Page 113 of Pack Baby for the Silver Foxes

“I took it as one.”

“I think I need a rest before I hyperventilate.”

He smiled. “Come on. Let’s go home.”

Home.

When we returned, I found Hudson in the penthouse study with Pax.

I knew it was Pax before anyone introduced him because he had Hudson’s cheekbones and the same intolerable posture, but where Hudson looked composed, Pax looked relaxed. He was younger, early thirties maybe, with dark blond hair and sharp blue-gray eyes. His suit was excellent. His tie was in his pocket.

He stood when I entered.

“Mary,” Hudson said, “this is my brother, Paxton.”

“Pax,” Pax said. “Unless I’ve offended you, in which case Paxton gives you an extra syllable to load with contempt.”

I shook his hand. “Thoughtful.”

His smile widened. “Hudson said you were quick.”

“Are you a lawyer too?” Mac asked Mateus as we walked to the dining room.

“I am,” Mateus said.

Mac looked suspicious. “Do you fight villains?”

Mateus considered this. “Sometimes I fight paperwork. It has fewer capes but more staples so it’s just as dangerous.”

Mac nodded gravely. “Staples are sharp. I scratched my finger with the one in the middle of my book.”

“Yes, villains are much easier to handle.”

Dinner was in Hudson and Lincoln’s dining room. The Thames slid dark beyond the glass, catching the lights from the opposite bank. Artem sat at one end with Maeve beside him, Mac between Gregor and Ivan, and Mila in a high chair making executive decisions with a spoon. Hudson sat on my left, Lincoln on my right, and Sienna had been convinced to sit near the door after Maeve told her standing through dinner made everyone feel as if pudding was about to be arrested.

The first half of the meal was almost normal.

“I don’t like carrots,” Mac announced.

“Yes you do,” Maeve said.

“They make you strong,” Gregor told him.

Mac considered this. “Did you eat all your carrots as a child, and that’s why you’re enormous?”

Ivan choked on his water.

“I eat all my vegetables.” Gregor stabbed his fork into a carrot and put it in his mouth.

Maeve looked at him and smiled.

“Are you eating yours?” Gregor asked Mac, grimacing through every mouthful.

Mac answered, “No. I don’t like carrots, or sprouts, or little trees.”

“Trees. Yummy.” Mila picked up her broccoli and put it in her mouth.

Maeve added more broccoli to Mila’s plate. “Good girl, Mila. That’s why you’re going to be the boss. You eat your greens.”