Page 44 of Cowboy

“Well, not at first. He was still pissed at what my sister had done, but he was even more pissed at his reaction to me. The grown-up me. In the end, yes, he helped me. We lost one of our own during that time, but Noah found Tru.” The women all smiled at her, and she wiggled her eyebrows.

“Yes, ladies. I got the big Viking, and he can conquer me any day of the week,” she smiled. “It’s going to be fun watching Rush find his girl.”

“I think our point in all of this, Autumn, is to say you’re not alone. Although you might feel as though they took advantage of you or that you were naïve, I can assure you, you were not. Evil is a very hard thing to see when you’re the one that believes the world is good,” said Suze.

“But that’s just it. I never believed the world was good. My parents were terrible people. Walking away from an eleven-year-old kid and never coming back. Who does that?”

“More people than you might think,” said Marie.

“I guess,” she frowned. “I just thought that Constantine and Annette were good people. They seemed like good people. How could I have been so wrong?”

“Because they were good at lyin’, baby,” said Mama Irene, walking toward them. “It’s hard sometimes to pick out the good and the bad, the liars and the truth tellers. It ain’t easy. After a while, you get a gut feelin’ for it, and you just know somethin’ ain’t right. You knew it when you saw the bodyguard arguin’ with Dimitri in the car. You didn’t know what was eatin’ at you, but you knew it wasn’t good.

“Good men and women are everywhere. But there are days that it seems impossible to find them. Our sweet Christian knows that,” said Mama Irene, nodding at Ally.

“What happened with Christian?” asked Sara.

“Nothing happened. I mean, he’s okay. He had been dating a young woman for almost a year and was talking about bringing her home to meet all of us. I’m not sure of the details, but he found out she was stealing from his teammates. I guess when they would go to their homes for barbeques or parties, she was taking things from their bedrooms, that sort of thing.

“It devastated him. Then just when he thought he was moving on, he walked into his friend’s apartment, and she was doing two guys at once. I honestly believe it’s why he’s stayed in so long. So, you see, even professionals don’t always see the bad when it’s right in front of them.”

“I’m so sorry that happened to him,” said Autumn. “I was never very good at the whole dating thing. I met Ray while I was flying Constantine back and forth. He was managing one of his hotels in Reno. He was good-looking, polite, all those things, but he never really made my body burn.”

“Like my son,” smirked Suze.

“I hate to say this, but your son makes my body feel like an inferno,” blushed Autumn. “I never thought a man could be so wonderfully gentle and yet commanding at the same time. It’s like you all give lessons or something.” The woman all laughed, nodding their heads.

“You know,” said Erin, “in all the years I’ve been around these men and women, I’ve never heard one couple complain about their sex life or their spouse being abusive in any way or anything of the kind. It’s as if we all have an innate sense of what’s right and wrong, what’s good and bad, and what one another needs.”

“Maybe my innate abilities will get better with time,” smiled Autumn.

“Baby, you got nothin’ but time,” said Mama Irene. “Now, I’d say with more rain comin’, this is the perfect night for gumbo, hot bread, and all the wine and sweet treats we can handle.”

With a hundred cheers echoing in the cafeteria, Autumn smiled at all the women, then looked out at the incoming storm.

“I found my home, Grandma. I’m home.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

The women were more than a little tipsy by the time the men made it to the cafeteria for gumbo. They were all laughing so hard they honestly thought they were high. But to see them happy, supporting one another, was a gift none of them could have imagined as single men.

“Should we start pouring coffee down them?” asked Cowboy.

“Are you kidding me?” said Antoine. “No way. Those women are going to be ready for sex in an hour or so. Wild, crazy, jump-my-bones sex. I, for one, will be enjoying my wife tonight.”

“I didn’t think about that,” laughed Cowboy. “I always tried to stay away from the women who had too much to drink.”

“Good idea,” smirked Blade. “But in this case, it’s really not about the liquor. It’s about the sisterhood. They’ve had a little wine, but it’s more about the comradery.”

“Hey, Cowboy,” said Ace, walking toward him. “Someone has been leaving messages on Autumn’s old cell phone. We gave her a VG phone with all the protections, but this old one was sitting in a drawer. Pigsty pulled it out to download her contacts for her, and the thing started buzzing like crazy.”

“Who is it?” asked Cowboy.

“I didn’t want to listen until you said it was okay or she heard them, but the number is Dimitri’s.” They looked at Autumn laughing as Charlie read something to the group.

“No. Don’t give it to her just yet. Let’s listen to them first.”

Ace nodded, taking the phone back to the office. Cowboy walked toward Autumn, pulling her into his arms. He kissed her passionately, tasting the wine and chocolate on her tongue.

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