Page 33 of The Best Friend Power Play

Everyone in the family loves Sandy, and not just because they're newlyweds. She's genuinely a great person. Sunshiney and friendly, she works with animals, and you can tell just by looking at them that she and Farrow are head-over-heels in love with each other.

While Bianca…yeah. She's a tough one. I only want my brother to be happy. The problem is, I'm not sure Bianca does make him happy. They've been married for two years and have had problems the whole time. Malik knows he can come to me anytime, and I'll be there for him. Otherwise, I mind my own business and try to stay out of it.

"Not sure. Mom sounded stressed on the phone, so I didn't want to bombard her with questions."

"Fair enough."

"Oh, listen. If Bianca starts hounding me again…"

"I'll get you out of there. Don't worry." She hesitates. "She wouldn't bring up trying to poach you as a client at a time like this, would she?"

I flash Hannah a look that says yes, my sister-in-law would very much bring up trying to get me to leave my current PR firm to join hers at this completely inappropriate time.

She brings it up every time we see each other, not to mention all the emails I get from her. I've told her, politely and multiple times, that I'm happy with my current representation and I have no intention of switching. I don't know why she keeps pushing.

Hannah smiles at me, and it makes my heart flutter. Which…which must be due to the stress of the situation. Yeah, that's probably it.

Her gaze drifts to my hands which are gripping the steering wheel so tight, my knuckles are ghost-white.

"How about I put on some music?" she suggests. "Get your mind off things. Relax you a bit."

"Sounds great."

Hannah fiddles with her phone, and a few seconds later, the atmospheric synths of "Lavender Haze" fill the air.

Midnights is her favorite Taylor album.

I let her think it's my favorite, too, but really, I'm a sucker for Taylor's first album because despite being an Italian-American who grew up on the west coast, country music flows in my veins.

Plus, she was only sixteen when she recorded it, which blows my mind. When I was sixteen, I was sprinting from one end of the rink to the other, practicing crossovers, and working on my stickhandling drills, not creating incredible music.

"This okay?" she checks.

"It's great." I flick my gaze toward her. "Hey. I'll make this up to you tomorrow. Your hot girl summer will not be derailed."

"Hey. It hasn't derailed anything, and you have nothing to make up to me."

I disagree, but I go with it.

Because as soon as the will reading is done, my sole focus will be on making sure Hannah has the hot girl summer of her life.

"Mio tesoro," Nonna greets me with her trademark affection as Hannah and I step into my parents' crowded living room.

"I hope it's okay I tagged along," Hannah says after hugging Nonna.

"Of course it is. You're part of the family." Her eyes shift between us. "But not in any way that would prohibit anything romantic?—"

"There he is. The big goof." My oldest brother Malik's deep voice cuts off Nonna's words.

I've never been happier to see him. "Hey, man."

We embrace warmly.

It's been a few months since we've seen each other, and I've missed him. He's a carpenter by trade and runs his own company, but he's confided in me it's a source of tension with his wife, who I see trotting over to us.

I plaster a wide smile on my face. "Bianca! Great to see you!"

Whoa. That came out way too over the top.

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