Velvet Fire - Ashby Crime Family Romance

“I love you too, Virgil. So fucking much.”

His lips pulled into a slow smile and he shook his head.

“Yeah? Loving me means a lifetime of all this.”

He spread his arms wide to indicate the noise, the talk of business going on around the table. The smiles. The booze. The profanities.

“This seems pretty great to me, Virgil. Besides all that, I love you, which means I have to put up with you and your crazy family.”

“Did the new girl just call us crazy?” Cal asked with a gleam in his eyes. “She’s the one in love with Virgil but we’re the crazy ones? Sure, Maisie.”

I shrugged, feeling so happy I thought my heart my actually burst. One of my biggest fears in life was that I’d fall for a man I couldn’t bring home to Gunnar, Peaches and the guys, but Virgil was a man who could hold his own. Not just that, but his family wasn’t all that foreign to me either. We fit.

Almost like we were meant to be. If either of us believed in fairytales like that. “I don’t know Calvin; pretty sure I got the big end of the stick.”

“TMI,” he groaned and covered his eyes and then his ears, feigning confusion and horror when he couldn’t cover both at once. “I’ll have to do a complete brain bleach to get rid of that image,” he said around a wide smile.

Thomas entered the dining room and silence fell within seconds. It was like his very own superpower.

“The police are here,” he said without emotion, which was perfect because the rest of the dining room was suddenly tense as hell. Thick with fear.

“Let them in, Thomas.” Sadie looked around the table. “Don’t say anything.”

Two police detectives walked into the dining room, gazes scanning the room and bouncing over the Manning brothers, Virgil, Jasper and even Sadie until they landed on…Bonnie.

“Bonnie Byrne?”

Bonnie stood, shoulders squared and spine erect. “Yes, that’s me.”

“Ma’am we have a warrant for your arrest.” At the words spoken by the older female detective, all the air left my lungs.

“Are you crazy? What is she being arrested for?”

“Maisie.” Virgil grabbed my arm and shook his head.

Jasper stood and faced the detective. “I’d like to see the warrant.” They handed it over, and he read it with a laugh.

“Murder? For fuck’s sake,” he growled. “They think she killed Father Eric Maloney.” He snorted his disgust one final time and stepped aside.

“I didn’t kill anyone!” Bonnie cried out, “You’re lying!”

Tears streamed down her cheeks as she walked on stilted legs toward the two detectives in plainclothes. They handcuffed her and took her away, sobbing.

When they were gone, Sadie turned to me. “Don’t worry about a thing Maisie. Jasper will have our lawyers down there by the time she gets to the station.” She nodded at Jasper who was already speaking softly into the phone. “And if Bonnie is their best suspect, it means they have absolutely no evidence. They’ll scare the hell out of her but she’ll be fine.”

For some reason, her words didn’t soothe me. What did Sadie know about evidence? Did Sadie know something about the murder? And how did Bonnie get caught up in this bullshit?

I had to find out.

And Virgil would be the one to tell me. To get to the truth.