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Quinn rolled her eyes. “There isn’t a girl any more than there’s a boy. I just think dating is a waste of time. Getting married is not my main goal in life. And since it’s not the 1800s, that shouldn’t come as such a shock.”
“Just because getting married isn’t your only goal in life doesn’t mean you have to give up on the whole idea,” Mamma said, reaching for Papa’s hand. “This family has brought me more joy than anything else in my life.”
“Yeah, but you got married like a hundred years ago. Have you seen my dating options?”
“She does have a point,” Nacio muttered to me. At twenty-nine, he was still unmarried, though I believed that had less to do with his dating pool and more to do with his broken heart after the girl he loved dumped him. And to add insult to injury, she’d left him for a “normal guy” who didn’t have cameras following him or girls throwing themselves at him left and right.
I leaned into my oldest brother. “Do you have a date for the ball?”
“Of course,” he whispered back. “You?”
I shook my head. “Think I have a shot at convincing Remy to go with me?”
“You might be able to convince him, but Mamma and Papa won’t let him go until he’s eighteen. Good luck convincingthem.”
I sighed. “You’re right. Guess I’m going solo again.”
“What are you two whispering about over there?” Mamma asked.
“Fruitless hopes and dashed dreams,” I answered while Nacio snorted and shook his head at me.
“Sounds fun,” Orlando said dryly.
I couldn’t reach him, so I dug into my bag and threw the first light thing my fingers touched at his shoulder.
He laughed. “Did you just throw acredit cardat me?”
I shrugged, but I couldn’t keep the grin off my face. I loved having my whole family together. I lived for nights like this—hanging out in the kitchen without any cameras or outside opinions to worry about.
Two
Samuel
Eight years isa long time to be away from your own business. I looked up at the building I’d owned for decades.
Youngblood was my first and favorite club. It was my baby, and I wasn’t entirely sure how I’d let anything keep me away for eight entire years.
I’d started the club as a cover, a place for me to meet with the humans who worked for me. My time spent on Earth was so much easier with a network of people I could trust to do anything for me.
I often wondered if Jesus had surrounded himself with sinners just to change their lives or because he knew that offering a sinner a second chance got you the most loyal followers. It was easy for a person who already had everything they thought they needed to reject you. Offer the same opportunity and forgiveness to a person who was starving for love and support, and they’d never forget it. Those were the people who changed the world.
But I’d never get to ask Jesus that question. There was no way I was going to get to sit down with the Son of God anytime soon… or ever. I didn’t have that kind of rank.
But here? This was my kingdom.
I stepped through the front doors to find the lobby exactly as I remembered—dim and decked out in black and dark red in a way that turned off anyone who was afraid of the dark. It was a paradise for those people who lived in the shadows of life.
No one paid me much attention as I made my way to the club’s entrance. To the average eye, I was just another probably wealthy man here to gamble or dance or drink.
The bouncer tonight was young, but not as young as when I’d left Boston. He’d been a seventeen-year-old kid the last time I’d seen him—desperate for a fresh start and a way out of his family’s drug business.
“Jules,” I said, looking him up and down. “You’ve gotten more tattoos.”
He squinted at me. Then his eyes widened, shock and something stupidly close to happiness taking over his face. “Sir, welcome back.”
I gave him a short nod. “I’ll expect to see you in the back after your shift.”
Jules nodded. “Of course, sir.”
