“He’s right,” Jax drawls. “The bitterness will kill ya.”
“Enough.” Axel pinches his nose and then whips off his reading glasses, the pair surfing across the wood table until they bounce on a chair and clatter on the floor. He’s gone through alot of pairs over the years. “So, what, Cash let Tessa into your office to get back at you?”
Pausing my circus sideshow, I set him straight. “I let Tessa into my office.”
“Why would you do that before the meeting?” His tone is that of a teapot about to blow. But the thing is, once he whistles, we can all relax.
For now.
“Well,” I start, mesmerized by my balisong dance, “that’s complicated. She needed to discuss something, and I had a few minutes, so I invited her in.”
“How the fuck does that involve Cash?” Ryker grits out, pouring himself another drink.
I spin the knife until I’m aiming the blade at the culprit. “He told her to blow me.”
“To be fair,” Cash interjects, “I told her to fool you into believing she was going to blow you.”
Jax gestures to him. “That’s different.”
A slow smirk spreads across Cash’s face, and he arches a brow. “Did she do it?”
As rankled as Axel and Ryker are with this entire performance, even they wait on bated breath for my response.
“I don’t kiss and tell.” I grimace at all of them and resume my twirling. “Have some class.”
“Class?” Ryker mocks. “She was under your desk during a call, Mad.”
“Exactly.” I widen my eyes for emphasis. “Classier thanonthe desk during the call.”
“That’s a valid point,” Jax muses.
“Can you idiots shut the hell up?” Axel snaps as all our phones start buzzing at once, which can only mean one thing.
And none of us dare ignore the princess.
Rena: Under-the-desk action, big bro? You have arrived.
All eyes flick to Jax because he is undoubtedly the leak who shared this dumpster fire with our little sister.
“Don’t look at me like that. I haven’t seen her in weeks. Sharing a play-by-play with her keeps us both sane.”
No one rejects that because Rena not being here is hard on all of us. It’s difficult to explain because getting married, having your own family, and living your life is the natural progression of growing up, but we’re all connected in ways that even surpass blood. It’s a bond that grounds us in a world of opulence, danger, power, and uncertainty. And Jax needs her most.
Cash: No attaboys for him. He doesn’t kiss and tell.
Rena: Something tells me it superseded kissing, so where do we stand on that, Mad?
Me: No can do. What do you take me for?
Rena: My big brother, who will take pity on me for being as huge as a house and unable to visit. These babies are exhausting me, and they’re still tucked in tight. Let me live vicariously through you.
Cash: You want to be the one running the meeting or the one under the desk?
Ryker: Sweet Moses. Too much.
Jax: She’s married and pregnant. She’s probably knelt at her husband’s altar a few times.
Me: Kneeling isn’t what makes babies.
