“Me? Hurt him? Again?” I stared at her, and when she didn’t respond, I continued. “Right? Might want to learn the facts first, girlfriend, but that’s neither here nor there. Who. I. Fuck. Isn’t. Your. Business. End of story.”
“It’s your husband’s business, though, isn’t it?”
“Yeah. It is. Why don’t you stick your nose in it and call him?”
She stared at me.
“Go ahead. I’ll wait.” And I did, but she didn’t move. I pulled out my phone, dialing Hayden’s number, putting the call on speakerphone.
“Did you wear her out already, cariño? If so, we’re gonna need to work on her stamina,” Hayden said in lieu of a standard greeting.
I smirked at Lucia as I said, “All tucked in for an afternoon nap.”
“A picture or it didn’t happen. I need some sweetness to go with the heat you sent earlier.”
“I’m not taking no damn photos of someone sleeping. That’s fucking creepy.”
Hayden chuckled, and Lucia’s eyes finally dropped away from the standoff we were in, conceding.
“Lucia’s here, wanna say hi.”
“Fuck. Did you have me on speakerphone?”
“Unfortunately,” I muttered, my gaze still locked on Lucia’s face.
“Just add it to the closet filled with the skeletons I already know about, Hayden.”
Hayden laughed, but anyone who knew him would know he had faked it.
“Lucia, Marcie isn’t ready for our relationship…”
Her eyes widened, but she didn’t miss a beat. “My lips are sealed unless it affects the detail.”
My whispered gratitude mimicked Hayden’s, ‘Thank you.’
“You’re welcome.”
After that, Lucia moved off, and I ducked into the bathroom, taking him off speakerphone. I turned on the water in the shower and sink, then said, “She caught me coming out of Marcie’s room with a satisfied smirk.”
“And she said something asinine like ‘I won’t let you hurt him again’ or some shit, right? And you took the bait?”
“Yes. I won’t let our family and friends cause problems between us. It’s the only concern I have in keeping silent.”
38
HAYDEN
We pulled into a driveway that led up to another damn mansion. The massive brick home rose into the air, soaring above us. Stately was the only adjective that came to mind when I looked at the place.
I chuckled.
The Holts definitely didn’t do anything in small measures. That was for damn sure. Not the beach house. Not the Vegas apartment, and not Walker and Lillian’s place and for damn sure not the doc’s place. Even though he wasn’t a Holt, he was Holt adjacent. Then there were the hotel rooms they’d secured for us in New York. I could see Declan eyeing me at each new, swanky ass residence, but after the way his family flocked to each other, supporting Katie and Jackson, and Walker and Lillian as well as all of us on the team, people I would’ve thought they’d see as peons, I couldn’t bring myself to even put Mara and her dad in the same galaxy as the Holts. They were night and day different and I let two bad apples ruin the whole damn orchard. Hell, even some of their weird ass sayings were rubbing off on me.
So, yeah, the issues I had with Declan and his family’s Scrooge McDuck kinda wealth were dissipating. And I was glad because I wanted a life with my husband.
And our girl.
I smiled. Fuck me, she was sexy as hell, but she was also sweet and funny and so damn nurturing. Just the few days we’d spent with her in Washington told me all I needed to know about who she was.
