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“I’ve been dying to meet you.” Alessandra bounced in her seat. I wasn’t sure what to say. I just took the empty spot on the couch next to Grace.
“So you’re with Nathan?” Isla asked as she smoothed back the hair of her son. The loving look on her face was foreign to me.
I didn’t care about babies. I couldn’t understand the appeal of losing sleep to change diapers. Or giving up your time and career for them. But it wasn’t my business to judge her choices. I’d had enough of that in my life. If she was happy, then that’s all that mattered.
“Um…” My teeth sank into my lower lip. “I’m not sure how to classify what we are.”
“Are you sleeping together?” Isla’s blunt question shocked me. I’d never had girlfriends. I’d spent most of my time studying. Trying to impress my parents. And girls tended not to like my competitive personality.
“Well…” My cheeks bloomed with warmth. I was open about my sex life, but I was not going to give his sisters-in-law details.
“Oh you are,” Grace squealed. Her happiness was infectious, and I found myself smiling back. “I can’t picture it.”
My brows furrowed as she shook her head. Alessandra jumped in when she saw my expression. “She just means he’s so clinical.”
“Unemotional.” Isla added.
The heat moved down between my legs as I thought about the things he’d said to me in bed. The way he looked at me when I’d had his cock in my mouth. Or when he’d had his tongue in my pussy.
“Definitely not like that with me.”
“Oh, my god.” Grace laughed. “I love this.”
Isla joined her, but Alessandra stared at me with concern in her eyes. “How much time have you spent with him?”
My spine straightened. My nerve endings prickling. “Enough.”
“It’s just…” She pursed her lips in a way similar to my mother. Anytime I’d seen that expression, a rude comment accompanied it. A nasty retort was already on the tip of my tongue. “Nathan’s different. He adapts to what is around him. He uses social cues to appear normal, but the problem is, he’s surrounded by his brothers. We love them, but they’re not normal either.”
“I’d say so.” A smile tugged on Isla’s mouth. “Kidnapping someone isn’t usually how you find your wife.” My head whipped to her, trying to process what she said. But not a single word made sense.
“Neither is an arranged marriage. Or killing the people who hurt your wife.” My feelings for Alessandra softened at her statement.
“Or pining for your sister-in-law, then forcing her to marry you because you can’t let her go.” I remember Nathan telling me that Grace and Vander had a complicated history.
“All I’m saying is,” my gaze shot to Alessandra again. “We’ve experienced what it’s like to be loved by these men. And it’s all Nathan knows. You might have to… help him. He doesn’t like many people, and I’d hate to see him lose you because you don’t understand him.”
Any worry I had about their intentions disappeared. Alessandra wasn’t trying to be rude. She was protecting her brother-in-law. Maybe I should be freaked out. They were talking about their husbands as killers. But I guess I already knew that they were even without being told. And I could find it in me to be scared when surrounded by their loving family dynamics.
“I understand him.” My heart pinched as I thought about all the sweet things he did. How they didn’t make sense to me. So maybe I didn’t fully grasp who he was. But I knew one thing. “I like him how he is.”
The next hour passed while I talked to the three of them about everything from babies, to work, to movies. I was struck by how regular their lives seemed. How real they were. More sincere than most people I’d known.
They had more money, too. But they didn’t let it change them. Their love and support for one another was evident. I had a hard time believing they were married to murderers.
But when the men returned, I got it.
Vander dropped to his knees in front of Grace almost instantly. He kissed her stomach, whispering words to a baby that wasn’t even born yet. The adoration in his eyes was so clear as looked at her. He wasn’t the man who had threatened me.
Cole was next to grab Alessandra, dragging her off the couch and into his embrace. Her laugh died as he kissed her hard, as if nothing else in the world mattered. He was just as worshiping. Not the guy who’d tried to kick me out after saving his brother’s life.
Angelo had his son in his arms as Isla kissed the scars on his cheek. They looked like an average family. Not like their relationship had been built on revenge.
They were matches. Two sides of a coin. These men needed these women. Needed them to be grounded. To have something worth living for.
As Nathan crossed the room, his serene blue eyes only focused on me, I wondered if I was that for him.
My stomach dipped hard, sending me spinning because I wanted to be.
