When I arrive, I’m glad I don’t see Solana’s or Georgie’s cars in the lot. Two Rolls Royces are parked side by side, watching Mercedes’s house. I open the hatch of the Range Rover, and Pestilence jumps out. The puppy tries to follow suit but hesitates at the high drop, whining. She sits and looks up at me, her little tail wagging.

Oh, yes. Blackmail.

I pick her up, nod a greeting to the guards, and head to Mercedes’s front door. Pestilence sniffs everything in the front garden before coming to stand by my side as I ring the bell and wait for her to open the door.

Her steps falter when she sees me through the window but then Pestilence barks, his tail wagging as he sees her, and she hurries to open the door. She doesn’t greet me, doesn’t even smile, and before she can say a word about the puppy in my arms, Pestilence is nudging his nose against her, demanding all her attention.

“Hey you,” she says in a warm tone she uses with the dogs. She crouches down and lets him lick her face as she pets him. “What are you doing here?”

I clear my throat and invite myself in.

“Oh,” she says, tone cooler as she looks up at me. She straightens.

“They can’t drive themselves,” I say.

“Hm.” Her gaze moves to the puppy, whining to be free of me, and she smiles wide. “Who are you?” Mercedes takes her from me. The puppy instantly loves her, her little butt wagging along with her tail as she licks Mercedes’s face while Pestilence demands more attention.

“Do you like her?” I ask. Closing the door, I get a look at her belly in the T-shirt she’s wearing. It’s clearly not a maternity shirt because it hugs her tight, leaving a strip of skin exposed above her leggings. It takes all I have not to reach out and touch her stomach, lay my hand over my babies inside, wondering if they’ll recognize my voice, my touch.

When I meet her eyes, she’s watching me. “What is this, Judge?”

I raise my eyebrows, suddenly uncertain of my plan. “You don’t like her?”

“No, it’s not that. I love her.” She says the words so easily, so honestly. Have I ever been so easy with those particular words? Never. “But what are you doing?”

“Well, I thought it was time to get a new puppy. Keeps the boys on their toes.”

It’s her turn to raise her eyebrows. “Really? Because four giant Dobermans aren’t enough?”