“London,” Tristan said and leaned toward me, kissing my cheek, and then reached for a fancy glass with red icy liquid off the bar and passed it to me.
I sipped the cool drink and we chatted about the progress on the house and Trick, one of the kids that Chess and Tristan were trying to legally adopt.
Soon, Emily, Georgie, and Kat came over and joined us. Tristan slipped away and left us girls to giggle and drink our daiquiris, which I soon discovered were rather potent. I wasn’t used to drinking alcohol, so my tolerance was zilch.
It was nice. I hadn’t had girlfriends in a long time, and it felt good to chat and laugh and drink. In a few months, I was starting at the University of Toronto to finish my degree, and I was already volunteering at a homeless shelter close to Kai’s loft.
A hand settled on my hip and I smiled, tilting my head back to meet Kai’s lips. “Baby,” he murmured against my mouth. Then his arm came around my waist and he tugged my back into his chest.
“What were you men talking about? It looked intense.” It had. I saw Vic arguing with Deck after Kai had said something.
“Business.”
“Everything okay?” I took a sip of my drink.
He lowered his mouth to my ear and whispered, “Going into business together.”
Daiquiri sprayed from my mouth and luckily no one was in front of me. I wiped my mouth with the napkin under the base of the glass then turned in his arms. “You’re not serious.”
But the second my eyes met his and I saw the spark with his grin, I knew he was. “That’s what Vic was angry about.”
He nodded. “One of the things. He thinks it’s a bad idea.”
“And Deck doesn’t?”
Kai’s hand on my lower back slid over my ass and back up again. I was wearing a little black dress with a scoop neck and a low back. It was tight and stretchy, and I liked it because it was sexy, but not too revealing. But mostly I liked it because Kai helped me pick it out at the store. He swore it was the one and only time he’d accompany me to the mall.
“Deck knows I’m good at what I do. And changing Vault’s direction is in his best interest. We merge and gradually shift those still involved with Vault to the way we want it to go.” He cupped my chin and his thumb rubbed a spot at the corner of my mouth where I probably still had daiquiri. “Deck’s morals differ from mine, so we’ll clash, but we’ve found a common footing in that we want the same thing.”
“Why else was Vic angry?”
He grinned. “I told him to go get me a drink.”
I laughed.
“London.” Georgie came up beside us with a dark brunette who had sun-tanned skin and dark, almost black eyes with long lashes. She was curvy, wide hips with average breasts. Her features were gentle and soft, except for her high-cheekbones. “This is Catalina.”
I pulled out of Kai’s arms, but he kept his hand resting on my lower back.
I reached forward and shook Catalina’s hand. “Hi. Nice to meet you.” Her grip was strong, but there was a hesitation before she took it.
Kai nodded. “Catalina.” I knew that they’d met in Colombia and also what her story was. It wasn’t a good one.
She glanced at Kai then back to me. “Hey.”
“I talked to Matt. He said you can hang with us for a while,” Georgie said. “Brett and Jen can handle it.”
“Thanks, but I just started this job and want to make a good impression.”
Georgie laughed. “No need to impress Matt. That sexy cupcake is sweet on all his girls.”
But Catalina was already moving away and disappeared into the crowd.
Georgie turned back to us, sighing. “I want to help her, I just don’t know how. I know she meant something to my brother. He’d want that.”
According to Kai, Deck told Georgie exactly what happened in Colombia including Connor showing up and what he’d said. But like Kai, Deck would never lie to Georgie and I could tell from the strained look on her face that she was still struggling with the fact her brother had wanted her to think he was dead meaning he had no intention of coming back.
There was a loud commotion when the music shut down, and people started shifting around wondering what was going on when Deck stepped up onto the stage and grabbed the microphone.
“Holy crap,” Georgie exclaimed, mouth dropping. “What’s he doing?”
“Not my thing, standing up here,” Deck said into the microphone and his deep, gravelly voice echoed through the room.
There was clapping and a few whistles and catcalls, but Deck ignored them as his eyes sifted through the crowd until they locked on Georgie standing beside me. The crowd turned to look where Deck was focused.
“My girl has agreed to be mine in the eyes of the law, but she’s been mine since I first laid eyes on her.”