Page 16 of Dirty Fortune

"Well, then, our job is halfway done. Now we just need to gang up on Mike and make him let you go." Hailey says.

"He is the only family I have."

"He's not the only family you have, Julie. But he's had to be your dad for many years. He doesn't have to have that role anymore." Gemma adds.

"Are we going to tell Keith about the intervention? He'll be here soon."

"No way! He'll try to stop you guys. Keep it a secret." Amber shouts.

When the buzzer sounds, I get up to let Keith in. I'm a little anxious as my two worlds are about to collide right now, but I trust that my besties won't grill him too hard. It's too much to hope for no questions, but a girl can dream. There's a knock on the door, and I open it to find my prince charming standing there. The brace covering his nose hides how handsome he is, but my heart starts to beat faster at the sight of him just the same.

He kisses me briefly, and I let him inside the apartment.

"Keith, I know you've heard of my besties for many years. We're missing one today that is on the laptop, but here they are. Hailey, Alice, Gemma, Meghan, and Amber, on the computer."

"Hello, ladies. It's good to finally meet you all."

"Hey Keith, what are your intentions with our girl?" Comes out of the laptop.

The girls all smile because Amber always likes to go straight to the jugular.

"Right. I intend to make her mine and build a future together with her. I'm hoping you guys will come along for the ride with us. You're all very important to my princess."

I can hear Amber snickering at his nickname for me.

"Geez, Jules, do you call him Daddy too?"

"Not yet," Keith answers, and they all burst out laughing.

"Keith, honey. There's some Thai food on the table. Feel free to eat any of it. We're going on a little errand together. I hope you don't mind."

"I was hoping to spend the rest of Sunday with you."

"I think we'll be back in an hour or two tops. This is important."

"An important errand. That doesn't sound worrisome at all. Be good, Princess." He leans down to give me another kiss and I relax because he really is my prince.

"Let's go, ladies."

The shock on Mike's face when he opens the door to his apartment is comical. We push him aside to come in and gather in his living area. He's still standing at the door like he's dumbfounded we've invaded his personal space.

"Mike, close the door and come here. We need to talk to you." I tell him.

"What's going on, Julie? Ladies."

"We need to talk to you about some things," Hailey says.

"And you needed to do it as a pack?"

"That way, you'll pay more attention," Alice says.

"Sit down, ladies."

My friends sit, but I stay standing. I need to gather up my courage because I really respect my brother for raising me after our parents died, and I don't want to cause a rift in our relationship.

"Mike," I start, "Keith is the love of my life. I've known it ever since we had a one-night stand many years ago. Back then, we stayed apart out of respect for you, but he's been in my heart ever since. My life is not complete without him, and I need you to see reason about this."

"This again.” Mike sighs. “He was already here to talk about this. I don't want to talk about it anymore. I told him I'd consider it."

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