Ashley set her phone down after hanging up with Gin. Lucian caught her expression and furrowed his brows.
She exhaled slowly and turned to face him.
"Julius's son…" she began, just as a quiet knock came at the door.
They both looked up. There, Primo stood in the doorway.
"Lucian," Ashley murmured, watching their son. Her jaw tightened as she breathed through the feeling settling in her chest. "I think they've already started."
*****
At the same time, at a police station.
"God, Eli!" Alyssa sobbed, pulling her son into her arms.
Her whole body trembled. The tears wouldn't stop. Every trace of exhaustion had vanished, replaced entirely by the fear of what could have happened — and the overwhelming relief that it hadn't.
Julius stood beside his wife and son, exhaling slowly. He glanced at his in-laws, who were weeping alongside their daughter.
Elliot, for his part, looked thoroughly confused by all the crying.
