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“Hey, Stella,” I turned toward Gate’s growl to watch Stella bound into her father’s embrace and then shimmy toward the women grouped around a table of snacks.
Then Gate’s green eyes lasered on me, and my breath lodged in my throat.
“Anna,” he drawled.
“Hey, Gate,” I said, gesturing with an elbow. “I’m just here for the baby shower. Layla invited me.”
Gate’s eyes flicked to Layla and then back to me, but his expression didn’t change. “Have fun,” he said and turned for the stairs that I knew led toward his office.
I ripped my eyes away from the image of Gate jogging up the stairs and made my way toward the gift table, watching my daughter laugh with Layla while my heart bled out in my chest.
*************************
Stash and Rooster
“I’m not telling Gate,” Rooster said, following his brother Stash down the hall from their rooms. Both men were juggling enough technology to outfit a space station.
“Well,I’mnot telling him,” Stash argued as they hit the common room.
“This shit’s bad, man,” Rooster said, rounding the pool tables where Deuce schooled Tank in a game and Tex watched from the sidelines.
“What’s up, geeks?” Tex called from his barstool.
Deuce glanced up from the cue ball, “Y’all launch anything, I want in.” Then he sank the eight, and the game was over.
“Double or nothing,” Tank argued.
“Double of nothing is still nothing,” Deuce laughed, grabbing the rack from a nearby table.
Stash and Rooster kept moving.
“Oh, God, Anna’s here,” Rooster whispered.
At that, Stash juggled a MacBook Pro and then caught it. “We talk to Gate. We’ve got intel, we give it to the boss. He decides what to do with it.”
As they passed the bar, they met Talon and stopped.
“Gate with you?” Stash asked.
“Office,” Talon said, jerking his chin in that direction.
Rooster glanced back at the women buzzing around Jenna like colorful bees.
“You need me?” Talon asked, pulling Rooster’s attention back to the present.
“Nah, man,” Stash said. “You go enjoy the party with your girl. We’ll be back.”
“Cool,” Talon said, slapping him on the shoulder as he walked on by.
“Deuce,” Stash yelled over his shoulder.
“Yeah?” Deuce called back from the pool table.
“You up?” Rooster asked.
“Right behind you,” the brother answered.
And Deuce’s heavy black boots followed Stash and Rooster into Gate’s future.
