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He furrowed his brow. “One hundred percent. Most of the time. Sometimes.”

I lifted my brows.

Reese grinned. “They bring you in as a consultant, don’t they?”

Emerson pretended to be busy by measuring the coffee.

I smirked.

When he was done and he’d put on the machine, he turned back to us. “In my defense, I’m not old enough to rot away on my porch. I need something to do.”

Hey, he didn’t have to convince us. Sixty-two was nothing. I’d been semi-retired for two years, and I knew I needed something else at some point. Mclean House wasn’t exactly burying me in work.

Reese shrugged. “I don’t know why you retired at all. Quinlan must have a ton of positions for you at HQ.”

Em harumphed. “They do. But I promised Danny I’d slow down so I can focus on my health.”

Reese and I stiffened at the same time.

“Somethin’ wrong with your health?” Reese asked.

“No,” Em was quick to say. “My blood pressure went just outside the range of normal, and he freaked out.”

Just then, Danny called out from the bedroom. “Em! Ditch those two fuckers and come back to bed!”

Yeah, we were on Danny’s shit list.

I scratched the side of my head.

Reese had another way of doing things. He snuck into the bedroom, where the door was open enough that I could see him diving for the bed.

“What the fuck!” Danny yelled.

“This is what happens when you’re mad at us.” Reese was legit draped over Danny, not letting the man escape. “Stop fighting me. I’ll make it quick and painful.”

I snorted.

“Like I’d feel a fucking thing,” Danny growled. “Get off me, you motherfucking gorilla!”

I turned to Em. “In case it was unclear, we’re here to apologize for being dicks.”

He lifted his brows a fraction, surprise flashing by in his eyes. “I’m not following. Have you been dicks?”

Fucking obviously. And I could spell it out for Em while Reese did his thing with Danny. Same goal, different approaches.

“We’ve been selfish and closed off,” I admitted. “We never had bad intentions, but we lived in our own bubble and made no space for others—mainly you and Danny, the way y’all’ve done with us. You tried to include us a bunch.”

I took a breath. I didn’t like speaking in long sentences, and that one was a humdinger.

“I swear, if you don’t get off me right now…!” Danny snapped.

“You’re gonna what?” Reese taunted. “Call for Daddy? I bet you regret training me now. You made me stronger than you.”

“Emerson, get my gun!” Danny grunted. “You fuckin’ asshole, I have more shrapnel in my hip than you have in your head, and that’s saying a lot.”

I walked over to the bedroom and closed the door.

There. Better.