“Wouldn’t shock me if we have a bunch of half-siblings running around out there,” Lu’ana added.
Nami felt pain in her fingers and realized she had them tightly wrapped around the ends of her chair’s armrests, the wood digging into her flesh.
She loosened her grip and flexed her fingers. “Nothingbadhappened to y’all, though? While you were with him?”
“No,” Malyah said, glancing toward Lu’ana, then meeting Nami’s gaze. Lu’ana didn’t know about any of the wolf stuff, or that Jarome had abducted Malyah and Dewi rescued her. “I guess that’s one good thing, at least,” Malyah added. “He wasn’t around enough to put us in that kind of danger.”
Nami hoped Lu’ana didn’t pick up on the scowl Malyah now wore.
“Thank god for small favors,” Lu’ana said. “Sad that times like that stand out only because he wasn’t around much, so there were few of ’em.”
“I’mgladhe wasn’t around much,” Malyah grumbled, her tone darkening in a way Nami caught but hoped Lu’ana didn’t. “Hope he rots in prison.”
Lu’ana cackled. “I still cannotbelieve the dumb fuck shot his own balls off!” She grinned. “I mean, that’s karma, right?”
Malyah met Nami’s gaze. “Yeah,” Malyah said. “Guess you could call it that. But why are we talking abouthimwhen we’ve got three good men who’ve proven most men aren’t likethatman?” Malyah waved her arm behind her, indicating the gathering as a whole. “We’ve got a whole family of good men who ain’t like that man. Shouldn’t even be wastin’ breath talking about him today.”
“Don’t forget Da’von,” Nami said. “I think he turned out pretty good, too.”
“I’m still shocked you didn’t pitch a fit about Da’von and Brianna getting married so soon,” Lu’ana teased. She wore a sly smile as she nudged Malyah’s foot with hers. “When are you and Joaquin giving Bebe a cousin?”
“Lord, you’re as bad as Imani,” Nami teased.
“Not yet,” Malyah said. “We’re gonna wait. I want to finish my degree first.” Despite already having an accounting degree Malyah was currently back in college and studying for a degree in creative writing. Now that she was married to Joaquin, he could afford for her to do it and not work. Plus, the pack was kicking in money for her tuition.
Malyah had originally studied for her accounting degree because she knew she could get a good-paying job and help support her siblings and take even more pressure off Nami’s shoulders. But with money no longer an issue for any of them, Nami was happy her youngest sister could pursue her true passion, which was writing.
Nami was also working on releasing the guilt she still felt over Malyah doing that, putting them all first and going for an accounting degree. Didn’t matter that was exactly what Nami had done when their mom died, giving up her dreams to keep them together as a family. One of the reasons Nami had sacrificed was to make sure her siblings never had to.
At least now she could also finally return to school. Nami planned on finishing her architecture degree, which was what she’d been pursuing when their mother died. Ideally, she and Beck would one day build a new house, hopefully close to Dewi, and be able to design it herself. Gillian was in the process of acquiring more land near Dewi’s property. Within ten years, they might be able to have their very own large compound right there in Florida, with other pack members living close by.
It would be perfect having Lu’ana and Reggie living there, too, except that would mean difficult logistics to shield them from the wolf stuff.
“Man, you luckedout, girl,” Lu’ana said to Malyah. “Married a guy rich enough to send you back to school for fun? Whoo-whee.” She grinned. “Not bad-looking, either. And he’s got thatsexyaccent.”
“I think we all did good,” Malyah said, now apparently unable to stop glancing over at Nami. “Including Da’von.”
Nami looked around and spotted Da’von and Brianna standing in a small circle while talking with Ken, Reggie’s dad, and one of Reggie’s brothers. Da’von stood with his arm draped around Brianna’s shoulders and she leaned into him in a way Nami herself knew all too well, because she loved standing next to Beck just like that.
Sometimes it was difficult for her to see her little brother as a man, a husband, potentially a father in the near future.
But if Da’von had his way, once they both graduated, he and Brianna wanted to move to the pack compound in Idaho, where Da’von already had a guaranteed job working for the pack and helping Ken and Gillian with the computer and software systems.
“Yeah,” Nami said. “Brianna’s a sweetheart.”
“But what about you?” Malyah asked Lu’ana. “You said you want another, didn’t you?”
“I do. Reggie’s not ready yet, though. Every time I bring it up, I can tell if he said yes right now it’d only be for me. That’s not fair to him. And let’s be honest, y’all know firsthand Bebe is a handful. Maybe once she’s in kindergarten he might feel ready to try again. I don’t want to wait a bunch of years and have them be drastically different in ages, though. If he decides he doesn’t want another, we’ve already bounced around the idea that eventually he’ll get a vasectomy.”
She flinched and glanced around, lowering her voice. “But whatever you do, donotsay that around Imani and them, please? Because we already know she’d come down hard on both of us.”
Nami thought about the reasons her little niece might very well be said handful. “Whatever decision you make, make it for the two of you, not for anyone else.”
“Oh, believe me, we will.” Lu’ana dropped her voice to a whisper and leaned in. “I love Imani. You know I do. But she’s pushing to have a whole house full of grandbabies every weekend, and we’re her current focus since we only have Bebe. She’s already asked both of us directly about it today, and dropped even more hints in conversations with others while we were standingrightthere.”
Brianna walked over and Nami waved her in to sit. “Didn’t mean to leave you out, sweetie.”
“Davis was lecturing us about the proper kind of wood to smoke ribs with,” she said as she took a seat. “Thankfully, Imani rescued me.”
