“Already training.” I smile. “We’ll have her throwing jabs before you know it. Get her in the ring with Chloe.”
“God help us all,” Emma says, laughing. “Two Midnight girls ready to fight. The world isn’t ready.”
“Here, I’ll put this in the kitchen.” I hold up the bottle of wine I brought. “Do you guys need anything?”
“Kitchen counter is fine,” Maren says. “Calvin and Alex are in there wrapping up dinner.” She smiles. “And no, we’re good.”
The three of them fall back into conversation as I head toward the kitchen, following the sound of my brothers’ voices and the smell of butter and rosemary. I can hear Alex before I see him, mid-sentence and going a mile a minute about something.
“...yeah, this upcoming Napa trip should be solid. I’ve got meetings with two distributors and a tasting event lined up, so we’ll see if anything comes of it.” I round the corner and find him at the stove, gesturing with a wooden spoon while Calvin slices bread next to him.
“I hope it works out, man.” Calvin glances back and spots me in the doorway. “Hey, Dom. Good timing, dinner’s almost ready. How’s the fight prep going?”
“Good, I think,” I say, grabbing a beer out of the fridge and twisting off the cap. “Roman’s in the best shape of his life, his timing is sharp, and he’s mentally locked in. As long as he sticks to the game plan we should be in good shape, but Herrera is a fucking hell of a fighter, so nothing’s guaranteed.”
Calvin nods. “I saw some footage of his last fight the other day. The guy’s a beast. But Roman’s got something special, and he’s got you in his corner. We’ll all be watching on the edge of our seats though, that’s for sure.”
“Don’t worry though, Dom,” Alex adds. “I’d pay to see the guy who could outwork you when you’ve got your mind set on something. You’re like a machine. A very gruff, obsessive machine.”
I smile despite myself. “Thanks Alex. I’m pretty sure there’s a compliment buried in there somewhere.”
“There is,” Alex says. “And I mean it, I think you’ve got this.”
“Oh, by the way,” Calvin says, turning back to check on something in the oven, “how did the gala go last night? Maren wanted to come but we had dinner plans. Did they raise good money?”
“Yeah, Dom,” Alex says with glee in his voice. “How did the gala go? Anything interesting happen?”
I shoot him a look.I will end you.
He smiles back at me, sweet as pie, completely immune to my death stare, and reaches over to grab a piece of cheese off the snack board.
“It was fine,” I say, turning back to Calvin. “Uneventful. The balance circle went well and the event raised a lot of money.”
“That’s great,” Calvin says, completely oblivious. “Martha always does a good job with those things. I was telling Maren we should go next year.”
“Oh, you absolutely should,” Alex says, nodding gravely. “Those things are always entertaining. Some might even sayelectrifying. Wouldn’t you agree, Dom? Electrifying?”
“I would say it was fine,” I repeat through my teeth. “And uneventful. As I said.”
“Right, right,” Alex says, popping more cheese into his mouth and chewing thoughtfully. “Uneventful. Got it.”
He waits until Calvin turns back to the stove, then mouthsuneventful my assat me, shaking his head with exaggerated disappointment. I flip him off behind Calvin’s back, and he flips me off right back, clearly delighted with himself.
I take a swig of my beer, trying to shove all thoughts of Brooke Bennett out of my head. The sky is going purple and orange over the water, it’s a beautiful evening, and I’m surrounded by family, and there is absolutely no reason for me to be thinking about a woman I can’t stand.
The back door opens behind me and I step aside just in time to avoid getting hit as Mateo comes through with an armful of firewood, the logs shifting precariously as he tries to navigate the doorway.
“Sorry about that,” Mateo says, catching a log that’s about to slide off the top of the pile and take out a lamp.
“No worries,” I tell him, reaching out to grab a couple of the logs before they tumble. “Here, I’ve got these.”
He nods his thanks and we head toward the fireplace together, our footsteps creaking on the old hardwood floors that have been in this house since before any of us were born.
“How’s the cabin treating you?” I ask as we crouch down to stack the wood in the iron rack beside the hearth.
He’s been staying in one of the cabins on Calvin and Maren’s property while he and Calvin get to know each other, figuring out what it means to be brothers after all these years of not knowing the other existed.
“It’s good,” Mateo says, arranging a log on the pile. “Really good, actually. Maren and Calvin have been incredible, and the cabin itself is great. Quiet, you know? I can hear the water at night when the windows are open, and there’s something about that sound that just...” He trails off, shrugging as he reaches for another log. “It’s nice. Peaceful.”
