“Works for me,” Monk replied.
“There’s a bunch of board games in the tasting room, maybe we can play?” Kendall suggested.
“Do you know how to play blackjack?” he asked, craning his head to look at her sitting in the back seat.
She rolled her eyes. He’d noticed she used the gesture to either convey a silent “duh” or hide her discomfort. This eye roll was definitely the former.
“Dulcie’s the best of the Falcons. Maybe we can play a few rounds,” he said.
Wariness entered her expression. “Who’s Dulcie?”
Hell, in the chaos of finding her the night before, then the body that morning, he’d forgotten she hadn’t met his two friends the way Helia had. He was sure she’d heard them, though.
“He was at the house yesterday. The softer spoken of the two. The other is my brother Lovell.”
“Lovell is Black,” she said, confirming his suspicion she’d seen them even if they hadn’t seen her.
“That is true.”
“You’re not.”
Ah, he got it. “Found family, remember,” he said, reminding them of their earlier conversation.
“You can’t pick your family,” she insisted.
He sensed an argument brewing inside her. He didn’t know the origin but suspected it had to do with both nerves and her own precarious position when it came to family. Her insecurity. He couldn’t address that head-on; they didn’t have that kind of trust, not yet, but he could make his opinion clear.
“I can and I did,” he said, then continued before she could object again. “Dulcie has three younger sisters who all have him wrapped around their little fingers, but don’t think he’ll go easy on you when it comes to blackjack. That’s his line in the sand.”
“I suck at card games,” Helia said, turning left onto the Silverado Trail. She’d sensed the tension, too, and was doing her part. He couldn’t say he fell a little in love with her then, because he wasn’t sure he’d ever been out of love with her, but he felt her solidarity far deeper in his soul than the words warranted.
“It’s my face,” Helia continued. “It’s too expressive. Can’t hide my feelings to save my life. It’s also why I always work the back of the house for our events. You get a bridezilla in my view or an asshole CEO up in my grill and it’s not pretty. I don’t ever say or do anything, but everything Iwantto say or do is written on my face.”
A mile ticked by in silence before Kendall spoke. “Can you play with us? I wanna see what that looks like.”
He laughed. Helia gasped in mock outrage. “You want to make fun of me?”
Kendall’s lips twitched, and she tipped her head shyly to the side. “Maybe. A little.”
“The things I do for you, kiddo,” Helia muttered, but loud enough for Kendall to hear. The tension eased in the car.
A few minutes later, they pulled through the gates to Bacco and up the drive. Dulcie was standing at the base of a ladder resting on the south corner of the castle. He waved, drill in hand, then followed their car on foot to the parking area. Monk had texted him about Kendall and the murder while Helia and Kendall shopped. He wasn’t surprised to see the three of them arrive together.
Helia popped out first and darted over to give Dulcie a hug. She’d always been easy with her affection, but Monk was pretty sure at least a part of the greeting was for show. For Kendall’s benefit.
“I got the cameras set up on the house,” Dulcie said, as Monk strode over and gave his brother a one-armed hug.
“Thanks for that. We can tackle the wine caves tomorrow,” he said. “Kendall, this is Dulcie.”
“Weird name,” she said.
“Kendall!” Helia said.
Dulcie shrugged. “Whatever, Kendall Jenner.” Kendall narrowed her eyes at him and his taunt. “Or should I call you Savant? Isn’t that what he calls you?” he said, tipping his head in Monk’s direction.
“He calls me Kendall.”
“Then Kendall it is. And for reference, my real name is Mateo, but my brothers call me Dulcie. We all have nicknames.”
