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Eventually I took the spoon from Sparrow and rescued Robin’s saucepan. Colt protested louder than she did. I settled her in her high chair with her own dinner, and the rest of us found seats wherever we could. Conversation ran between the kitchen and front room, with Sparrow babbling over both.

When she started rubbing her eyes, I took her to bed. I came back with the baby monitor, and Handful cornered me by the kitchen counter. “The Hot House, right? You’re Blondie. Wednesday nights.”

I nodded. “I took tonight off.”

“I’ve heard you’re pretty amazing. Fancy a shift at Virtues?”

Seb turned so sharply Holden stopped mid-sentence.

Handful held up both hands. “My bad. Chill, brother. I’m joking.”

I grinned at Handful. “Virtues isn’t big enough for the crowd I pull, Handful.”

Colt laughed first. Nick joined in, then the whole kitchen. Seb shook his head at me, trying not to smile.

The stories went on until two.

Holden and Moff found each other early and stayed in a corner talking about something technical. At one point Holden said something that made Moff laugh out loud, and Robin looked at me with his eyebrows almost in his hairline.

Dion told Bellingham again for the new audience. Handful told the one about the goat, which I’d heard before and still didn’t believe.

Nick, who had wanted to run Seb out of town when he arrived, asked Colt about a protection detail and took notes on his phone while Colt answered.

Twice, somebody started a sentence with when we— and stopped because they weren’t sure which we they meant.

Nobody made anything of it.

Seb had arrived at Robin’s with Sparrow and me. Whenever we sat down, I tucked myself against his side, the way I used to at Venom. Before I put Sparrow to bed, he took her from me and carried her around while I helped Robin find plates. Later, when we went through a doorway, his hand rested at the small of my back. He kissed my temple as I passed him a drink and carried on talking to Holden.

Colt noticed first and glanced away. Handful saw, grinned to himself and then made a show of looking anywhere but at us. Holden took it in, nodded once and carried on talking.

Dutch noticed later.

He was halfway through a conversation with Robin when he stopped. He looked at Seb and me, then his eyes settled on mine.

I held his gaze.

Dutch nodded once and went back to his conversation.

One nod from the president of the Venom Riders, a man who’d been part of my family for four years. It was exactly right. If he’d said one word out loud, I’d have had to leave the room.

Robin found me in the kitchen after midnight. He stood in the doorway holding a dish towel he wasn’t using and worked his way up to it. “So.”

“So.”

“You and him.”

“Yeah.”

He nodded slowly. “I’m not going to pretend I’m delighted.”

“I know.”

“It pisses me off that I like him.” He put the towel down. “Sparrow adores him. And I’ve watched him let you decide how close he gets.”

“But.”

“But I’m the one who answered the phone.” His voice dropped. “The state you were in when I found you, Wren. It gutted me.”