Page 75 of Bastard

After a sappy dessert the guys got together at the bar to talk and share a shot of whiskey. I joined Hazel and Yara. “You know I feel the same, right?”

Hazel teased me. “You’ll kill for me?”

All jokes aside, yes. Yes I would. “I mean, if I have to.”

Yara put a hand over Hazel’s, physically stopping her from making more jokes instead of feeling her feelings. “We were really scared when everything changed, but we should have trusted you more.”

“Stop it!” Hazel hissed.

“What? We should have said this years ago.” She glared at Hazel.

Hazel’s shoulders dropped. “Fine. You’re right.” Then she grumbled, “You’re always right.” I really thought this was water under the bridge. “I know you, Sam. You’ve got that golden heart in there. The world turned upside down and I doubted your ability to rise back to the surface because I was scared of losing my best friend, not because I believed you would turn to the dark side or something.”

I shoved a chair between them and was immediately wrapped in a two-sided hug. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

We pulled apart, sniffling a little. “And I promise I’m not expecting Nina and Neil to get together. I just want them to always be best friends. Like all of us.”

Yara placed her hand over mine. “They will. Besides, who else would take him to his favorite theme park on a VIP tour that gets him past every line?”

“Oh I see how it is. You two love me for my money.”

Our champagne glasses mysteriously refilled. Yara examined her bubbles. “Seriously though, I really admire the way you and Georgia worked together to break up Roark.”

“It’s our family mantra: no evil empires.” Sad, but actually true. Sometimes in meetings when one of us gets rolling a little too hard the other just blurts out No evil empires! And then we check our ambition and get back to work.

“Excuse me ladies, but can I steal my wife?” Jace’s large hands landed on my shoulders.

Hazel bounced her eyebrows. “I don’t know, Admiral Ass. Howya gonna make it worth my while?”

I snorted.

“Wow, I haven’t heard that one since the wedding,” Jace laughed. Hazel did, in fact, refer to him as Admiral Ass during her toast. I promptly banned her from using it.

“I may have just broken a rule.” She rolled her eyes. “But seriously. You can’t just have her. Make it worth my while.”

“Greg Hamilton has your favorite cigars.”

Hazel bolted for the patio doors.

“Now you owe me one,” Yara groaned. “I hate the smell of cigar smoke and Hazel always feels like crap the next day. Make it good, Malone.”

“Give me two minutes.” He kissed the top of my head and ran for the bar.

“I’m sorry I’m teasing him.”

I shrugged. “It’s okay. He likes it. It makes him feel like he’s part of our world.”

Two minutes later he returned with Yara’s favorite cocktail, made the way only Jace made it. “Will this suffice?”

Yara reached out with grabby hands. “Oh yes. Go! Take her! She’s all yours now!”

“I see I can be bought with a cigar and some liquor,” I joked as Jace led me through the empty restaurant to a side room with a view of the gardens. Music played softly from hidden speakers.

He wrapped one arm around my waist and scooped up the other in his hand, twirling me once before settling into the rhythm of the music. “Just wanted a dance alone with my wife.”

As always, I got dizzy for a moment and my stomach performed a backflip. It was good to know we still had it. Butterflies. His cologne was nice and his heat warmed me up, but it was the way he made me feel when he held me tight that was my favorite.

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