“Someday, I’ll take you there and show you how good it can be. What you experienced is not at all what the club is about. But no, for tonight, we’re going to enjoy some time with family.”
Julian leads me to the door and places his palm on the reader and then opens the door when it unlocks.
“You have access to Rome’s home?”
“We all do,” he replies. “For all of our homes. We’re brothers in every sense of the word. But I don’t walk in without knocking unless he’s expecting me.”
He smiles down at me and leads me inside, and the scene before me isnotwhat I was expecting.
The made men I grew up around are stoic. Hard. Angry. They don’t laugh or smile or joke around.
But that’s exactly what this group of people is doing.
I don’t know some of them. I recognize Lulu and Scarlett, and Rome of course. The others were at our wedding, but I don’t think we’ve met.
“They’re here,” Lulu says with a bright smile. “Come in, you guys. Natasha, do you know everyone?”
“I don’t think?—”
“I’m Spider,” a man with a bald head and a spiderweb tattooed on his scalp, says with a remarkably kind smile for someone so scary. He doesn’t make a move to touch me. “Carson’s second.”
“Who’s Carson?” I ask.
“Me.” The scariest man I’ve ever seen in my life, and that’s saying a lot, crosses over to me. He’s so damnbig. Well over six and a half feet tall, with tattoos down his fingers, his darkblond hair brushed back off his face. He reminds me of a bigger version of Jax fromSons of Anarchy. I’m pretty sure he was at the wedding, but I was too upset to pay attention to the guests that day.
“You’re a scary man.”Did I just say that out loud?
Carson’s lips twitch, and he winks at me. Should a man be this scaryandhandsome at the same time? It doesn’t seem fair.
“Not to you,” he replies easily. “You have nothing to be afraid of. Welcome to the family, little one.”
I’m introduced to Mateo, who’s tall, dark, and handsome. All these men are sexy in their own way. Of course, my husband outshines them all.
But I’m biased.
“You know Jack,” Julian says, gesturing to his second in command. “That’s Diego, Mateo’s second, and you’ve met Luke.”
“I’m with him,” Luke reminds me, gesturing to Rome. “And we’ll get you a spreadsheet so you can remember everyone.”
“That might be helpful,” I reply with a grin and look around the room. There’s a lot of power here. So much that it practically has its own heartbeat. “Thanks for inviting me.”
“Come help me,” Lulu says, waving for me to follow her, but I’m reluctant to let go of Julian’s hand.
He kisses my knuckles and leans down to whisper in my ear.
“Go chat with them. I won’t be far away.”
With a nod, I follow Scarlett and Lulu into the kitchen, where there’s already the beginnings of a huge feast spread out on the countertop. Platters of food are laid out, and I can see that Lulu’s still assembling some of it.
“Did you make all of this?” I ask as I climb on a stool on the other side of the island, right next to Scarlett.
“Food is Lulu’s love language,” Scarlett informs me. “And the best part is, we get all the benefits.”
“I wish I knew how to cook,” I say as Lulu offers me a dish full of olives, and I take one, pop it into my mouth. “But I’m hopeless at it. I almost burned the house down the other day. The appliances are too fancy for me to figure out.”
“I can teach you some basics,” Lulu says with a shrug. “It’s not hard once you get the hang of it. How is everything going? Are you and Julian getting along?”
“And how are you after that night at the club?” Scarlett adds. “We want to knoweverything. And don’t worry, the guys will be busy until we call them to dinner, so it’s just us girls.”
