"Nacho." He inclines his head. "You must be Stacey."
"The one and only." She releases my shoulders and props her hands on her hips. "Jessica's told me nothing about you, which is rude, but I'm willing to forgive her if you tell me there's wine in this house."
"Kitchen. Third cabinet on the left."
"I like him." Stacey points at Nacho. "He's efficient."
Movement on the porch catches my attention. Another figure hovers in the doorway, slim and hesitant, wrapped in an oversized grey sweater and sunglasses even though it's nighttime.
"Harmony?" I step around Stacey to get a better look. "What are you doing here?"
Harmony Blake pushes her sunglasses up onto her head, revealing wide hazel eyes rimmed with dark circles. Her strawberry blonde hair is tucked under a baseball cap, and she's wearing leggings and sneakers that look nothing like her usual designer wardrobe.
"Stacey kidnapped me." Harmony's voice is soft, barely above a whisper. "Said I needed to get out of the city."
"You did need to get out of the city." Stacey grabs my arm and tugs me toward the kitchen. "Three paparazzi camped outsideher apartment. Three. They're like cockroaches. You think you've gotten rid of them and then they multiply."
"I'm fine." Harmony follows us through the house, her eyes darting around the living room like she's cataloging escape routes. "I just needed a break from the constant surveillance."
"You needed to remember what normal people's problems look like." Stacey pushes through the swinging door into the kitchen and immediately starts opening cabinets. "And Jessica's problems are magnificently abnormal. Four alphas. Four. I still can't believe it."
The kitchen is warm and bright, copper pots hanging from a rack above the island, herbs growing in little pots on the windowsill. Carlos looks up from the stove, where he's been making some kind of pasta sauce that fills the room with the smell of garlic and tomatoes.
He's wearing jeans and a flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up, sawdust still clinging to the denim from whatever project he was working on today. His blonde hair is a mess, flopping across his forehead, and he's got a smear of red sauce on his chin.
"More guests?" His eyes light up when he sees Stacey and Harmony. "Excellent. I made enough food to feed an army. Please tell me you're hungry."
"Starving." Stacey locates the wine cabinet and pulls out a bottle of red. "Stacey Williams. Professional chaos agent and Jessica's best friend from the city. This is Harmony. She's famous, but don't mention it, she's trying to pretend she's normal."
"I'm not that famous." Harmony slips onto one of the stools at the island, pulling her sweater tighter around her shoulders.
"You were on the cover of Vogue last month."
"That was a fluke."
"Three times."
"Can we please talk about something else?" Harmony's voice goes thin and strained. "I came here to forget about all of that."
Stacey's expression softens. She crosses to her friend and squeezes her shoulder.
"Sorry, babe. You're right. Tonight is about Jessica and her extremely complicated love life." She turns back to me with a grin. "Speaking of which, where are the other two? I need to see all four of them in the same room. For science."
"Pedro's at the clinic." I accept the glass of wine Carlos hands me. "Late shift. And Sergio is..."
"Right here." Sergio appears in the kitchen doorway, filling it with his broad shoulders. He's wearing a grey henley and dark jeans, hair still damp from a shower. His eyes scan the room, taking in the new arrivals, before landing on me that makes my stomach flip. "Heard we have company."
"Stacey and Harmony." I gesture vaguely. "My friends from the city. They showed up unannounced."
"Best friends show up unannounced." Stacey is already pouring herself a generous glass of wine. "It's in the handbook."
Sergio moves into the kitchen, his presence filling the space. He stops beside me and his hand settles on my lower back, casual and possessive.
"Welcome to our home." His voice is low and steady. "Stay as long as you need."
"Oh, this is going to be fun." She takes a long sip of wine. "Harmony, are you seeing this?"
Harmony nods. "I'm seeing it."
