Page 139 of His Reckoning

“No,” Brooklyn says immediately.

A broad-shouldered guy with the same dark hair as Sawyer leans back in his chair.

“That’s fair,” he says. “He hasn’t brought a woman here in … ever.”

“That’s not true,” Sawyer mutters.

The man raises an eyebrow. “Name one.”

Sawyer opens his mouth. “Hudson …” he warns.

Hudson nods. “Exactly.”

Another man at the end of the table laughs.

“That’s Chase,” Brooklyn says, pointing at him.

Chase lifts his glass. “Nice to meet the woman who finally got Sawyer to show up to dinner.”

An older man clears his throat from the center of the table. “Are we finished interrogating the girl before she even sits down?”

Everyone pauses, and then an older woman smiles warmly and gestures toward the open chairs.

“Come sit, Kayla,” she says. “I’m Lucia, and this is my husband, Luigi.”

Sawyer pulls out the chair beside him, but Brooklyn immediately slides into it first.

“Sorry,” she says sweetly. “Family rule.”

Brookyln pats the chair beside Hudson. “You sit there.”

Sawyer gives her a flat look. “Of course you did that on purpose.”

Brooklyn smiles. “Obviously.”

I slide into the chair beside Hudson while Sawyer sits across from me.

Hudson leans slightly closer. “So,” he says quietly, “should we be congratulating him on his first real relationship?”

I laugh. “I wouldn’t go that far.”

Across the table, Livia folds her arms. “All right,” she says, “someone explain.”

Sawyer exhales slowly. “Don’t act like you don’t know. Kayla is staying at my place temporarily.”

Cole grins. “Roommates.”

Chase snorts. “With benefits?”

Sawyer points at him. “Don’t.”

Brooklyn leans toward me. “Is it terrible?”

“What?”

“Living with him.”

I shrug. “He’s not as bad as he thinks he is.”