“That’s a good reason,” Devonna said, some of the bite from earlier disappearing as she looked me up and down.
“So you’ll help?” I asked, trying not to sound too eager.
“Against my better judgment,” she sighed. “But if this blows up, I’m going to have my cousins dismember you piece by piece and dissolve the rest of you in barrels of acid.”
My eyebrows shot up. “That is… way more dark than Mari’s threats.”
Next to her, Mari looked at Devonna with a wide grin. “He’s right. I like it. Let’s go with your option if he fucks this up again.”
“Shit,” I muttered under my breath. “You guys are terrifying.”
“Don’t fuck it up then,” Mari said, with a shrug.
“Understood,” I nodded.
“And,” Devonna added, “you should know that we’re doing this for Anica, not for you. If at any point we think this will hurt her more than help her, all bets are off.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way. She deserves people who look out for her.”
“She does,” Devonna agreed. “Now, get out. Ms. Marcel is supposed to return soon from a meeting.”
The thought that I might be able to see Anica made my heart leap, but I pushed it down. I’d promised I would respect her boundaries, but god I wanted to see her. To hold her. To drop to my knees and beg for forgiveness.
Instead, I nodded once and headed for the door. “Right. Well, I’ll call you later to start working out the details.”
“Oh, and Callan?” Mari called after me. I turned back to find her grinning wickedly. “When this works and you two eventually have babies, I expect to be godmother to at least one of them.”
“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” Devonna cautioned, but I noticed she didn’t dismiss the possibility outright.
As I left the office, I pulled out my phone and Chance’s contact, hitting dial.
“Cal?” he answered, sounding surprised. “Everything okay?”
“I need to meet with you and the guys. Tonight. It’s important.”
“Sure, no problem. Your place?”
“No. Neutral territory. That bar on 25th.”
“Should I be worried?”
“No,” I assured him. “I’m just going to need your help. All of you.”
“Consider it done,” Chance said immediately. “Whatever you need.”
The bar was dimly lit and mercifully empty when I arrived that evening. I’d reserved a back booth, ordered a round of drinks, and was halfway through mine when the guys showed up, all three looking unusually serious.
“This feels like an intervention,” Kris commented as they slid into the booth. “Are we supposed to tell you how your drinking affects us or something?”
“If anything, I’d be the one staging the intervention,” I pointed out. “Especially for you, Kris.”
“Fair point,” he conceded, reaching for his beer. “So what’s the emergency?”
I took a deep breath, gathering my thoughts. “I called off the bet.”
“Yeah, you mentioned that. Quite enjoying the payoff. So is my future bride.” Morgan nodded.
“I’m still wondering why,” Chance said.
