“You agree to allow us to accept you for as long as you want us to,” he said.

I stuck out my hand. Silas chuckled and gripped it. Brock and Xavier added their hands on top of ours.

“Deal,” I said.

“Deal,” they agreed in unison.

EPILOGUE

“Cindy!” Allana squealed as Cindy stepped into the lobby.

“Allana!” Cindy shrieked as she rushed into her friend’s arms.

“It’s been too long,” Allana said as she squeezed Cindy tighter to her. “How the heck have you been?”

Cindy pulled away from her overly excited friend and sighed. “Doing pretty well. Especially since I think I’m finally getting settled now.”

“Took you long enough,” Allana said and then laughed. It was a slight tease to her friend.

“It’s only been a year!” Cindy said, voice rising an octave. Though she really didn’t mind that her friend teased her from time to time. She was still new to this world. To a lot of things when she stopped to think about it, and she liked that it brought a smile to Allana’s face.

Allana laughed. “I’m happy you’re here. The celebration is going to start in just a few hours.”

I nodded. “Then we should get ready.”

“But first,” she said, holding up a finger. “I have a few people I need you to meet. Follow me!”

She rushed down the hall with Cindy nearly skipping over her feet to catch up. “I can’t walk that fast in normal shoes. How the heck do you do that in heels?”

Allana was a force to reckon with. And she was a boss at that. When the two first met, they had bonded over the simple fact of being women in businesses dominated by men.

“Practice,” she said from over her shoulders.

“No kidding,” Cindy muttered, still practically running to keep up.

After several twists and turns later, we arrived at the door to Allana’s suite. Giggles and screams echoed from behind the door. Cindy came to a stop just outside the door and stared at it wide-eyed. “Do I want to know what all of that is about?”

Allana nodded. “Oh, yeah. And you’re going to want to join in even more.”

Cindy stared at her friend not sure of how much she wanted to join in on screaming. But she trusted her friend and gave her a nod.

Allana opened the door and gestured for Cindy to step inside. The second Cindy stepped in, her eyes fell onto three women, gathered on a sofa, sipping wine and laughing together.

They all settled their gazes on Cindy as she and Allana moved farther into the suite.

“Ladies!” Allana announced. “This is the woman I was telling you about. Meet Cindy!”

Cindy held up her hand in greeting. She couldn’t help feeling like the odd one out. She was the newest member of the group, and though she had heard so much from Allana about her friends, Cindy wasn’t positive they would want anything to do with her.

Allana pointed to the two blondes sitting on the sofa. “That is Allyson and Cassie. They are sisters. The redhead one is Emily.”

“Nice to meet you all,” Cindy said.

“Come join us,” Cassie said. “The more the merrier!”

Emily laughed. “The men are going to lose their minds if we don’t get ready soon though.”

Allyson chuckled. “Even more reason to delay. Besides, we have a new member of our club. We need to get to know her.”