Page 138 of His Reckoning

“Dinner.”

Sawyer groans. “No.”

Cole points at him. “You haven’t been to the restaurant in a month.”

“I’ve been busy.”

Cole looks between the two of us, then grins slowly. “Oh, I’m sure you have.”

Sawyer rubs his face. “Cole?—”

“Nope,” Cole says, already standing again. “Get dressed.” He claps once. “We’re going to the restaurant.”

* * *

The restaurant is packed. Not in the trendy, quiet Manhattan way, where everyone whispers over expensive cocktails.

This place is loud.

Plates clatter, someone is laughing too hard near the bar, and a waiter squeezes past us, carrying three huge bowls of pasta.

It smells incredible. Garlic. Bread. Tomato sauce.

Cole leads the way through the dining room like he’s done it a thousand times. Sawyer walks beside me, one hand resting lightly at the small of my back.

The touch feels casual, almost automatic, like he’s not even aware he’s doing it.

We reach a long table near the back of the restaurant.

Seven people are already sitting there. The second they see Sawyer, several heads turn, and then every single one of them notices me.

The silence lasts exactly two seconds.

Then chaos erupts.

“Wait,” a woman with dark hair and sharp eyes says immediately. “Who is that?”

“That’s exactly what I was about to ask,” another woman says.

A guy across the table leans forward. “Did Sawyer just bring a girl to Sunday dinner?”

Cole drops into the nearest chair like this is the greatest moment of his life. “Oh, yeah,” he says. “This should be fun.”

Sawyer sighs. “Relax.”

No one relaxes. The first woman stands up and walks toward us.

She’s tall, confident, and carrying herself like someone everyone naturally listens to.

She sticks out her hand. “I’m Livia,” she says. “Sawyer’s older sister.”

I shake it. “Kayla.”

Behind her, the second woman is already grinning.

“I’m Brooklyn. Another sister,” she says. “And I already have questions.”

Sawyer rubs his face. “Can we sit down?”