Nia kissed him, then walked into his office, sat down on Travis’s chair behind the desk, and dialed Aleena’s number.
“Spencer residence.”
“Oh, hi. Can I speak to Aleena, please?”
“Of course, miss. May I say who’s calling?”
“Nia.”
“Please hold.”
She didn’t have to wait long.
“Nia, I’m so glad you called,” Aleena exclaimed breathlessly from running. “I was wondering how everything was going. I wanted to call, but daddy told me to leave you alone so you and Travis could make up. Did you?”
Nia smiled. “We did. The conversation I overheard was Travis trying to trap Madelyn into confessing.”
“Confessing to what?”
“She deleted the email I sent when Russ was in the house, and she gave my brother the code on how to get in.”
“Oh, my God.”
“What did Travis do to her?”
“She’s in jail waiting for a bail hearing. Daddy thinks she’ll make a deal.”
“I just want her out of your life.”
Nia smiled. “Me, too.”
“How are you dealing with shooting your brother?”
“Travis is getting me into counseling. I cry about it a lot.”
“That would be so hard, but you know you had to do it, right?”
“Yes. It was either Russ or Travis and his friends. I didn’t think twice about the decision when it happened. It was just after I questioned myself. Travis says that’s what the counselor will help me with.”
“I’m glad you’re getting help.”
“Me, too. One of the reasons I called was that I worried about you and Larkin. Did you guys get in trouble?”
“Larkin got spanked, which she enjoys, so she came out ahead,” Aleena said and giggled. “Kaleb and I had a long talk. He understood why I did it and thought it was brave to help you knowing I’d get in trouble, but I still had to get punished for lying to him. I’m grounded for a month, so I can’t go anywhere or have anyone over, and after dinner, I have to go to his office and read what he picks out for me while he does some work. I usually go to my playroom after dinner, so this is going to be incredibly boring.”
Nia laughed.
“I was also spanked but in the best possible way. It was all worth it. I’m just glad everything is working out between you two.”
“Me, too. The thought of never seeing him again tore me apart.”
“It would kill me, too, if I never got to see Kaleb.”
“If you’re grounded, should you be on the phone?”
“No.” Aleena giggled. “I’m hoping for another spanking.”
“You’re weird.”