Page 131 of The Love Destroyers

My brother and I exchange a smile. No one other than Chuck has been invited to call her Dahlia.

Nicole, who’s dressed all in black, taps her glass with a fork. “Well, Operation Love Destroyers is officially complete. Jeffrey Nichols is toast, and Seamus and Emma are a thing. Job done.”

“I didn’t hire you to find her a boyfriend,” my mother says pointedly.

“No,” Nicole responds, “and I’d love to say I went above and beyond, but there’s no denying I fucked up with the whole exhibit thing. Who would’ve thought that Jeffrey would duck out on the trash.”

Her friend had thought she’d had eyes on him, but she’d been watching the wrong middle-aged, silver-haired man.

Damien takes her hand and kisses the knuckles. “Next time we’ll sneak a tracker onto our mark.” He glances at me. “Sorry, Emma, but I’m glad you got to tap him in the balls. Sometimes revenge needs a personal touch.”

I couldn’t agree more.

Chuck beams at us all from his position beside my mother, who is, of course, at the head of the table. “I’m just as pleased as punch we’re all here together, kids. What do you say to a game of Charades?”

“Dad, no one feels like playing Charades,” Claire moans.

“Are you kidding?” Nicole says, popping a chocolate covered cherry from one of the dishes arranged on the table. “I’m a beast at Charades. Tell them, Damien.”

He watches her fondly. “On this one topic, my wife is not prone to exaggeration.”

“Then we will be playing Charades,” my mother announces.

“Who are you and what did you do with my mother?” Anthony asks, but he’s grinning. We both are. It’s been a joy to watch her and Chuck grow closer.

“I’ve been considering something,” she says slowly. “I’d like all of you to call me Dahlia.” Turning to Anthony and then me, she says, “Not you two, of course. I’ll be in my grave before you call me Dahlia.”

“Mother, we’re not going to spontaneously start calling you by your first name after you die,” Anthony says dryly.

It’s a nice moment, a perfect moment. Part of me would like to stay here for Charades. But I also can’t wait for Seamus to see what I have in store for him.

Grabbing his hand, still on my thigh, I turn toward him. “It’s time for us to go.”

“Thank God,” he says. “You’re terrible at Charades.” He’s messing with me, of course, which we both do as regularly as if we were paid for it, but there’s a twinkle in his eyes. “Am I going to like this surprise?”

“You’re going to love it.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

SEAMUS

Laughter rips out of me at the sight of Ingrid parked around the corner from Smith House.

“You just graduated to big thief,” I tell Emma, who’s grinning the same way Shadow seems to every time she cuts and runs from Smith House and comes back with a mouse.

“You said I could take her out whenever I want.” She shrugs mischievously. “I wanted.”

I taught Emma to drive stick shift earlier this month. My brother laughed when I told him, and admitted he’d done the same with Claire, with one significant difference—he’d needed to learn to do it before he could teach her.

I’d cussed him out for never asking me to go out with him, and he’d responded that he valued his life.

I valuedherlife, so we’d gone slow and started out small, same as Declan and Claire.

But I wasn’t at all surprised that my girl was an expert behind the wheel. She’s the only one I’d willingly give my keys to.

“So what’s next, boss?” I ask, kissing the side of her face.

“You’re going to need to be patient,” she says, turning to face me as she walks backward. I take her hand, because I’m not going to let her trip.

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