Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 76309 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 305(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76309 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 305(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
“Ready?” I ask.
She brightens, nodding. “Ready,” she says.
The others are waiting for us already. Everyone’s here for the first time in a while: Evander with Camille, both of them down from Chicago and looking blissfully happy now that Camille’s pregnant again; Carmine with Brice, juggling a million things, still splitting time between Dallas and Philadelphia, though Dallas more often these days; Ford and Kat, drowning in children, going on number five soon enough; and Gareth with Fiona, sporting a much more modest three kids. The whole table stands as we enter the room, hugs and kisses going around, and I bask in the glow of being with my friends.
“You look good,” Evander says, squeezing my arm. “Does settled life suit you?”
“More than I thought,” I admit as the men retire to the bar together to refresh their drinks. I order a whiskey, neat.
“It’s not so bad, this domestic thing,” Ford says, grinning.
“You love it.” Carmine pushes his arm. “You’ve got a literal brood of whelps and buckets of money to take care of them all. Can’t really complain, can you?”
“Please, we’re all rich.” Ford’s beaming though, that proud father. “What about you, Lanzo? Now that you’ve finally closed on a house, are you thinking about populating it?”
I glance back at Renata. She’s busy laughing with Fiona over something, the other girls leaning in to share the joke. The five wives have grown closer than I ever dreamed they could, almost to the point where it feels like the men are all brothers, and the girls are all sisters. Like we’re one, massive family.
Which in some sense, we are. I’d die for any of them, and I know they’d die for me. Only the feeling is strange—after so long traveling so far, I never thought I’d find what I always needed back here in the States.
“Soon enough,” I say finally, grinning. “Going to enjoy the honeymoon phase first.”
Evander barks a laugh. “With the right woman, that phase never ends.”
“Cheers to that,” Gareth says, raising a glass. We toast each other, the five Atlas men, together at last.
“Are you happy with it?” Fiona asks after the meal’s finished. She attacks dessert while everyone else has an after-dinner drink. “The new place, I mean?”
“I love it,” Renata says, glancing at me. The look in her eyes makes my chest swell. “I never dreamed I’d have something like it, but here we are.”
“That’s the best feeling, isn’t it?” Camille grins at her. “Perks of being with an Atlas boy.”
“Among others,” Evander murmurs, kissing her cheek.
Gareth laughs, waving a cloth napkin at them. “Easy there, don’t get all weird in the middle of the Oak’s bar, please.”
“Speaking of getting weird, we were talking about Lanzo and Renata having children earlier. When’s the first baby coming?” Kat leans forward, fluttering her eyelashes at me. “Going to start tonight, are you?”
“Stop it,” Renata says, blushing furiously. I give her a look that only makes her turn a deeper shade of crimson. She knows damn well what I plan on doing to her once we’re back in our new master bedroom. A man can only wait so long before he has to break in his new bed.
“Look at us, thoroughly domesticated.” Gareth sighs, stretching. “Even Lanzo. Who would’ve imagined it?”
“Not me,” I admit.
“Wouldn’t it be weird if all our kids decided to hook up with each other?” Ford asks, grinning huge.
“Yes,” Gareth says, shooting him a frown. “It would be really weird.”
“I just want them to be friends,” Evander grumbles. “Good friends are important.”
“Someone’s getting soft.” Carmine elbows his shoulder.
“He’s right though.” I look around at my brothers, at their wives, at my Renata. This is the family I’ve been missing, my tribe, my people. They are my heart, they are the end of my long journey back home. “I missed the hell out of you all when I wasn’t here.”
“We’re glad you’re back,” Carmine says.
“Enough sappy shit.” Evander pounds the table. “Let’s drink some more before we’re forced to disperse.”
“Easy, big guy,” Fiona says with a laugh. “You can at least pretend like you have emotions for once in your life.”
“I removed those pesky emotions a long time ago,” Evander says, showing teeth.
Laughter follows. Conversation, joy. After a while, the parents begin to excuse themselves, until it’s only Renata and me left behind. She leans on my shoulder, sighing with contentment.
“They seem so happy,” she whispers. “I thought kids made things hard.”
“They do, but having money helps a whole lot.”
She snorts. “Nannies? Babysitters?”
“Cooks, cleaners, all that stuff. We’ll have it all too.”
She’s quiet for a little bit. I can tell she’s got something on her mind, but I know her well enough not to press, until finally, she says, “I’m worried about being a mother. You know I don’t have the best role models in that regard.”
“That isn’t true. You were raised by your grandfather. The way he was with you, that’s how you’ll be with our children.”