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When she walks away, wishing me best, her group of men looks eager for her arrival. They’re sprawled over the purple sofa I recognize, and how Stacey and those three men make sense to me; they just do.
“I can’t believe I’m here.” A voice sounds over my shoulder, and I turn to hug her next. “But I’m glad Redix invited me. I need this.”
I’ve never seen Scarlett look this hot. I mean, she’s stunning even when she’s not trying. But tonight, her long, russet waves hang free while her hips are bound in a tight, black pencil skirt, and her breasts look incredible in a matching bustier.
“It’s not weird, is it?” I sip my drink, searching her green eyes. “I mean, you worked for Redix and all. Feel free to bail if it is.”
“Hell no.” She softly punches my arm. “You can’t shock me.” She pauses, and all she’s seen of my life and Redix’s almost death flashes across her eyes. “I’m happy for you both. You deserve some fun after what you’ve been through.”
I adore her. I don’t know all of Scarlett’s story, but I know some of it’s dark. The stunning sleeve of tattoos on her right arm hints at it. Crosses and flames and flowers and skulls.
She swirls her bourbon. The club made an exception tonight for this private event. Drinks are being poured in moderation, and I see someone trying to hide a big lemon birthday cake on a table in the corner.
“And I wanna know who Redix’s friend is.” Scarlett nods toward Luca. “He looks like a Greek God, but bigger and meaner with a dark tan.”
I could tell her who he is. That he’s Luca Mercier, a billionaire and one of the world’s most eligible widowers and single dads. A man who’s as hot and as powerful as the sun. But that’d only warn Scarlett away. That’s the opposite of what she’d go for.
“He’s just a friend Redix plays golf with. He’s super sweet and super European. Lemme introduce you.”
I don’t give her a chance to change her mind. Grabbing her hand, I pull her toward the guys talking and make brief introductions.
Tonight, Scarlett isn’t a former MMA fighter or a vigilant bodyguard. Nope, she’s my ravishing friend who needs to get laid. And she’s got a big heart, and somehow I know if Luca actually does this, Scarlett would never break his heart either.
They hit it off over sly smiles and curious eyes while I drag my men away.
It’s time to start this show.
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
Damn, I’m nervous.
Not because I’m on a stage and about to fuck Cade and Redix for a room full of people to watch. That turns me on. Or because there’s a photographer about to take pictures and video too. That’s hot as hell.
My hands sweat because I haven’t been with either of them in months. I’ve missed them. At first, I thought I could go without them. But I can’t. I know who I am, and who I love, and I won’t live any other way. But I know I’m about to feel the power again of them together, and I have to be ready for it.
Because I’ll always be best friends with Redix.
I’ll do any house project with him or throw a football together on the beach. No one’s taking that from me. Redix means too much. He makes me want to push myself, to be brave enough to love with everything I have, even if it wrecks me.
That’s how he loves Cade, so I’ve kept a distance from them.
They need each other. They need to be together. I think they finally get what I’ve seen all along.
When I see how Redix loves Cade, how she loves him back, it’s like you can feel how love is worth it, what it’s supposed to be like. Why people risk everything for it and swear it until their death.
That’s the two of them together.
And they’ve inspired me to try to love like that, too.
In our months apart, when all I did with Cade was hang out, go fishing, or sleep on a lounge chair beside her with books in hand while we dozed off under an umbrella together, I felt lucky. How I finally get to love a woman like her, and I don’t think she’ll ever know what that means to me.
For so long, I had this hole in my heart that grew as I did around my love for Charlie Ravenel. But I could never have her. And I ached over Charlie for so long. Every day, I felt like something was missing.
Then I met Cade.
And she’s not Charlie, and that’s exactly how it was meant to be.
Cade’s her own incredible woman. One I’ve never seen be so strong when she fights for someone she loves, or so lost in grief for losing the same. Watching her and Redix at her mama’s funeral and over the following months, I realized having them in my life is a gift I won’t forsake.
