We are all partnered off.
Izzy sits next to Lance, holding his hand. Waverly and Lukas huddle in a corner. Dimitri and Katya sit on the couch together. Thiago and his wife lean against the wall, it hurts her back if she sits down too long, and Thiago is very supportive. And Jenny is where she belongs—in my lap.
Alana is perched in an armchair, watching over everyone. Uri’s not here, he’s been doing bodyguard training with Markus. He is officially on Alana’s payroll. I make a mental note to talk to him. He’s been so quiet since Markus was shot, I think he’s doing that self-loathing thing.
Donny, who’s sitting on the floor because there was no more room for him anywhere else, asks, “What happened at the safe house?”
Waverly sighs. “Let’s see… Thiago’s wife launched a full-scale drone attack. The girls who work as programmers assisted in the systematic destruction of the Deviant’s hubs. And I got to use a rocket launcher when a bunch of Deviant guys came rolling up to the safe house. I blew up the road. And the moms held them at gunpoint as they hiked back alone. They terrorized them, randomly firing shots along the way. It was… pretty amazing.”
Jenny sighs. “I wanted to use a rocket launcher.”
Alana peeks up from her phone. “I can make that happen.”
Izzy jumps up. “Oh! I want to play with the rocket launcher too.”
Lance stands and says, “Absolutely not. If you can’t ride a roller coaster, then you sure as hell can’t fire a rocket launcher.”
“That’s not what the doctor said!”
“I’m pretty sure the doctor didn’t include that because it’s not something that typically comes up.”
Everyone freezes.
Alana mumbles into her glass of wine, “Wow, Izzy. Two for two on weddings, huh? At least you won’t be too far along. And it won’t affect the wedding dress that much.”
Waverly squeals, “How far along are you?”
“Two months. It’s still early, and I haven’t told Mom or Dad yet.” She eyes her brother and then me. Got to keep our mouths shut.
“How long have you known?” Jenny asks.
Lance is all smiles and laces his fingers with my cousin. “Two weeks now.”
I track the timeline in my head, and an instant wave of nausea hits me. He knew she was pregnant last week. He saw the video footage of his future wife and mother of his child gunned down. Obviously, she was fine, but I can’t imagine the terror he felt. Then to almost lose Alana twice in a few hours. I’m shocked he’s still functioning as a human.
The soon-to-be parents are assaulted with congratulations, handshakes, and hugs. Once the love bombing is over and we return to respective spots, Alana asks, “Are you ready to be Mrs. Lance?”
Everyone looks around the room.
Donny asks, “Why would she go by Mrs. Lance?”
Alana blinks a few times. “That’s his last name.”
“Wow. You think you know a guy…” Donny mumbles. “What’s his first name?”
“I guess you have to wait until the wedding to find out. Or read the invitations.”
Another kid running around here. Another mouth to feed. While I’m happy for my cousin, I have a looming sense of dread.
Dimitri clears his throat and gives Katya a nervous glance. She rubs his back.
“I don’t want this life for Ian.” The room stills. Our Russian friend isn’t technically a part of the Four Families, but he’s been thriving in the United States because of us. If the Uncles asked him to join, he would do it out of obligation. He’s a good guy and sure as shit isn’t soft like Uncle Andrey says. But I can understand him wanting to protect his son.
“Maria will never be allowed to join,” Thiago says. No, she definitely can’t. Maria is friends with Olivia Olympian, the heir to the Olympian empire. Maria is a kidnapping liability.
Waverly frowns and crosses her arms. “Cool. Just make sure she doesn’t feel like she’s being iced out of every family meeting. That shit fucks up your sense of identity.”
Yeah, we kept Wave out of all the crime stuff, and that was a big fucking mistake. She’s been partnering with Alana, and now she’s way more deadly than she ever would have been with us.
