“You can have your conversation with all the bombs you want when Jase ties him to something. After I kick him in the nads, he’s all yours.” Anna crossed her arms over her ribcage.
Sadie pondered the proposal for a brief second. “I am on board for the tying. It’s a ‘no’ to the testicle kicking. We would like children someday and those are necessary for that outcome. Also, we’re sort of here in support of testicles, so it seems inappropriate to maim them.”
Anna sighed. “Can I at least get all up in his face and tell him he’s an idiot?”
“Of course.” Sadie smiled her divorce-attorney smile that probably made clients piss themselves in fear of what she could accomplish with the law on her side.
“Can Ipretendlike I’m going to kick him in the groin?” Anna asked.
“Will contact be made between any portion of your foot and his body?” Sadie asked, her attorney-mode switch flipped on and ready to roll.
“No.” Anna sighed.
Sadie held out her hand. “Then we have a deal.”
“First, I need my phone back,” Anna said. “So I can take off that dating app.” Thank God she wasn’t going to need that after all.
“Give me five minutes to deal with Roman.” Jase handed Anna the half-eaten skewers of poultry. “You know the kitchen?”
Uh. Yeah. She knew it. She nodded.
“Behind the kitchen there’s a hallway. You with me?” he asked, low with a note of ominous.
Anna nodded like a bobblehead doll.
“Second door to the left, there’s a supply closet.” Jase kept his gaze on Anna’s, only briefly glancing at Sadie in acknowledgement that she was in on the deal.
“Okay…” Anna said, certain she could find the supply closet.
“Meet me there in five minutes.” Jase stepped away and before Anna could sayHolly Jolly Christmas, he’d disappeared into the crowd of attendees.
“What’s going on?” Drake slid his hand against Anna’s back, trailing his fingertips along her spine. Even now at this gala full of people, Drake made her feel special.
Anna disposed of Jase’s half-eaten chicken. “Jase is helping me get revenge on our brother for sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong.”
“Fun.” Drake pressed a light kiss behind her ear before swiping a skewer from the platter for himself.
“We should probably head that way.” Anna tilted her head to where Jase had disappeared.
After giving Jase the full five minutes he needed, Drake, Sadie, and Anna moved through the ballroom, nodding toward Babushka and her date for the evening—an elderly man named Harry who Anna had become very fond of.
Past the kitchen, down the hall, Drake pulled open the door of the supply closet.
“What…?” Anna’s jaw sagged and her lips went numb.
Jase was trapped against a hot water heater with a string of dish towels tied together to form something that resembled a rope. Roman stood beside him, leaning against a utility sink and studying his fingernails.
“Things didn’t go as planned,” Jase said, frowning even as his fingertips worked at one of the knots holding him hostage.
“Clearly,” Anna said, grasping Drake’s hand. “What happened?”
“You want the play-by-play?” Jase asked. “Or do you want to help untie me?”
“Negative.” Roman shook his head. “No untying. You get to stand there until you’ve learned your lesson. Now, sis, I understand you have some things you want to say to me?”
“As a matter of fact, I do.” Hands firm on her hips, Anna sauntered toward him, pressing her fingertip against his chest. “What the hell were you thinking tonight?”
Roman’s eyes glittered in the annoying way of a big brother who thought he knew best. “I was thinking that you and Drake needed a little push.”
