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Women I could gossip with about dresses and sex and men who carried guns for a living. Women who teased me, included me, and seemed to have collectively decided I belonged with them before I had completely figured that out for myself.
The thought made me smile.
“Aria should be here,” I said.
Lacey nodded. “She should. She arranged all this and then claimed Valentine’s Day at Xyst was too busy for her to disappear for five hours.”
“Does she ever stop working?”
“Rarely,” Scarlett said. “But Xyst was Ana’s baby for years, and someone had to take over more of the day-to-day work after she left.”
“I haven’t met Ana yet.”
Lacey’s expression softened. “You will. Anastasia is Nik’s twin sister. She owns part of Xyst with the guys, but she lives out near Tacoma now with Conan.”
She took another sip of her champagne.
“He’s an emergency department nurse,” Lacey said. “Very large. Very tattooed. Very obsessed with his wife.”
Scarlett smiled. “She’s pregnant with twins, so I doubt Nik is going to let her travel any time soon.”
“Let her?” Lacey repeated.
“You know what I mean.”
“You’re right. He’ll hover until those babies are born.”
I laughed.
“Conan’s brothers are out there,” Lacey continued. “One’s an emergency physician, and another is a paramedic. Nik’s family has business ties in that part of the country, so it worked out. Ana still keeps an eye on Xyst, but Nik handles more of what she used to do now, and Aria keeps everyone else from setting the place on fire.”
“That woman deserves a spa day more than any of us.”
“We should make sure she comes next time,” I said.
Scarlett pointed her glass at me. “Yes, we should.”
Lacey’s eyes brightened. “We should make this official.”
I looked between them. “Make what official?”
“The Syndicate Sisterhood.”
Scarlett immediately sat straighter. “Oh, I like that.”
“The men took a blood oath,” I said. “If we need one of those, count me out.”
“No blood,” Scarlett said. “Absolutely not. The men can keep the knives and dramatic rituals.”
Lacey lifted her glass. “We get champagne, spas, and expensive lingerie.”
“That seems considerably smarter,” I said.
Scarlett lifted her glass. “And Aria is in whether she likes it or not.”“Absolutely.”
Lacey nodded decisively. “Done. Syndicate Sisterhood.”
The three of us touched our glasses together.
