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“It’s perfect, right?” Eli asks eagerly. “Are you going to tell Sunny?”
“Fuck no,” I scoff. “He doesn’t want to know anything, and he’s already nervous enough about tonight. Fuck, Eli. He’s been through enough. I’ll happily deal with this asshole forever if it means he never has to think about him again.”
“Yeah, I get that.” He hums in understanding. “I’ll try to get him to loosen up later, okay?”
“Thanks,” I say, my affection for Eli coming through loud and clear with one word. “But hey, I told you about getting more people for security, right?”
“Uh . . .” he says, probably stalling, calibrating to figure out why I said it like that. “Yes, I remember.”
“Wes has a list of people and he wanted me to reach out to my PI to do background checks, but I thought you’d be better at it. Would it be okay if I send you the list? I’ll owe you one again.”
Eli chuckles just a little at that.
“Forget it, no more IOUs between us, Tuck. Send me the list whenever and I’ll see what I can do as long as I can be there when you tell Sunny.”
“Fine.”
Wes is smiling just a little at that, and I feel like he might finally be able to relax a bit more around me.
That’d be nice.
“So, they’re still pushing this?” Sunny whirls around, away from the mirror. His face is set in an angry scowl—it’s on my behalf so I’m not worried.
He keeps fiddling with his cufflinks without taking his eyes off me.
I go to him, and still his hands, working the simple silver cufflink through the fabric of his brand new tailored shirt.
“They’re only doing it because they can’t figure out who did it. No one can, so they have to pin it on me. Try to,” I correct before he can get even angrier.
I bring his hand up to my lips and kiss the little skin of his wrist that’s showing.
“You’re gorgeous, my Sunny,” I whisper.
His scowl starts to melt away, but then snaps right back into place.
“Don’t try to distract me. This isn’t right, Tuck.”
I sigh and get to work on his other wrist.
“I know it’s not right, but there’s no evidence at all. It’s all speculation, and they’ll be laughed out of court if they try to pin it all on me without something concrete. Believe me, they’re well aware of how bad an idea it is to piss off my lawyer. We only have to wait until October when the trial starts and then Amanda will be behind bars and this will all be behind us.”
Sunny grumbles until I’m done and spin him to face the full-length mirror in my walk-in closet again.
“Tell me again why I can’t stay with the boys?”
He’s so grumpy.
I kiss the shell of his ear and talk between kisses. “Because you agreed to be my date, because you’re the most perfect boyfriend in the world, and because we’ll go, eat dinner, shake a few hands, let people thank me for the donation, and then we’ll be back here for dessert.”
“But the boys—”
“Johnny’s going to be with them, and so will Luna, Liv, and the whole brood of nieces and nephews that Mace and Mads love.”
“I’m being stupid,” he says, clearly going down a road I always hate to see him choose.
I try, like I always do, to gently bring him back to me.
“I adore you. You could never be stupid. I promise the boys will be fine, just like it’s fine that we’re both going to worry about them.”
