Baby Bundt Cake Confusion (Murder in the Mix Book 31) by Unknown (reading eggs books .txt) 📗

An expletive rips from me as I hit the ground.

The sound of tires screeching lights up the vicinity and that muscle car whizzes down the street doing a hundred at least.

I take a deep breath and stagger back to my feet. My hands run up and down my body.

No bullet wounds.

I’d say I was lucky, but the universe just might laugh.

I stare down at the gift bag clutched in my hand.

Lemon. I’m as good as a walking bullet to her. God forbid anything happens to her or the baby because of me. I couldn’t live with myself.

That push present I have in mind suddenly feels like a cruel gift.

If I really want to give her something, I should probably reconsider that disappearing act.

I head back toward Honey Hollow, wondering how the hell to get the Canellis to call off this hit. They might take a bribe that involved my prowess at the bench. That is, if I ever get back to my bench. Although that would make me the exact crooked judge that Owen was.

Nope. Can’t do that.

You play, you pay. I abide by the law.

I played when I moved that body and now Jimmy Canelli is going to make sure I pay.

I abide by the law and I might just die by it, too.

Lottie

Once Noah and I finished up at Mangias, we headed back to the bakery where, thanks to Everett’s magic hands—and I do mean magic—my refrigerated shelves are all back where they belong.

Lily refreshed the supply of sweet treats, and now that it’s getting late in the day, I’m glad to say they’re almost all gone. The Cutie Pie Bakery and Cakery has been buzzing with customers all day and I couldn’t be happier. This is my baby, and soon I’ll have another baby to add to the equation.

Speaking of which, those Braxton Hicks contractions have been testing my patience all day. I told Noah about the first few and he had a bona fide freak-out. For a second I thought he was going to ship me home and put me to bed, so I’ve decided to keep my false labor to myself, turning away from him anytime I need to wince in pain. A few have been so strong that I fought the urge to cry out. If this is the trial, I’m not too interested in experiencing the real deal. But unfortunately for me, there’s no way out of it.

“That was a great date, Lot.” Noah winks my way as I slide over a plate of chocolate chip cookies between him and Everett. I’ve been working the counter, and it’s not lost on me that my belly keeps getting in the way. I nearly knocked an entire box of cupcakes right out of Lily’s hands much to the horror of the customer who painstakingly picked out each one.

“I aim to please,” I say, snatching a cookie off his plate and taking a bite. The warm cookie tastes like a dream, with its soft chewy center and slightly crunchy edges. Lily helped me whip up a fresh batch, and the entire bakery is scented with its chocolate chip goodness. “Mmm, it’s a wonder I don’t eat these twenty-four seven.”

“Hear that?” Noah lifts a brow as he looks to Everett. “Lottie’s chocolate chip cookies just so happen to be my favorite. And she says she can eat them twenty-four seven. That sounds an awful lot like a craving to me. Thus, she must be having my child.”

Everett does not look amused. And although a serious demeanor is his go-to expression, I have noted an edge to my super handsome hubby ever since he stepped into the bakery not too long ago.

Everett sinks his head a notch as he glowers over at Noah.

“Everything in this bakery is my favorite,” he grouses. “And if I use your simplistic logic, I could deduce the fact she’s carrying my child. Which is an uncontested fact, by the way, regardless of paternity.”

“You’re edgy, Everett,” I say, quickly producing a platter of fresh baked brownies and landing them in front of him. Yes, I baked those brownies right alongside those cookies. There was no way I was going to leave my husband out of the sweet treat loop.

“That’s right,” Noah says. “He is edgy. And you’ve accidentally signed up for a lifetime of that grumpy behavior, Lottie. Don’t worry. I’ve got enough dough in my emergency fund to cover a divorce. Kicking him out of the house was a step in the right direction.”

I make a face at Noah. “I did not kick him out of the house. He left because—” I suck in a quick breath. “That’s why you’re edgy!” I make my way around the counter.

“I don’t need a road map of Italy to know it’s the mob that has you fit to kill—because the mob is fit to kill you as well. Everett, you’re miserable and it’s all my fault.”

The muscles in Everett’s jaw flinch. “It’s his fault, Lemon.” He flits his eyes to Noah. “Don’t bother denying it. You and I both know it.”

Noah slumps over his elbows. “It is my fault, and you know what? I can’t go back and change a thing. But you’ve got a defense that may not be so solid, but it’s definitely enough to put doubt in the jury’s mind. Don’t think about it. And don’t get worked up because you’re going to work her up and she needs to stay calm. She’s about to go through a major life event if you haven’t noticed.”

A tiny whimper comes from me, but before I can dwell on the fact I’ve managed to turn the world upside down, a horrific thought hits me.

“Something happened to you today.” I point right at Everett, daring him to defy me. “They came after you, didn’t they?”

The door to the bakery bursts open and in file Carlotta, Lainey, Meg, and Keelie. The four of