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Lucas
Lucas and Bella only had a few more items on the shopping list. During that time, Lucas couldn't help but replay those seconds between his phone blowing up and Bella's face. Did she see it? Did she believe him?
Melissa was nothing more than the woman who worked at Macy's, his contact for the upcoming Christmas giving tree event. She'd never texted outside of work hours, but the event was coming up that weekend, so of course, there would be last-minute logistics and details that needed to be hammered out, but that was a daytime concern. Not a ‘now concern.'
Lucas led Bella to the front, his arm aching under the weight of the shopping basket.
A single, surly cashier manned the registers. Lucas wished they had more options. This woman, Zoe, always seemed to have shifts when he and Bella shopped and watched them wander the store with an unnerving hawk eye. He wasn’t sure he’d ever seen her have a friendly smile, just a strained half grin when they entered the checkout lane.
Bella didn't notice. She was flipping through the latest issue of Business Insider. Her brother and his perfect toothy smile stared back at Lucas from the cover.
"Good evening," Zoe deadpanned. Sleek black hair, streaked with various colors, stuffed under a fluffy Santa hat. She wasn't much different in size than Bella, maybe a few inches taller, but her aura, if that was even the right word, was way more intimidating. Even in her green Food Emporium polo and mismatched Christmas swag.
Lucas couldn’t seem to relax under Zoe’s gaze. On the other hand, Bella was busy making popping noises and giggling at the article. And not paying attention to anything around her.
He yawned and stretched dramatically. Then sighed. Nothing from Bells other than a soft snort at the article she was reading. So, he pulled out his debit card and took the divider from between their groceries while Bella read on.
“Did you read Chris’ interview? He talked about... Wait! What’re you doing? Not fair!” Bella squealed, jumping at Lucas and reaching for his debit card. Zoe was already through most of Bella’s groceries. “You. Paid. Last. Time!”
He squeezed his card, holding it in with the flat of his palm. His other hand free to bat Bells away and pray she didn’t make him lose his grip and take the debit card.
"Then next time, pay attention!" He said and laughed.
Zoe was almost done scanning everything. He just had to keep his card in the reader while the last few items were scanned, and then the payment would go through. Bella rolled up the magazine and smacked him in the arm. She tossed it on the last of the groceries and glared. "This means war, Holt."
Well, that was a relief. War he could deal with. That was blessedly normal for Bella.
“What? Your investments make more in a month than I do in a year. But I do make enough to afford your groceries! Especially when you buy so little!”
Bella assaulted his arm. Bags piled at the end of the short lane to the point where Zoe cleared her throat several times, vying for their attention.
“Go warm up the car,” Lucas said and tossed her his keys.
Bella loaded up her arms with as many bags as she could carry, staring daggers at him the entire time. Then, while backing her way out the exit, pointing from her eyes to his. “I’m watching you, Holt.”
Lucas drank in the way Bella kept making faces at him as the payment processed.
The doors had barely closed when Zoe barked, "Okay. We got a bet!" And she sent Lucas into the neighboring cash register stand, panting.
He’d completely forgotten Zoe was there, observing them.
“Bet?” he asked, unsure and a little scared.
There were many times people asked Bells who she was or recognized her. Most notably, this happened during Alicia’s non-bachelorette party. Alicia dragged everyone to a new club, the kind only the twins could get them into, to celebrate her last night single with her soon-to-be husband. The night was recorded for the world on Instagram by anyone at House of Yes.
So, was this a bet like who Bella was? Or...
Zoe held out the receipt for Lucas, then yanked it back out of reach when he tried to take it. “How long you been married?” she asked.
“M-married?”
What was going on?
“You got that cute thing going on still. Flirting and stuff. You’re newlyweds, right?”
Somehow, as innocuous as the question was, Zoe was still utterly intimidating. Lucas lost his voice, trying to wrap his mind around the question.
“We’re not...You’re...well, that’s not...no?” Lucas tried to settle on a single answer, but Zoe’s expression intensified.
"Whole store," her hand circled around the store, "has a pot going. Because for months, we've been keeping tabs on your sickeningly cute flirting. And I want to win that pot. Give me the deets.”
She reached across and grabbed his hand, then stuffed the receipt in.
“We’re not m-married,” he stuttered out.
Lucas tried to pull away, but she was strong.
“You’re not what?”
“Together?” His voice cracked.
Wrong answer.
Zoe pulled him closer, her grip so strong Lucas tried to give her some slack before she popped his shoulder out of its socket. And he was strong. He could keep up with Bella on a mat when it came to boxing. For a few minutes at least. If she went easy on him.
"So, here's what I'm-a do. Because I know there's a few others here seeing me talk to you. I'm going to tell them all you cussed me the hell out, and I never found out anything new. By God, you are going to tell that damn girl what's going on up there in your ridiculously golden head!" She kept grumbling, "Six months we've been watching! Not even dating!"
The stress of Zoe’s ranting made Lucas slip. “Been way longer than that.” He said that out loud accidentally.
“Excuse me?” She whirled on him again.
"Oh, my God," Lucas said and snatched the remaining grocery bags and hustled out the door, hoping to save his ass.
Lucas crashed into the driver’s seat with the rest of the bags in his lap while Bella fiddled with the radio. The bulk of those bags pushed the car horn, and he jumped again. Head crashing on the ceiling of the car.
“You okay?” Bella stopped on a Christmas radio station.
***
Lucas
Bella began nodding off only a few minutes into the show they'd chosen. Fifteen minutes was all she lasted after dinner. A full belly and slouching on the couch in hot debate zapped the last of her energy. Lucas arranged the comforter over her, and she threw half back on him.
From his peripheral vision, he caught her turn towards him, staring at him and not watching tv. Lucas had thrown the tie on the coffee table ages ago. He fiddled with the buttons on his wrists under her gaze.
"You won," he said like always.
“Thank you.” Bella’s hands, warm from the comforter, found his.
He wasn't sure what she was thanking him for. Dinner? The rescue? Groceries? It couldn't be anything else.
Bella threatened bodily harm if he finished doing the dishes because, as she said, “You’ve already done too much.”
He tried to work it out. “You said thank you. Well, you said...”
“Not the dishes. I could still hire someone to do that stuff.”
Laughable. The entire time he'd known Bella Astor, she rejected things like maids without outright leaving the family she loved dearly.
She squeezed his hand.
“I’ll always be here, B.”
Always.
No matter how dumb that was.
***
Christian
Chris' phone kept ringing, no matter how many times he pushed it to voicemail.
In the bed next to him, a woman moaned, “What’s going on?”
"I have a call to take. Go back to sleep," Chris said simply, slipping out of the sheets.
Padding out into his kitchen in his slippers and boxers, Chris found his glasses next to the espresso machine. His glasses were rounder with a thick metal frame on top. Easy to tell the difference between his and Lucas' glasses, even when he was blind as a bat.
Alicia
37 missed calls.
His phone started vibrating again. Yet another incoming call from Alicia.
"What the fuck is so important?" Chris' voice bounced off the marble and white European-style cabinets. A soft glow illuminated the stainless steel appliances.
"Oh, did I interrupt your beauty sleep, you dumbass?" Alicia's voice was extra grating in the middle of the night.
“Yes. Yes, you did. Lovely to hear your dulcet tones at,” he squinted at the clock on the oven, “three in the morning.”
What could possibly be so important as to call at this time? On a weeknight.
“Have you not been online? Like at all?” Alicia was talking fast, almost hyper-caffeinated fast.
“Do you sleep?” Chris asked, raking his curls back.
“I asked first. And I woke up to pee.”
“TMI, Alicia!”
“I can give you more details! Answer my question, Christian!”
“No,” he said, fiddling with a handle on the espresso machine. “I was busy with...”
“A waitress?”
Close enough. Chris didn't feel the need to correct her. It was a restaurant manager who'd come to check on him.
Alicia growled, "Man! Pres showed up at the clinic after I left for the night! Every social has been blowing up since."
That had to have happened hours ago. Most nights, Bella was out after 7 PM.
But two nights of Preston encounters. Chris’ imagination ran wild with what his sister could do.
"Shit. Shit...what do I...?" He started to panic, then stopped himself. Nothing too terrible could have happened. Neither Bella nor Lucas called. Most importantly, the police didn't call him.
"It's everywhere. Bella threw something at him. Someone across the street caught it on camera. You can see it through the blinds of the clinic windows, and then B comes out and yells at him. I can’t get a hold of B or Lucas. Goes straight to voicemail.”
Another call beeped during Alicia’s freak out. A detective Christian had enjoyed taking out for dinner. Someone he’d actually seen more than once.
“’Licia?” Chris begrudgingly pulled out the sweet tone, the cute nickname that Bella used when she begged Alicia for something. “Detective Sanders is calling.”
But she was on a roll. “This isn’t the time for a booty call! Or whatever...”
Well...
He hadn’t been thinking of the detective lately, but now that he was, Chris started, “That...”
“Gross! Stop! Do not give me details!”
Chris added Detective Ami Sanders to the call. The picture on her contact profile was a pretty picture he'd taken on their third dinner out during the time his sister was overseas. A cute wavy bob, vibrant dark brown eyes, and glowing light brown skin. Very different than when Ami was working.
He turned his back on the bedroom, where — what was her name? — slept.
“Christian?” Ami said amidst breathing a sigh of relief.
“Ami? I’m a little booked this evening...” The last remnants of sleep were gone. He threw the girls on speaker and started pulling out coffee beans, his grinder, and more to make a latte.
Alicia snorted. In the background, clothes were rustling.
“Is the Bella Astor that owns Hope Clinic the same...”
“Jesus.” Bending, Chris softly banged his head on the counter. “What the hell did she do?”
“Christian, can you confirm? Is the Bella Astor...”
“Yes, my sister owns Hope Clinic."
"Whoa! Co-owns! She owns half, you asshat!" Alicia interrupted.
There was a pause, and Chris swore he heard voices in the background. "Are you 'Dr. Alicia Mancini'?" Ami sounded like she was reading a report.
There was a simultaneous moan from both Chris and Alicia.
“I am. What did Bella do?”
“Dr. Astor was not involved. There’s been an incident at the clinic. Her name and number were listed for contact, but we can’t get a hold of Dr. Astor.”
“Wait?” Abandoning the caffeine, Chris felt wildly awake. “Incident. What kind of incident?”
Detective Sanders hesitated. “Can you come down here? Both of you?”