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The only reason I’m not dragging her out of here is because, for the first time since we brought her back to us, she looks free. If only for a few hours, she looks like she’s let her guard down and is genuinely having fun. As much as I want to throw her over my shoulder and start our night together, I won’t because Harper is the only other person on this planet who can get me to shove down my temper in order to do something for someone else. I won’t take this night away from her.
“So much trouble, Baby,” I say, smiling down at her so she knows I’m full of shit. Leaning down so my lips brush against the shell of her ear, I whisper, “But don’t worry, I’ll finally make good on my threats and punish you for it later.”
I lean back so I can look into her eyes, and despite just coming all over Finn’s hand, they are filled with desire. “Promises, promises, Sir.”
“Harper,” I growl, “It’s taking all of my willpower not to end the night early and drag you out of here. Don’t. Push. Me.”
She tilts her head and bites her lower lip, eyes twinkling with mischief. “Pushing you is my favorite hobby.”
“Hmmm. Don’t I know it.” I plant a quick but fierce kiss on her lips. “Come on, I got you another drink.”
When I spin around to tuck Harper back into the booth, Luca, Enzo, Dante, and Sebastian are all standing while Mac and Finn have a fresh glass of whiskey in their hands and satisfied smiles in place.
Ignoring tweedle-dee and tweedle-dumb, I introduce them, “Dante, Enzo, you guys remember, Harper.”
Dante nods, and Enzo gives her a soft smile. “Bella. So happy to see you feeling better.”
I force myself to ignore the nickname Enzo gave her as Harper shyly tucks a curl behind her ear and smiles, likely remembering the condition in which Dante and Enzo first met her in. I give her hip a reassuring squeeze.
“Harper, this is Luca and Sebastian. Luca is Pascal’s son. He runs Vittori Enterprises here in New York with Enzo. Dante is their security and long-time friend, and Sebastian is a genius on the computer. We never would have found you without him.” Sebastian blushes at the compliment, and Luca looks at him with pure admiration.
Sebastian gives Harper an awkward wave before Luca steps forward and kisses both of her cheeks. I grit my teeth as his lips come in contact with her skin. If it were anyone else, I would have snapped their neck by now, but I know Luca is no threat to me. It doesn’t stop my annoyance, though, and judging by the way Luca smirks over at me as he stands upright he knows it’s getting under my skin.
Fucking smart-ass.
“So nice to officially meet you, Harper. You are every bit as beautiful as I imagined you would be.”
Harper takes a small step forward, and I don’t miss the water pooling in her eyes. “I just wanted to thank you all. Thank you for helping them find me. You had no reason to help, you didn’t owe them anything, and you didn’t know me. But you did it anyway. Without your help, who knows what would have happened to me. By no means is any of it over, but I’m alive right now because of all of you.” Her voice trembles on the last sentence, and a small tear rolls down the apple of her cheek. “I don’t even know how to thank you.”
“No thanks necessary, Harper. My dad said a friend needed help, so we helped.”
“You just focus on trying not to kill these three assholes in their sleep, and we will keep helping you all however we can,” Enzo adds with a smile.
Harper wipes at her face, “Thank you.”
“Alright!” Luca claps his hands together, “Enough of the heavy, let’s have ourselves a fucking night, shall we?”
* * *
Have ourselves a fucking night, we did. Mac, Finn, Luca, and Sebastian got absolutely shit-faced in the span of three hours while Enzo, Dante, and I watched in both amusement and awe. I have honestly never seen four people polish off so much alcohol so fast in my life.
And I’m Irish.
Harper only had a few more glasses of rosé, and when I asked her why, she winked at me and said, “Just want to make sure I have my wits about me for my punishment later.”
I have never been more ready to get home in my entire life.
“Ronan,” Mac whines from his seat in Ralph’s car, “You can’t hog our girlfriend all to yourself all night. It’s not fair.”
He sounds like a petulant child. “Mac. Shut up.”
“You shut up!” Harper tries to stifle a laugh from where she rests her head on my shoulder.
“Finn, I’m gonna shoot him.”
I smack him on the back of the head. “One, you couldn’t shoot me right now if your life depended on it, and two, I took your guns away from you both two hours ago, you fucking moron.”
With Dante, Enzo, and myself not drinking, I felt more than comfortable letting Finn and Mac blow off some steam. But that doesn’t mean I’m stupid enough to let them have loaded weapons when they can’t even see straight.
