Something in his tone makes me turn to him, giving him my full attention. “What was it like before?”
His lips flatten, brows lowering over his eyes as he studies me. “They annoy the fuck out of each other now. She’s like his sister, but at the beginning, he was…fascinated by her. She’s a powerful woman, and Colt was drawn to that.”
My stomach drops. “She was already with Kade then, right? What did he think?”
The corner of Ransom’s mouth curls. “He knew, but it didn’t seem to bother him. He trusts Becca and Colt.”
“I see.”
I do. I get why Colt would be drawn to Becca. She’s one of the most vibrant people I’ve met. So completely sure of herself and honestly doesn’t care what anyone else thinks of her. And the ninja skills? Well, they probably make her the total package in Colt’s eyes. I feel that spiral of self-doubt trying to grow, and I shove it down. Colt chose me. He’s dating me. I’m the one who made him lose control tonight.
His fingers still smell like me.
“Do you? See, that is?”
I roll my eyes, unconsciously mimicking Mia. “Yeah, I do. If I liked pussy, I’d be all over Becca.”
Ransom’s eyes widen comically before darting away. “Yes, well. Um.” He clears his throat, unable to contain his smile. “You’re something else, you know that? I can’t quite peg you. You seem to be this no-nonsense woman. You’ve put us in our fucking place more than once, and you’re completely unfazed by everything around you tonight. I honestly thought you’d hit the fucking roof when you walked in here.”
I look back at the hive of activity behind me. At the dollhouse slash hamster fishbowl, at the obstacle course, and at the men holding hamsters, arguing about proper dimensions for helmets. And at Mia, completely at home in the chaos, sitting on Micah’s lap, petting the hamster in his hands while Holly watches them with a teary smile, hand resting on her stomach.
“Honestly, when I look around at all of this,” I say, a sheen of tears in my eyes, “I’m so grateful that we stayed. It looks the way I always imagined a family would look.” I glance at him out of the corner of my eye. “Mia has you all wrapped around her finger, and she knows it.”
Ransom doesn’t deny it. “She’s been a complete joy. Having her around. Having you and Holly and even Becca around has been…like oxygen, maybe. We were drifting before. We’ve done everything we wanted to do in business. And for some of us, there was very little outside of work.”
“Colton said you guys went a little wild with the money at first.”
“Yes, we wasted a lot and bought ridiculous things. We lost our heads for a little while.”
“What reined you in?”
“Jonas,” he says with a laugh. “He’s always been more comfortable on his own turf, so he didn’t love all the travel, but no fucking way would we leave him behind. He created a presentation for us on the perils of our current path. There were very detailed projections for how our business might suffer, how long our money might last…honestly nothing that would have convinced us. But then he included a section on charities here at home that were struggling. He pointed out that our bar bill from the club the night before would have funded one of the after-school programs for a year.”
“Wow,” I have to know, “Did you drink a lot that night, or was the booze just really expensive?”
He shakes his head, chuckling. “Both. I think Declan poured a three-thousand dollar bottle of champagne on Colt’s head.”
I can only shake my head, a little sick at the waste. In my life before, I could have paid all our bills for three months with what they paid for one bottle of wine.
Ransom winces. “I know. I can see it written all over your face. We had surrounded ourselves with people who lived that lifestyle.” His mouth twists. “And the women that were chasing men like us. We lost sight of what really mattered, and in the end, it wasn’t a healthy dynamic. So we came home.”
“On your private plane,” I say dryly.
He laughs, a rich full sound that echoes around the apartment. A few of his brothers stop and smile at the sound. “Well, we are billionaires. Now that you’ve flown private, would you ever go back?”
I scrunch up my nose. “No lines, no security, and plenty of legroom. God, it was amazing. It completely ruined flying for me. Going back to coach will be a rough adjustment.”
“But you’re not going back to coach. Next time you need to fly, you’ll be doing it on the jet.”
“Huh?”
He tucks his hands in the pocket of his track pants, studying me. “You didn’t ask when Colton and Becca’s dynamic changed.”
“No, I didn’t.” And I didn’t plan on ever asking.
He hums. “It was the day he saw your photo. Everything shifted for him. You and Mia became his focus. And since you’ve been here, that’s only gotten more intense. You’re never going to fly commercial again Evie, because if you go somewhere, Colt’s going with you. And that fucker does not have the patience for commercial flights. Trust me, you don’t want to listen to him complain about the leg room for eight fucking hours.”
I stare unseeing at the floor. “We’ve only just started dating.”
