Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 91461 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91461 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
“In our defense—” Aja began.
“I know. You’re doing good deeds, but we will ratify how you do what you do starting now.”
“Yes,” I agreed, smiling at him.
“Don’t smile at me. We’re all going to my house now to talk. Chris and Dane are meeting us there.”
Aja gasped.
Dylan’s color washed right out of her face.
“Oh, Sam,” I said softly, patting his bicep. “Do we think that’s really necessary for—”
“I do,” he said, and his voice was hard and flat. “I truly do.”
Clearly, I was not going to soothe him out of his mood. It was going to be a long night.
That’s it, all. Have a lovely rest of October. I’ll tell you all about Halloween in November. I hope your lives are gentle and uneventful until we chat again.
NOVEMBER 2025
First things first, welcome to the November He Said, he said, everyone.
Now, last month, as you recall, Aja, Dylan, and I had a small run-in with ICE as we were delivering a woman and her sons away from an untenable situation with her husband. He was abusive, and as members of Sodalite, who move people, we normally only worried about police officers. But now there was ICE as well. And while I was lucky—being married to the chief deputy of the Northern District of Illinois—Sam had saved the three of us from whatever they would have done to us, that did not keep us from “the talk”.
It was…excruciating.
In our house, at our kitchen table, my cohorts and I got to hear from each of our husbands.
Dane said, if anything were to happen to his wife, his bride, the love of his life, he would never be the same. He would not be the man he needed to be for his sons and would need to retire at once, as the love of his craft, of architecture, would be gone as well.
Aja only stared at him, mouth open, tears running down her face.
“Would you do that to me?” he rasped.
I was crying by then too.
She vowed to be careful before she dissolved into tears.
Chris asked Dylan if she had considered what his life would look like without her. He laughed with her every day. Did she imagine that he would ever laugh again?
Elbows on the table, face in her hands, she was utterly gutted.
Sam was standing there, arms crossed, brows furrowed, and told me that I was the one who made him, him. He would be changed forever if he lost me, and not the man he wanted to be for his children or grandchildren.
“Hannah would have to start all her sentences with, ‘you don’t understand, my dad used to be different.’ Kola would have to explain why he loved me when I no longer seemed capable.”
“God,” I moaned softly, face down on the table.
“I know you all have to help, I do,” Sam addressed all three of us, “but going forward you must be aware of the jeopardy you’re putting yourselves in. There are people I can ask to make sure that you’re safe.”
I lifted my head to look at my husband. “You’re not thinking of asking any of your people to––”
“I can’t do that,” Sam stated flatly. “But I know Jared Colter, and there are people there to ask, and Darius is another person I can reach out to.”
“Aaron can’t––”
“Did I mention Aaron?” he snapped at me, which wasn’t his normal. “Did I say anything at all about Aaron Sutter?”
I cleared my throat. “No.”
“Then don’t presume I’m an idiot, all right?”
My sigh was loud.
“I’m sorry, is this tedious for you?”
“No, not at all. I––”
But he left the room then, stalking through the kitchen and out to the porch.
When I glanced over at Dane, he was staring out into our front yard, arms crossed, looking like a statue. Chris was in the kitchen, not saying a word. Aja had her hand pressed to her forehead, and Dylan was face down in her arms.
We were an utterly miserable group.
“I love you too much,” Chris said suddenly, and I turned to look at him. “Back in the day, I was the master of pulling away slowly to make sure I didn’t get hurt. I would put distance between me and whoever, bit by bit, until I simply didn’t care. But now, with you––” He took a shaky breath. “It’s been too long. I’m in too deep, so I’m begging you to please not hurt me. I’m far too attached to you, my friend, to lose you.”
“I’m sorry,” I told him.
“Please, Aja,” he said, looking at her. “My circle is as big as I ever want it to be. Please don’t leave me.”
That was it, Aja was bawling, and when Chris glanced at Dane, he nodded and gave him a trace of a smile.
Getting up, I went after Sam, finding him on the back porch, outside, and walking up behind him.