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Happy children’s laughter echoes through the festive air only amping up at the promise of cake amusement park rides later. Family and friends gather around in large circles, catching up with soft drinks in their hands. As the kids play in a circle in front of us with glee.
Nothing beats today.
“You invited your mafia sister?” Rad hisses, not so discreetly staring at my sister, Journey, with wide eyes.
I snort, stepping into his side with a shake of my head. The four of us stand in a little circle on the blacktop, watching the chaos unfold.
The moment my brothers tracked each of us down and handed out our inheritances, we started a family group chat. Some participate fully and others don’t bother at all. The ones who do respond to the texts have really become our family through blood and bond.
“She won’t hurt you. She’s harmless.” I shrug, grinning when Rad shudders. From disgust or fear, I’m not sure.
My sister, Journey, may be a little out of her mind sometimes, but she wouldn’t start anything here. Not at her niece’s birthday party. Who she adores, by the way. Besides, I love Journey. Despite only knowing her for two years, she’s become someone I can talk to and depend on.
A sister.
I have my brothers, but she gets me. Like really gets me. I would never tell my guys she threatened to come here and slice their toes off as a threat after she learned about what they did.
“You told me her and her boyfriends—”
“Husbands. They’re her husbands.” My eyes cut to her three husbands surrounding her like a protective wall, not permitting anyone from getting too close. Especially people they don’t know. Liv casually hugs Journey in a tight embrace, rubbing a hand over Journey’s engorged belly with a grin. I can’t hear what they’re saying, but they all seem to be smiling. You’d think three mafia kings wouldn’t want a Veritas agent in their midst. And that’d be true if Liv wasn’t their cousin.
What a weird West web we’ve created. It’s gotten so big my damn head hurts just thinking about my siblings. All fourteen of them.
“That’s Arrow, Jericho, and Shepp. And yeah, they’re in some sort of mafia type thing.” I shrug; I’m not sure what they actually do. I’d rather stay ignorant if they’re committing crimes. Especially if they’re sinking people in the river with concrete shoes.
They’re family. That’s it. They’ve never threatened us. Seger and Zepp seem to like them, too. So, that’s a plus. Even Carter tolerates them to an extent. And he doesn’t like anyone except his wife, Kaycee.
I point each of them out to Rad, adding in a little wave when Jericho narrows his eyes at me and then grins, waving back. See? For being the head of a gang, he sure is pleasant and polite. Maybe a little crazy, but that’s a whole other book I can’t dive into right now. Too much to tell and not enough time to explain the dynamic between my sister and those three. Let’s just say they purposefully got her arrested, then bailed her out, and then… Handcuffed her to them so they could keep her forever.
Totally normal stuff. But she’s happy. Even when she tells the story, she laughs her ass off.
“I’ve heard stories from that town…” Rad trails off when Callum snorts.
“Are you afraid of the Briar Cove Devils?” Callum asks in a soft voice, leaning in to kiss my cheek. “They’re nice. You should talk to them.”
“Yes. Yes, I am. I’ve heard what they do. They…they…pluck eyeballs, remove fingers, and—”
“Shut up,” I mumble. “They’re here to enjoy Ly’s birthday party. They brought their kid.”
I swear Journey hasn’t beennotpregnant since I met her two years ago. Including now. Her guys make a circle around her as she sucks on a large, chocolate ice cream bar like a protective entourage. They watch her every move with love in their eyes. Every once in a while, they gaze at their two-year-old toddling around, following his older cousins—Roman, Axel, and Dash—around with a grin. Ly giggles as the boys chase her, squealing when one of them taps her shoulder. Grabbing her cousin Maggie, she drags her away with a loud yelp as they all continue to run around.
“Miss West!” Kat, my assistant, calls out from behind me, hurrying along at a quick pace.
Turning, I raise my brows as she saunters forward with a grin on her face, holding tight to a large white box filled with Lyric’s cake.
Perfect.
It’s amazing to see how well she’s come into her role as my PA. Not even a few months ago, I wasn’t sure if she was going to make it. I’m not sure what happened in her life, but she was a trembling mess. Now, I’m more confident than ever that she’s going to continue to help me in my department as the Fixer.
“Kat,” I laugh, shaking my head. “Please, I’ve told you a thousand times to call me River.”
She blushes when Rocco saunters up to her side and carefully helps her with the white box filled with Lyric’s sparkly unicorn birthday cake.
“Hello, Doll,” he says, kissing my cheek. “Mullet. Cal,” he says, nodding a greeting.
“Rad. It’s Rad. Hell, call me Ashton. But don’t disrespect the mullet,” Rad quips, fluffing his curly hair in his hands. “The mullet is sacred, dude.”
“Sacred in the early 90s, maybe,” Callum quips quietly under his breath.
