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I was alright with that. I had my own business, and I never tried to involve myself in Alex and Dev’s dealings until today. Bex clearly didn’t know or understand that, but before I could speak up to explain, the car door opened, my eyes catching on the first friendly face I had seen in almost an hour.
I jumped out of the car and onto Ames, wrapping my arms around her as I let the relief overwhelm the anxiety that had plagued me the past few hours.
“I’m so glad you’re okay! The guys said they could handle it but if you hadn’t come back soon I was ready to bust some skulls.” I jokingly flexed my muscles, watching the tension that bracketed everyone’s faces relax into warm smiles. I kept up the chatter the rest of the car ride home, detailing how I would have come to Ames’s rescue if the guys hadn’t.
Everyone laughed as I intended them to, save for Bex. Her jaw clenched so tightly I saw the muscle flexing, but after the laughter settled she turned in her seat to meet her sister’s eyes. Her lips spread in the biggest smile I’d ever seen on her face, crinkling the corners of her eyes and brightening her face until she looked like a different person. The type of person who could break my heart just as easily as the stone-faced version who already had.
Chapter1
Bex
It was getting harderto hide in the shadows. I used to get away with the excuses that I was busy or tired, anything to keep me away from this house. Or, not the house, but rather the people inside of it. But it was hard to avoid a party celebrating your sister - the only living family you had left - getting engaged. Harder still when she was engaged to your boss, who had made it clear in no uncertain terms that you were expected to attend without any attempts at canceling at the last minute. Clearly, my future brother-in-law knew me well, despite his attitude toward me being similar to that of a begrudging new boyfriend toward his partner’s cat.
Funnily enough, Alex treated both the cats he shared with Ames with much more warmth than he treated me. I couldn’t blame the wary looks he shot in my direction behind Ames’s back. Most of his experience with me hadn’t displayed my best qualities. Or my best decisions.
Our first interaction, though unknown from my end, involved him saving my ass from going to jail after my idiot ex-boyfriend got me involved in some hacking that had later been connected to a group of domestic terrorists. The second interaction involved abandoning my sister after a fight and blocking her number, leaving her unable to call me when her ex-boyfriend assaulted her in her apartment. The third consisted of me almost punching him in his kitchen in front of said sister.
In between all that, he sent my sister and me to a concert, but honestly that was an anomaly when you looked at the rest of our history together. In short: not a great start to a relationship. Not to mention that outside of his small circle (of which I stood just on the edge, by my own design), he had the people skills of a large rock.
But I loved that about him. He never asked about my feelings, fretted over how others would respond to his actions, or allowed his emotions to color his work. Which meant I didn’t have to put on some façade. Other than my sister, most people couldn’t pull positive emotions out of me very easily. Or any emotion, really. When something did pull a feeling out of me, it was much more likely to involve anger or obsession, a trait Alex seemed to understand. If his incessant stalking of my sister was any indication, at least. Honestly, his personality was my second favorite thing about him.
The first was his work. As a computer programmer, hacker, whatever term you wanted to use, Alex was one of the best. Those of us who worked on the less-than-legal side of the internet, especially those who lived on the east coast, knew of his reputation, though most referred to him as Xander.
I had looked up to him and admired his work over the past few years, hearing about some of the jobs he did in passing. I never expected to meet him, much less after making such a terrible impression. It was clear his only respect for me stemmed from his love for my sister. And my work, though I doubt it would’ve caught his eye without my sister’s involvement.
Overall, our relationship was closer to employer-employee than soon-to-be siblings-in-law. Despite Ames’s forgiveness for my transgressions, I knew every time Alex looked at me he saw the tears Ames cried because of my actions. While I still maintained he should partially thank me for sending Ames straight into his arms, the joke never quite landed the couple of times I tried to make it. My dry delivery likely didn’t help. Wren making the same joke would result in the lot of them cracking up with friendly, indulgent smiles thrown in her direction.
I felt my mouth pull down into a frown at the thought, hating that she came to my mind at all. My eyes couldn’t help but seek her out in the room. I knew she’d be staring at me, her eyes always hopeful that I’d look at her with anything but indifference. Today wasn’t that day, and I reveled as the hope left her brown eyes, making them dull with disappointment as I met her gaze with no emotion on my face. A gentle clearing of Ames’s throat interrupted my pleasure at the sight, and I turned away as she and Alex passed out champagne for a toast.
“I just wanted to thank you guys for the surprise engagement party. It means a lot to me - to us - and I love the little family we’ve created together. So, here’s to us! All of us.” She held up her glass, the diamond ring on her finger sparkling.
After a quick clinking of glasses among our small group of five, Wren’s voice piped up, “Tell us the proposal story! Alex didn’t tell us anything, that snake.”
“I didn’t propose.” Alex shrugged, sipping champagne casually as Wren released an overly-dramatic gasp that had my head whipping back in her direction.
“If you didn’t propose, why are we here? Why is Ames wearing a giant rock on her finger? If you’re not engaged, why did I blow up a bunch of balloons and almost pass out?” I frowned as she gestured angrily toward the “She Said Yes” balloons that hung above the fireplace alongside plastic inflatable diamond rings. She had hung them up herself, refusing help as they dragged along the ground behind her like a bridal train.
“We’re engaged,” Ames insisted, holding her hands up with her palms out in an attempt to placate an angry Wren. Seeing Wren angry was like seeing a small kitten hiss at bath time. There wasn’t enough anger in her small body to instill fear, no matter how many times she showed her teeth.
“Chill, Wren. Let them explain.” Dev grinned at the trio of them like this was the best show he’d ever seen. Based on the look on Wren’s face and the small fists clenched at her sides, if Alex and Ames didn’t come up with an explanation soon, Wren would be throwing punches. Or at the very least attempting to.
Alex let out a sigh as he explained, “I bought the ring and put it on her finger while she was sleeping. We’re engaged.”
“You just put a ring on her finger without asking?” Dev asked, a smirk pulling at his lips as he tried to contain his laugh.
“She’s already mine. I didn’t need to ask.” Alex grinned at Ames, tugging her closer with an arm around her waist. She just stared up at him, dazed, eyes fixed on his rare grin.
Dev and Wren burst out laughing, hands on their knees, leaning against each other in an effort to stay upright while they laughed. Even I couldn’t help but smile at the image of Alex staking his claim on my sister in a way that was so representative of their relationship. Ames wasn’t far behind, the three of them laughing as Alex shook his head at their antics.
“I walked around half the morning without realizing,” Ames gasped out, hand clutching her stomach as she tried to get her laughs under control. “After I noticed it, I asked him what was going on, and his response was just to say, ‘we’re getting married.’ No asking, no grand declarations, just a ring and a statement of fact.” Her laughs petered out as she looked back up at Alex, eyes misty as she shot him a wobbly smile. “It was perfect.”
“You’re lucky I waited this long to see my ring on your finger,” he growled, thumb tracing over the ring as he nipped at her ear.
“It’s only been a few months.”
“For you, maybe. For me it’s been almost a year of watching and waiting to make you mine.”
The subtle reminder of how his relationship with my sister started, the stalking and false identity, had me shaking my head. Among this group, it was easy to forget who everyone was. When Alex glued himself to my sister’s side and pledged his life to her so easily, when Dev mussed Wren’s hair like she was his kid sister, when Ames still had flecks of clay in her hair from working in her studio earlier in the day. They all looked so normal from the outside, in small pockets like this, until Alex mentioned installing security cameras in Ames’s old apartment or Dev referenced an infamous mob member they worked with.
