Page 23 of Bastard

“June’s here!” Eve called out. I must have looked worried because she waved a hand through the air. “My sister lives next door. We have a gate in the fence so we can come and go easily.”

Sam took my hand, giving me a questioning look. I shrugged in reply. Her guess was as good as mine as to why I was so jumpy. Maybe it was everything that happened today. Between the Chubbies thinly veiled threats and Steel hounding me, I was probably due for a hell of a night of dreams.

“Hello, hello!” June came in the porch door followed by a man with a dark head of hair. The family hugged it out, Eve and Jake’s daughters running in, screaming for attention.

“You met June on the field,” Eve said.

I snapped my fingers. “Trainer?”

The blonde woman smiled. “Indeed I am. And this is my husband, Roman.”

It all clicked into place and my baseball fan heart started beating really quickly. “It’s so cool to be in a room with the Daniels and St. James families.” Eve’s father, Papa Joe Daniels, was bitter enemies with Roman’s father. Their feud was one of the biggest rivalries in all of baseball. Even after they retired, their teams went to great lengths to make sure they were never in the same place at the same time.

And then their kids got married.

It rocked the baseball world and I ate up every juicy detail like the baseball fanboy I was.

“Eve’s got all the good memorabilia if you want a tour,” June said with a wave toward a back room.

And then I felt like an ass. Here I was doing everything in my power to keep Sam’s life as private as possible, and I’d read every news article on June and Roman, probably helping to fuel the paparazzi fire that chased them around.

“Naw, that’s okay. It’s just really cool to meet you all. I was a huge fan of your fathers. I love baseball.”

Sam gave my hand a squeeze. Nice recovery.

“Well,” Eve slid onto the countertop, her feet dangling, “turnabout is fair play. I was obsessed with Baby Victoria. I’ve probably watched every made-for-TV movie, every news show, all of it.”

It wasn’t visible, but I felt Sam shrink back a little, so I put my arm around her waist, giving her hip a light squeeze. She relaxed a little. “I think I’m lucky that I had no idea until a few months ago. When people talk about ‘Baby Victoria’ it’s like they’re talking about someone else. Not me.”

Jake poured wine for the newcomers. “We’re just a bunch of people hiding from cameras.”

“Knock, knock!” A new male voice echoed down the hallway from the front door. A man and woman stepped into the kitchen a moment later.

Eve ran over to hug them while June leaned closer to us. “That’s Greg and Marie. Greg is Jake’s best friend. His wife is Marie Bancroft Hamilton. Eve thought you might like meeting her since you’re kind of in the same circles.”

Another ally for Sam. This was great. But that tug I felt ever since we arrived got stronger.

“Don’t worry,” Eve said. “This is it. No more guests.”

Sam dove right in, babbling away with Greg and Marie. Greg was more like me. Rough around the edges. The man loved to swear. He wouldn’t fit it with Devil’s Wrath, but he could definitely hold a conversation with my brothers. Marie, on the other hand, was very refined. She reminded me of Georgia. Her clothes were tailored to her body, like Sam’s were now, and she held herself in that way that rich people do.

I sipped my bourbon and watched everyone interact like I was in bodyguard mode. Only I wasn’t a bodyguard tonight. I wasn’t Red. And that’s why I was uncomfortable. I didn’t know which mask to put on and who to pretend to be.

“So what do you do, Jace?” June asked. Roman and Jake stood behind her talking about some family thing.

“Uh, well. I’m…” I realized I could be anyone with these people. They didn’t know me and they definitely didn’t know the inner workings of Sam’s life. “I’m in finance. Wealth management, investments, that sort of thing.”

“Oh! I bet that’s really useful for Samantha to have someone she trusts know so much about money.”

“I help where I can, but also try to stay out of her business.”

June snorted, eyeballing her glass of wine. “We’re all up in each other’s business here. Personally and professionally. Roman also started a big rehab center for elite athletes to recover and refocus their lives after career-ending injuries. So I tell him what to do all the time, don’t I, babe?” She grinned over her shoulder at the former baseball player turned sports agent.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about but yes. The answer is always yes.”

“Good man.” She patted his hand playfully, then winked at him in a way that screamed you’re getting good and fucked later tonight.

These people weren’t strangers. They were just like my clients. People with a certain amount of money and prestige that allowed them to float around different social circles. I knew these kinds of people and how to interact with them. My language was money and everyone in this room spoke some version of it.

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