HANNAH (Silicon Valley Billionaires 3)

I bristled. “Already getting back to work, huh?”

“I can do tactics sitting in the comfort of Gabe and Lauren’s living room,” he chided, “so you don’t have to worry. I guess I can’t come with you, though.”

“Levi and Ash are going with us—they want to talk to Fiona about coverage for the service and setting up personal security for the girls. Lauren and I will be fine.”

Wes brushed the hair from my forehead, still looking at me with concern. “Are you okay about this? Seeing her?”

I squared my shoulders. “I have to be. She needs me.”

“You don’t have to be so strong for everybody all the time.”

An image of Wes lying in his hospital bed, unconscious, with tubes running into his body, flashed in my mind. I threw my arms around his neck. “Yes, I do.”

Chapter 10

Hannah

Ash maneuvered up the Paces’ long driveway. Their home was on the other side of Palo Alto in a gated community. Then the large stucco house came into view, replete with columns and a bubbling fountain adorning the manicured lawn.

Ash let out a low whistle as we got out of the SUV. “This is gorgeous.”

Levi grunted, looking around at the sunshine and the rolling green lawn. “California really is nicer than Massachusetts—it’s not fair.”

“Right?” Ash agreed. “Palo Alto makes South Boston look like it got beat with the ugly stick. Which it sort of did, but still.”

“How old are Fiona’s kids again?” Levi asked me as we walked the path to the front door.

I winced. “Her daughters are eight and six—Katie and Quinn. They’re the sweetest little girls. Fiona said they’re absolutely crushed. Jim was a great dad.”

Levi seemed at a loss for words—he’d lost his own dad when he was young. He just shook his head, composing his features as we ascended the walkway.

An older woman opened the front door, and even though I’d never met her, I immediately recognized her as Fiona’s mother. “I’m Hannah Taylor, a friend of Fiona’s. This is my sister, Lauren, and part of our security detail, Levi and Asher Betts. They run Betts Security.”

The woman held out her hand. “I’m Evelyn Bartlett, Fiona’s mom. She’s expecting you.”

She motioned for us to come in, and I saw Katie and Quinn sitting on a long bench in the foyer, their faces blotchy from crying. They waved to me, then resumed clutching their somewhat beat-up stuffed animals.

I bent down to see them, careful to give them space. “Hey, girls. I’m so sorry about your dad.”

Usually, whenever I came to the house, they were all over me—asking me about my clothes and if I wanted to play dolls. Today, they barely looked up. “Thanks,” they mumbled in unison.

Their grandmother gently kissed them both. “I’m going to bring Hannah and her friends to see your mom, and then we can go to the kitchen for a snack, okay?”

Katie nodded. Quinn just stroked her stuffed bunny’s matted ears.

Mrs. Bartlett shook her head as she led us to the living room. “Those poor girls. They haven’t stopped crying and asking for their dad. This is just—it’s unbearable.”

Fiona sat in the far corner of a room decorated in varying shades of white and cream. With the sun pouring through the windows, the large room should have been cheerful. But seeing Fiona wrapped in a blanket next to the fireplace, her face a pale, puffy mask, sucked any joy from the atmosphere.

I willed myself not to cry as I went to my friend and wrapped my arms around her. “I’m so sorry.”

“Thank you.” Fiona pulled back, and I could see dark circles, like bruises, underneath her eyes. She hugged Lauren and motioned for us all to sit.

“Mrs. Pace, I’m so sorry to hear about your husband,” Levi said. “And I know this is painful for you, but I need you to tell me everything that happened when Jim was killed, and everything that’s happened since.”

Fiona wrapped the blanket back around her. “I’ve already made a statement to the police and to the FBI.”

“I want you to know that we work with law enforcement, and we cooperate with them fully. But if you decide to finalize things with our firm, you’ll want us to know everything. We might see something that the other agencies miss.”