That baby was truly all three of theirs, and he or she was so very loved.
Margo cleared her throat. “You built your family your way.”
“We had to, after what we grew up with. You too. It doesn’t matter if it looks like anyone else’s, does it? Not if it gives you what you need.” Jules hesitated. “Did I just hear a sniffle?”
Margo rubbed her nose and let out a watery laugh. “You know I don’t cry.”
“Right. Just like I don’t. Liars, we are.” Jules sighed. “If you need me, I’m here. I know that wasn’t always true, but I am now. I want to be your sister, for real. Not just because we share DNA, but in all the ways that count.”
“You are.” Margo closed her eyes and took a deep breath to shore herself up. She had to be ready to deal with Simon and the situation with Ian. The last thing she needed right now was to fall apart. “And same goes. Anytime you need me, just call.”
“You’ve said that a million times since November, and you know I have.” Jules let out a faint laugh, but Margo didn’t smile.
Since November. When everything had become so much more tenuous in their world. Fraught with danger and far more fleeting than they’d ever guessed.
Nothing was guaranteed. Not even a moment.
“I’m glad for it. We don’t have to be like our parents. We sure as hell don’t have to raise our kids like our parents either. We can do better.”
“Damn straight. Though you’re falling down on the ‘our kids’ part of that, though I suppose George counts.”
Margo swallowed down a sob and forced herself to breathe. She wanted to blurt it out. Needed to tell someone, but it had to be Simon first. Had to be. “I have to go. Talk later?”
“Sure.” Jules swallowed audibly. “Hey, go easy on Simon. You know I don’t give that guy an inch, but it’s not a walk in the park having a talented, shining star of a sibling. And one you didn’t even know existed, who looks and sounds just like you—it’s gotta be hard. So don’t judge him too harshly.”
Margo pressed her lips together and nodded, forgetting for a moment that her sister couldn’t see her. “I’ll try,” she whispered. “Bye.”
She ended the call and exhaled, tipping back her head to stare at the pattern of sunlight on the ceiling. With every passing minute, the sun was getting stronger and Simon was still gone.
Maybe she could call their on-call security detail, see if Simon had brought someone with him. Allay her fears that way at least if not any other. But she didn’t make the call, because she knew he hadn’t. He wouldn’t. Simon had grown up without a penny to his name and didn’t operate that way. He and Nick were alike in that sense. No matter how much money they had, in their heads they were still poor kids with their backs to the wall.
She pulled on her robe and tightened it as she walked toward the door of the connecting suite. She didn’t want to bring her problems to Li’s doorstep. But if her best friend knew something about Ian that could give her some idea where Simon had gone, she’d do it.
Margo knocked, then stepped into Lila’s suite. She almost backed right out again. The domestic scene in her friend’s bedroom made her teeth ache from its sweetness. Lila was tapping away on the keyboard attached to the iPad in her lap, and one of her daughters was stretched out at the bottom of the bed, laying on her side with her thumb in her mouth. Nick was sprawled on his stomach with their other blond twin half curled on his back, equally unconscious.
The small beds set up on the other side of the room looked untouched.
“I’m sorry,” Margo said. “It’s too early. I don’t mean to intrude.”
Lila held up a hand and set aside the iPad and keyboard before whipping a silky robe off the bedpost and wrapping it around herself. She quickly checked on the blond twin at the bottom of the bed—Avery, if Margo were to guess, judging by the thumb-sucking—and pried her daughter’s thumb out of her mouth, only to shake her head as Avery immediately replaced it without opening her eyes.
Margo smiled and moved back into her own room, holding the door open for Lila to enter. As soon as she had, she turned to face Margo and propped her hands on her hips. “What is it?”
Margo blinked. That was Li. She didn’t understand how to be anything but as direct as an arrow.
“Simon’s gone.” Realizing that sounded even worse than the reality, she cleared her throat. “I mean, I don’t know where he is. I woke up, God, maybe half an hour ago now, and the sheets were cold.”
Lila was already on the move, walking around the suite and peering into corners on an obvious search for clues as to Simon’s possible whereabouts. As if it could be that simple. “Did you argue prior?”
“No. Exact opposite actually.” Because it was Li, she didn’t flush. Also, connecting suites told more than a few tales all on their own. “I texted. Called. No reply.”
Li gripped the bedpost and angled her head, her gaze sweeping over Margo with a penetrating intensity that made Margo want to squirm. “You’re pale. Did you get any sleep?”
Manager-mode Li was always something to see, especially since she flipped back and forth between her roles with surprising aplomb.
“I slept. I could use more, but what else is new?” Margo laughed weakly and moved to the window, twitching back the curtain. A double-decker bus chugged along on the road below, and for a second, she wished she was on it. Just riding away from her problems.
“This is about Ian,” Li said.