all the ways a secret can hurt

Max try to trade the asparagus on his plate for Zach’s steak when my phone buzzed on the table.“Two asparagus,” Max offered, pushing the vegetables forward with his fork.Zach glanced at his plate. “For one piece of steak?”Max nodded.“Bad deal.”“Three asparagus.”“You only have two.”Max turned toward Issa’s plate.I immediately raised a finger. “Don’t.”He lowered his fork with an offended expression, as though I’d just blocked a highly promising international trade agreement.My phone buzzed again.I picked it up with a small smile, still listening to Issa explain that her asparagus was not available for investment, but the smile disappeared the moment I saw the name on the screen.Fiona 💅🏻🔥Oh, fuck.My little sister.My little sister, who was supposed to come to Oregon this weekend.My little sister, who was planning a wedding with the man currently sitting beside me, wearing an expensive shirt with the sleeves rolled up and cutting steak for kids she didn't even know were

something borrowed, something catastrophic

“Oh my God, wait. Before I forget!”I blinked.“My dress fitting almost turned into a public execution earlier.”I closed my mouth. Oh God.“What happened?” I asked, because my good-big-sister instincts were still functioning even while my morality was lying in the emergency room.“You know Mamá wanted a longer train, right?”“Yeah.”“Well, they added it. And I told them it was way too long, but everyone kept insisting it was perfect. Then I took two steps back, and Tía Lucía stepped on the end of it. She almost fell.”“Fio.”“That’s not even the funny part. She refused to let go of her champagne.”I laughed. “Oh, Jesus.”“So picture me standing on the fitting platform in a white dress that costs as much as a small car, Tía Lucía tangled up in my train, one hand holding her champagne, the other gripping a chair, while Mamá is screaming at everyone not to pull the fabric.”I covered my face with my hand.“And you know what Tía Lucía said?”“I’m afraid to ask.”“She said, ‘If the dress

the groom, the guilt, and the getaway plan

Zach looked back at me. “I know.”I laughed again. “No, I don't think you really understand how bad this is. Because my family has no idea, Zach. They think you're busy working, Fiona thinks her future husband is taking care of business, and I...” I glanced down at my shoes. “I don't even know what I'm supposed to say anymore when Mamá calls and asks if you've picked out your tuxedo.”“Bella.”“I'm not trying to blame everyone but myself. I know I helped create this mess.” I looked up at him. “But Fiona didn't. She's the only person who wakes up every morning still believing all of this is leading to something beautiful.”Zach said nothing and I didn't try to fill the silence with another comment.He walked over until he was standing right in front of me, close enough that I could smell the cologne he'd been wearing since this morning.“Look at me,” he said.“I am looking at you.”“No. You're looking at everything that could possibly go wrong all at once.”I frowned.He lowered his he

one crime at a time, please

When I returned to the dining room, Zach was negotiating with two four-year-olds over ownership of a slice of chocolate cake.I stopped near the doorway, watching Max stand beside his chair, one hand pointing at Issa's plate, while his twin sister sat there looking perfectly composed, a tiny fork in her hand, as though the cake in front of her were a family inheritance that had legally passed into her possession.“That's mine,” Max insisted.“No. It's mine now.”“DADDY GAVE IT TO ME!”“Daddy put it in the middle,” Issa replied calmly. “You took too long to choose.”“I was thinking!”“Well, you're slow.”I closed my eyes for a moment. “Isabella Maria Gómez, would you please explain why you're eating your brother's cake?”Issa turned toward me with the most innocent hazel eyes imaginable. Fake innocence, obviously, because I'd given birth to that little girl, and I knew perfectly well she was capable of committing crimes while wearing a hair bow.“I only took the part Max didn't want.”

all this trouble before dinner

“Bella?”I hadn't even realized Zach was looking at me.“What?” I asked.“You're thinking about something.”“Yeah. And unfortunately, it doesn't involve a vacation in Hawaii.”“We can arrange that after this.”I glanced at him. “Focus.”“I am focused.”“Of course you are.” I turned my attention back to the report. “I just don't like the sequence of events. My team started examining the archive gateway, then we had document searches and an override. We assumed this guy panicked because we'd found his way in.”“You don't think that's what happened?” Claire asked.“I don't know yet.” I set the tablet on the table. “But we need to look at the entire timeline, including when those documents were first opened and what my team was doing at the same time.”Zach studied my face for a few seconds. “Why?”I leaned back against the sofa. “Because maybe he really was trying to stop us. But maybe he was also waiting for us to get far enough into the system to unlock a certain part of the archives.”

this is why we can't have nice things

We found Bianna in the lounge with two children who had apparently decided that Zach's expensive sofa was the perfect place to build a city.Six cushions were scattered across the floor, two toy cars were parked on the armrest, and Issa's unicorn sat in the middle of the coffee table looking suspiciously official.“What's all this?” I asked as soon as I walked in.“City,” Max answered proudly.Issa raised one hand. “I'm the mayor.”“You're not the mayor,” Max argued. “I made the road.”“I picked the colors.”“That's not what mayors do.”“IT IS!”Bianna sat at one end of the sofa, holding her phone with a small cushion on her lap. She looked at me with the expression of a woman who had officially surrendered to the latest form of government established by two four-year-olds.“They're discussing taxes.”I stopped. “I'm sorry?”“Tax,” Max announced confidently. “All cars have to pay to go through here.”I looked at Zach. “See?” I said. “This is what happens when your genetics are allowed