Page 88 of Rafe’s Future

“So you’re really not mad? We didn’t plan this, I swear. It just sort of . . . happened.”

“Yeah, we all know how these things can just ‘happen’,” Alice teased.

Lena’s shoulders shook as she and the others cracked up once more. On the inside, she felt a sense of warmth growing. Much like the families before her.

Family.

So this was what it felt like to have one of those. Unlike the one she’d grown up with, this family wasn’t defined by blood or obligation. This was different. Better in so many ways.

Theirs was a family of choice, and without Lena realizing it, they’d begun making her a part of it, too.

She looked at Alex. “Congratulations. And please, tell Colt I said so, too.”

“I will, thank you.”

Lena had known Colt for quite some time. She’d watched him grow as an operative into the man he was today, and she genuinely loved how happy he and Alex were together.

“So when’s the wedding?” Nicki asked Alex next.

Alex’s smile widened. “That’s the other thing.”

Avery looked to her sister. “There’s more?”

“Colt and I decided to do a simple, courthouse wedding.”

The group of women erupted again, and Lena laughed.

“But, but, but”—Alex staved off the barrage of comments and opinions—“we want all of you there. The team, obviously, and all of you girls.” Then she turned to Lena. “And you and Rafe.”

Her heart swelled inside her chest. “Really? Because I completely understand if you prefer to keep that day between you and your friends.”

“Of course, we want you there,” Alex assured her. “And not just because you used to be Colt’s boss.”

Something shifted inside her.

“Thank you.” Lena smiled back. “I’d be honored to be a part of your special day.”

Alice scoffed. “You do realize you’re stuck with us now, right?”

She looked at the other woman. Something in the pretty blonde’s expression made Lena’s throat tighten. Her tone may have been a tad flippant, but the truth was there, in her intelligent eyes.

She meant every word she’d just said.

“She’s right, you know?” Evie piped up next.

“Yep.” Nicki nodded. “You may as well accept it now.”

“Accept what?” Lena asked, though she was starting to understand.

Alice reached over and covered Lena’s hand with hers. “You’re one of us.”

“Like it or not.” Alex grinned.

A sudden rush of emotion gathered behind her ribs as she looked around the table. Each of these women was a warrior in their own right.

They were fighters. Survivors. Heroes who’d overcome insurmountable odds. And they had welcomed her into their group—into their family—with open arms.

An hour later, they begrudgingly said their goodbyes on the sidewalk outside the coffee shop. Alex headed the opposite direction, toward the nearby art gallery she owned. Avery had a doctor’s appointment. Evie had to get home, and Nicki had errands to run.