I muster a nervous smile. “Got it.”
“Good. We understand each other.”
“Perfectly,” I say.
“I’d hate for those to be the last two kids you ever have.” He smiles sweetly, like he didn’t just threaten to castrate me.
“Me too,” I whisper.
“Daddy,” Tate says to him as she slides in at my side. “What are you doing?”
“Talking about the neighborhood,” he lies.
She narrows her eyes at him because she knows he’s lying, just like my girls know when I am too. “Ma wants you in the kitchen.”
“Okay,” he says before starting to move. “Good to talk to you, Wylder.”
“You too, Mr. Gallo.”
“Angelo,” he calls out, and he walks across the bar.
“What did he say?”
“Not much and nothing bad,” I reassure her.
She hands me the water bottle, giving me the same look she gave her father. “You’re a shit liar just like he is, Wylder.”
“We were having a dad-to-dad talk.”
She covers her face with her hand. “How embarrassing.”
“Your family is great,” I tell her, twisting off the top of my water and doing everything in my power not to touch her.
“They’re something.”
“I envy you,” I tell her.
Although I have brothers and a sister, my parents were only children. We didn’t have huge family get-togethers or weekly family dinners. It was always just us.
“For what?”
“For all of this,” I say, ticking my head toward the bar filled with people she is related to.
“Sometimes they’re a bit much. But you’re right. I really am lucky to have them.”
If I could have one wish, it would be for my kids to have a group of people like this in their lives.
“The eye’s looking better,” she says, but she doesn’t reach up to press on it this time.
“It looks like shit.”
Tate chuckles. “Has anyone asked about it?”
I shake my head. “Shockingly, no.”
“This group has had more black eyes than most people I know. They probably barely even noticed.”
“Maddox wanted to cover it with makeup.”
