Ronald nodded with a soft, "Yeah," ruffled her silky hair, and turned to leave the


    room.


    Ste really was starting to feel sleepy.


    She turned, crawled into bed, and was just about to drift off when her phone buzzed. It was Susanna. "Did you just grill Hull about something again?"


    Ste squinted. "Or did you maybe blurt out something like, ''Let''s get married right now''?"


    Susanna: "!!!"


    Uhh...


    So now, in Ste''s mind, these two things had be Susanna''s signature


    moves when it came to Hull-either stripping him down (figuratively or literally), or dropping some bombshell line.


    Susanna groaned. "Remember earlier, when I told you I was scared to admit I liked him?"


    Ste thought for a second. Yeah, that rang a bell.


    Susanna always seemed to be poking or prodding Hull in some way, so it made sense Ste suspected there were feelings there.


    "I remember. So what happened?"


    Could it be something to do with that? Maybe she''d identally upset Hull again? Ste wouldn''t be surprised. Whenever Susanna got into trouble with Hull, it was always in this exact way.


    Susanna sighed. “He asked me why I''m scared to like him."


    Ste: "!!!"


    Well, that was unexpected.


    From what she knew of Hull, that didn''t seem like his style at all.


    "And... what did you say?"


    There was a lot to unpack here, and Ste couldn''t quite process it all at once.


    Susanna: “I didn''t dare answer! Anyway, forget about me screwing up for a second."


    "So what''s up?"


    "My mom. Turns out, she really was the boss of ck Gate. Isn''t that super dangerous?"


    Susanna was clearly fishing for info, but apart from a few things she''d overheard from Hull, she was totally in the dark.


    Ste replied, "I don''t know about dangerous, but honestly, there''s nothing you can do right now."


    Ronald had told her the same thing he couldn''t help, either.


    If Ronald couldn''t do anything, Susanna definitely couldn''t.


    Susanna: "I just want to see her. Just once."


    Ste: "..."


    See her mom?


    Susanna: "Do you think Mr. Quinn could help? Star, you''re my only hope here."


    Ste sighed. "I''ll ask him."


    vn


    This was ck Gate business, after all. Even though Ronald had his own connections in Ferrond''s underworld, he and ck Gate had always kept out of each other''s way.


    eir


    He always said ck Gate was a tangled mess, and he had no interest in getting caught up in drama. His ownwork was more than enough.


    After a little more back-and-forth, Ste hung up and dialed Ronald.


    Back when they were in Portis City,


    problems were at


    handled right away. Now, it


    Ste''s turn to pull strings.


    The call connected, and Ronald''s voice came through, warm and teasing: "Can''t


    sleep without me there?"


    Ste''s cheeks flushed. "What? No! That''s not it at all."


    "Hmm?"


    "It''s Susie. She wants to see Lacey. Any chance you can help?"


    With ck Gate involved, Ste honestly didn''t know if Ronald could pull it off, but


    it couldn''t hurt to ask.


    Sure enough, there was a pause on the other end.


    Then Ronald said, "I''ll take care of it."


    "Seriously? You can do that? Please, Susie''s been a wreck over her mom—she''s barely eating or sleeping."


    Ever since Lacey''s incident, every call from Susanna had been about her mom.


    Ronald''s lips curled into a faint smile. "Got it. Now get some sleep."


    He soothed her for a moment, then ended the call.


    Turning to Idris, who was driving up front, Ronald said, "Call Hull. Tell him Susanna wants to see her mother."


    Idris: "..."


    Uh... couldn''t Miss Susanna just ask Mr. Miguel herself?