What a dream. “That must be amazing.”
“And irritating sometimes.” He smiles and reaches for his coffee. “But that’s how family works.”
Is it? What would it be like—
Don’t dream about things you can’t have. “So what did Everett need help with?”
Max stares at me blankly for a second. “Oh, we forgot to talk about it.”
Forgot? “So what did you talk about?”
He tips his head to the side and reaches out a hand, stopping millimeters from mine. “I don’t ever want to lie to you.”
What?
“Everything with Everett will be fine, but I can’t talk about what’s going on, so I need you to trust me and not ask questions that I can’t answer.”
That feels like a creepy mafia response—which he kind of is—but still. “Everett is one of ours.”
“I know. And Maddox knows what’s going on, but I can’t talk about it with you. Not yet. So please don’t ask me.”
“You know that’s weird, right?”
He shrugs and then reaches for the cookie.
“Everett’s okay?”
“He will be. That I can promise you.” He takes a bite and groans. “What do you put in these cookies?”
“That was one of Emilia’s recipes that I tweaked a little bit.” More than a little bit.
“My nonna can make cookies, but this is—” He takes another bite. “—exceptional.”
“Thanks. I love playing around with recipes.” It’s a hobby of mine when I have some free time.
Max’s eyes shift from me to the door.
I twist around to see why.
Sasha and Alex Kamenev walked in.
Uh oh. I thought the two families knew each other. I stand up and walk over to the boys, hoping to run interference if I got that wrong. “Sasha, Alex, how nice to see you both. Everett isn’t here right now.”
“Fiona.” Alex wraps me up in a big hug.
I’m barely able to hold back a gasp. Where his brother is reserved, Alex is loving and friendly. “Hey, Alex. How are you today?”
“Good. Sasha and I are here to protect Hope. Is she here?”
Protect Hope? “She’s in the back. Why don’t you go say hi. She has a new friend back there for you to meet.”
Alex rushes off.
“What new friend? Hope didn’t mention that you were hiring anyone else.” Sasha frowns at me.
“I didn’t hire anyone. Dash is just visiting for a little while.”
“Dash?” Sasha’s frown deepens.
