Page 158 of The Price of Forever

“You are being such a snotty little sister right now,” Axel informed me.

“Still trying to make up for all those years you missed,” I said with a laugh. When Seven extended his hands away from the pole, clinging only by his muscular thighs, I cupped my mouth and hollered. “That’s my man! Root Bear!”

“Root Bear!” Roxie shouted, our gazes meeting across the room.

“Root Bear!” Trojan echoed, clapping loudly for his best friend.

Chico and Liam were hollering too. Over the past year, the three of them had formed quite the security team at Silva Security. Of course the Fairchilds hired Silva Security back immediately after the hearing. Seven even resumed his prior headquarters space in their building. I loved seeing him as CEO—watching all the ways he handled hiccups, worked with clients, and navigated business issues. He was on track to hire three new close protection officers this year. Watching him not just start this business but grow it was inspiring—I hoped to draw inspiration and guidance from him as I launched my own pole business.

Once Seven wrapped up his performance, sliding gracefully down the pole with only minimal thigh-squeaking, he lifted his fists in victory. The crowd went wild.

“How the fuck is anyone supposed to follow that act?” Axel muttered.

“So I take it you’d like to go next?” I asked him.

“I’m still training,” Axel said. “Maybe next year’s Christmas party.”

Jessa was the next to volunteer. She shimmied out of her jumpsuit, revealing a black spandex bodysuit. Roxie changed the music, and Jessa’s routine began. Seven leaned against the kitchen island beside me, dipping down for a kiss.

“How’d I do?” he asked, sweat glistening on his chest.

“The best you’ve ever done,” I told him.

“Thanks to my awesome teacher,” he replied.

I cupped the side of his face, getting lost in his caramel gaze. “I love you, you know that?”

“I do know that. Are you aware that I love you?”

I laughed. “I’m aware.”

“Endlessly and forever and through the eons?”

“I suspected that, based on how many wooden cooking utensils I’ve acquired over the past year, yes.”

His heartbreaking grin nearly split me in two. I pushed onto my tiptoes for another kiss. If we didn’t have a full party in swing, I would have snuck off with him to the bedroom.

Cora crossed the room, heading straight for me. Axel grabbed her hand and brought it to his lips before she started speaking. “Jordan, listen to this! I just got a text from my assistant. Eli’s been convicted in one of the cases brought against him.” Excitement poured out of her, her green eyes brimming. “He’ll have to register as a sex offender.”

I gasped, my hand shooting to cover my mouth. After we’d overturned the case last year, Eli had gotten into some trouble regarding his involvement with the SEC scandal. Mostly fines, unfortunately. Cora and I worked together to get him arrested for what he’d done to me at his house party. In the process, other women came forward with their own stories involving Eli. It ballooned out of control—so much larger than we’d ever imagined. My own case against him didn’t make it too far, but a few were very solid. And finally, justice.

Seven wrapped an arm around me, pressing a kiss to my temple. “That’s music to our ears.” He spoke the words I was thinking in my head. We were that kind of couple now.

Axel pumped his fist in the air. “Fuck yes! The looner goes down! That was the last square on our bingo card.”

Cora sent him a satisfied look. “I think we’ll all be breathing a little easier from here on out.”

The entire Margulis brand went down in flames after the Fairchild SEC trial was dismissed; they were still a functional business, but with almost zero influence after all the damning exposés had come out about Allan’s alleged involvement with federal corruption. It must have been too much for old Allan to handle, because he passed away from a heart attack about four months after the trial concluded. Cora didn’t attend the funeral, and she still hadn’t spoken a word to her mother since their initial fracture when Cora separated from Eli.

Through all of our excitement, we’d missed most of Jessa’s performance. I cheered extra loud as she finished up.

She dropped to the floor, red-faced and beaming, and then let out an ear-piercing whoop. “I was made for the pole, mothercluckers!”

Everyone applauded. Near the front, Mercedes leaned down to point something out to Willow and Grace, who both watched the pole transfixed. Maddie clapped gleefully at her side. It was nice having another Kentucky girl in the mix, though I sensed she might become another northern convert after this visit. It sounded to me, based on what Mercedes said, that there wasn’t much for Maddie in Kentucky anymore after her contentious split with Mercedes’s brother Jericho. I was just about to call up the next performer when I spotted a too-sweet sight: Zero and Ranger cuddling in the corner. Zero had laid down to take it all in, and Ranger was tucked up against Zero’s glossy coat, looking too comfortable.

“Look at those lovers,” I whispered to Seven.

“They couldn’t be more different, but on the inside, they’re just the same,” he said. “Even though one is clearly taller and built like a Greek god, and one is roughly ten years younger and very good at climbing things, they’re made for each other.”

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