up long-game plan. “No, you don’t even understand how easy it was to earn myself a place in Derrick’s bed his first year on the team. From there, getting his iCloud login was a piece of cake. I did have to befriend innocent little Wren after he changed his password since he wouldn’t give me a second night, but she’s so oblivious she never even noticed me sneaking in and out of their room.”
Holy hell. He really didn’t do it.
“We thought you girls were friends,” Jamie chimes in.
Ella scoffs. “As if. Everybody was so quick to fawn all over the pretty blonde with abandonment issues as if she didn’t just follow Derrick here like a desperate little girl.” She waves a hand in the air as if dismissing the idea. “I saw through it from day one. I’m telling you, she’s a snake in the grass.”
“And the social media posts?” I ask quietly, barely able to mask the rage that colors my words. “The anonymous texts?”
She fucking preens at my questions. “All me. Guess sleeping with that hacker nerd finally paid off after all,” she says with a breathy laugh.
Huffing out a humorless chuckle, Wes lands the fatal blow to her ego. “Well bless your heart. I honestly can’t tell if you thought you could weasel your way into wife and girlfriend status or if you’re just a sociopath who has a creepy, unhealthy obsession with a girl who thought was her friend.”
Asher speaks over her outraged gasps to twist the knife further. “Well said, Wes. It’s pretty sad you had to work this hard just to get a fraction of the attention Wren gets just by being herself. Did you ever stop to consider that not acting like a conniving bitch might help you more than this crazy-ass plan you just confessed to?”
Before she has a chance to respond, the biggest man I’ve ever seen in real life stalks up behind Ella, clamps a meaty paw down on her shoulder and follows it with a silver cuff on her wrist. “Ella Barnes?” He asks in a gravelly voice.
“What the hell are you doing, you psycho?!” She screeches. “Let me go!”
Wild eyes frantically search our booth, but if she thinks anyone here will help her, she’s more delusional than I thought.
“Somebody help!” She shouts. “Call 9-1-1!”
The big guy currently hauling her out of her seat offers a cold smile. “No need. We’re already here,” he holds a small bifold out to me, showing his credentials. “Detective Wright. You’re close with Wren Reid, correct?”
We all nod, but I shake his hand. “Boyfriend,” I say, pointing to myself. “Best friends.” I hook my thumb in the guy’s direction. The detective passes Ella off to the nearest uniformed officer and takes a seat in the booth with us, setting a card on the table.
“I’ll be in contact with her soon, but in the meantime, please offer her my sincerest apologies for how her case was handled by this department. We’ve worked overtime to clean house the last several months. We didn’t have enough evidence to arrest Ms. Barnes until this morning when we received credible information from a Mr… Monroe,” he says, glancing at his phone.
The guys and I exchange looks of concern and surprise, wondering what Wren’s ex gave them. Detective Wright excuses himself, and I let out a sigh of relief.
Ella’s arrest lifts a weight off my chest. For better or worse, I’ll make sure nobody hurts my girl again.
CHAPTER 39
RHODES
“You are in so much trouble, Starling,” I whisper into Wren’s ear as I wrap her in my arms. We’re at my parents’ house for a family barbecue to celebrate the Raptor’s win this morning, and my little tease is in one of my jerseys and shorts that make her legs look ten miles long.
It’s been a little over a month since Ella was arrested, and Wren is so much lighter now that we know who was behind all of the virtual attacks, especially after Detective Wright contacted her to apologize for the department’s negligence. She still goes to therapy every week and keeps her stuff at Archie’s, though we both sleep at our house most nights. I think it makes her feel better to say she’s “living” with her dad for now. She also nailed her interview with the Raptors just like we expected, and her contract should be here any day now.
She finally had a chance to fill us in about her conversation with Derrick, and to say we were stunned is an understatement. I don’t think I’ll ever forgive him for the things he did to her, but Wren has always had a bigger heart than me, and I know she doesn’t hold it against him because of everything he was going through.
We also finally met Archie’s girlfriend, the infamous Caroline, last weekend, and the women hit it off right away. I know Wren was worried about their dynamic, but I honestly think when Caroline moves in with Archie next month, she and Wren will be spending a lot of time together.
“Mmm,” she purrs, rubbing her tight ass against my half-hard cock. “You gonna punish me later, Roly-Coly?”
Gripping her hips firmly, I move her away from my pelvis before things get awkward in front of the family. “Starling,” I tug slightly on one of her cute braids, which earns me a heated look. “Behave, and I’ll reward you in the shower when we get home.” I murmur the words against her neck and nip under her ear.
“Hey there, lovebirds! No necking in the kitchen. That’s how we start fires.” My dad’s voice interrupts our moment when he and Walter step into the room, both holding plates piled precariously high with different cuts of meat. I snicker hearing him use that phrase. Archie used to say that when we were in college and fucking around in his kitchen. Nine times out of ten we were trashed and foraging for drunk snacks, but I digress.
Dominic Gray never met a grill he couldn’t master, and Walt loves to hang out and micromanage him while he cooks. Even though we’ve turned this week’s family barbecue into a celebration, it doesn’t feel much different than usual. Now that Walter doesn’t have any puppies to take care of, he joins us a few times a month. I’m pretty sure it’s just so he can see Finn and Wren, but we all enjoy the time with him, nonetheless.
Finnegan comes trotting in closely followed by my mom and Archie, and I drop to my knees to cuddle my baby. Although at just shy of six months old and almost sixty pounds, calling him a baby is laughable. The dude is huge. Wren still lets him sleep on her lap, and I love watching them snuggle together.
“Wren, honey, something was just delivered for you,” mom says as she hands over a large, certified envelope. I keep myself busy playing with Finn so that my smile doesn’t give anything away.