Page 71 of Scars Run Deep

“Fucking gorgeous,” Killian said, beaming at me.

Asher’s silver eyes were blazing as he looked me up and down hungrily. “Mmm, you’ve just made yourself into our appetizer.”

I held up my hand before the three of them pounced or something. No way in hell was I letting that happen—yet. I’d worked too hard on this dinner, the presentation, everything. “Please, I’m nothing if not the main course.”

Jonah whooped at my clapback.

Asher chuckled.

“You’re the whole damn thing,” Killian said.

I smiled and watched the three of them turn back to the table, checking everything out.

I looked around at the space.

I’d done a pretty good job.

I’d even strung up some fairy lights around the immediate area to complement the candle arrangement I’d set up on the table. Well, I was calling them fairy lights in my mind, because they suited the purpose better, but they were really Christmas lights I’d found in the basement. They had a ton of them, all different colors, so I’d used the white and silver ones for the effect I’d wanted tonight. Either way, it gave the whole thing an extra special feel.

Killian noticed them first, drawing his rapt attention away from the table and the food long enough to take them in. “This doesn’t look like Security’s work, it wouldn’t look this… creative. You did it yourself?”

“Sure did. You like it?”

“Of course. It’s fucking amazing, darlin’. How, though?”

“I used a ladder, of course,” I said, with a laugh. “Well, two of them.”

He frowned, not liking that. “That was dangerous.”

Jonah and Asher exchanged an amused look at his reaction.

I cocked my head to the side. “You mean as dangerous as battling a load of mercenaries, then hanging off a bridge by a mangled railing?”

“Touche,” Asher said with a smile.

“She’s got you there,” Jonah said, laughing in that hearty way of his.

“Come on,” I said, a giggle escaping me. “It’s not just here to observe, let’s eat and enjoy.”

I walked to the right chair on the side of the table closest to the pool and took a seat, gesturing for them to do the same.

Killian sat beside me and instantly clasped my hand on my thigh.

Jonah settled on the other side of the table opposite him.

And Asher took the seat right opposite me.

I’d shifted the chairs earlier to avoid there being any head of the table position. I’d noticed some animosity between Asher and Killian lately, so I hadn’t wanted anything to highlight the leadership position that Asher lauded over him far too often, which was one of the chief causes for the friction between them. More than that, have the seating this way—equal—it emphasized the whole team dynamic that we were working within now. All of us going into this war together, having each other’s backs, all needing to work in concert to achieve our common goal.

I liked that.

I liked it a whole lot.

Being a part of their team, not just being accepted, but being revered and appreciated… it was liberating, exhilarating, challenging, and intense. I’d never experienced anything like it.

The way they’d brought me into their fold meant a lot to me and I’d wanted to pay tribute to that, to celebrate that camaraderie. And this dinner had been my way of accomplishing that.

The three of them seemed as on board with it as I was, as excited about it, willing to give it the gravitas I’d hoped.

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