Sabs cocks her head. “And whatistruly important?”
“Having a real family,” Jagger answers matter-of-factly.
“Man, you’re making me well up!” I blow him a kiss. “We’re brothers. Always and forever.”
“Before I met them, I thought it would be easier to be alone,” Jagger continues, staring at the floor. “That I’d never be truly happy?—”
Sabs raises her hand to silence him, clearly unimpressed. “Are you done?”
Jagger recoils. A rush of protectiveness surges through me. This wasn’t the reaction he was hoping for after spilling his heart out. He rarely opens up like this, so Sabs doesn’t get how big of a deal it is. Nash’s shoulders tense, obviously feeling the same.
“Sabs!” Faye cuts in. She’s dabbing at her eyes and sniffling a little. “He’s baring his soul to us. You can’t cut him off like that!”
“Puh-lease. Cry me a river!” Sabs steamrolls over his emotions. “All I’ve heard tonight is Jagger feeling sorry for himself.” She shifts to address him directly. “While I’m glad you’ve finally come to your senses and realized how much of a fool you were to walk out on the best thing that ever happened to you, we need to know that our friend will be well taken care of.”
“I have…” Jagger struggles to find his words, her interruption clearly throwing him off course. “Money. We can make sure she’s well provided for.”
Delilah pinches the bridge of her nose. Obviously, that was the wrong thing to say.
“I can hire a bodyguard to protect her,” Jagger adds, seemingly entering free-fall mode, blurting out whatever comes to mind as Delilah shakes her head. “And a driver too. We’ll give her anything she needs for her nest. She’ll have everything she needs!”
“What she needs is a pack she can rely on.” Kady’s eyes narrow. “You can’t buy that level of support.”
“And she’ll have that.” I step in to save my packmate before he digs himself an even bigger hole that he’ll never be able to getout of. “We’ll worship the damn ground she walks— or skates—on.”
“Worship seems a bit strong of a word,” Delilah mumbles.
Sabs slaps her knee. “Worship doesn’t seem strong enough to me!”
“She can rely on us,” Nash growls. When he speaks, everyone’s head turns to face him. Kady and Sabs even look taken aback, presumably because he’s barely spoken until now. “We’re not going anywhere. Delilah is, and will always be, our top priority.”
“Exactly.” Jagger nods. “That’s what I was trying to say… but badly.”
“I know you were,” Faye acknowledges. “We can all tell how much you care about Delilah, even if some of us…” She glares at Kady and Sabs. “Find it harder to accept than others.”
“I’ll never make the same mistake again.” I can tell Jagger means what he says and hope the girls can too. “With time, I hope I can earn all of your trust.”
Kady eyes Jagger with skepticism. “Remember that I’m a Sinclair. My father can make even famous people disappear.”
I laugh then realize from her stony face that she isn’t joking.
“You have one chance.” Sabs holds up a finger. “Don’t fuck this up.”
“I won’t,” he promises.
“We’ll see.” Kady harrumphs. Clearly, she’s still not completely convinced, but I think she may be thawing as she looks at the pretty orange drink in Faye’s hand. “Is that a Mai Tai?”
“I can make you one, if you’d like?” I offer. I’ll make sure it’s the best damn Mai Tai she’s ever tasted.
“I guess one won’t hurt.” Kady flashes me a small smile, so fleeting that I almost think I imagined it. Especially since it’s the first non-threatening expression I’ve seen on her sinceshe arrived. Even the atmosphere in the room feels lighter, and Delilah’s posture relaxes.
Maybe we’ll make it through the night unscathed after all.
“That’s the pizza!” Nash jumps up when the doorbell rings.
“Whoa…” Delilah’s eyes bulge when Nash returns, holding what looks to be about ten oversized boxes in his arms. “That’s a lot of pizza.”
“I wanted to make sure everyone got something they liked,” he says. “It beats burnt lasagna.”
