Page 12 of The Keeper

I shrugged. “I’m not above heating up a frozen pizza. Have you already forgotten the blizzard?”

A couple months ago New York was hit with the worst blizzard in fifty years. The dramatics of that statement always sounded much better coming from a meteorologist’s mouth.

“You mean snowmageddon? I gained twenty pounds that weekend.” Max recalled between mouthfuls.

“The drama with this one. It wasn’t that bad.” Killian shook his head.

“The worst part was I didn’t miss any work. If we’re going to get the storm of the century, it could have at least happened on a Monday.”

“Says the guy whose job it is to plan swanky events on the regular.”

I smiled watching the two of them quibble back and forth. They were complete opposites physically. There’s Killian, with his lean frame, pale skin, white-blond hair and gray eyes. We’d always tease and fuss over who was prettier; Killian or Taron Egerton. In my opinion, both were equally pretty.

And then there’s Maxim. Tall, muscular, and dark-skinned with brown eyes and hair. And yes, we had the same ‘who’s prettier’ discussion with him. Killian and I both agreed Maxim could rival Regé-Jean Page all day, every day.

But at their core, they were alike in so many ways. Both were caring and empathetic. Both were fierce in their loyalty. And both of them would drop whatever they were doing for the people they loved the most.

“Speaking of swanky events,” I said, grinning. “How’s the planning for the influencer’s birthday party going?”

Max groaned. “You know how it is. Everyone has their own vision of what the theme should be and you fight about it for six months until there are only two weeks left before the event and nobody has made one damn decision.”

“So, right on schedule then?” I deadpanned.

“I see you forgot to check your sarcasm at the door again,” Max teased.

I laughed. “Well, at least the location is finalized. It’s at Employee’s Only, right?”

“Yep. Great space. The vibe is so retro and intimate. Now if the guest of honor would only cut her guest list down, it would be perfect.”

“Why not just use a bigger venue?” I asked.

“She wants it to be small.” He made air quotes, “Ultra exclusive.”

Killian exhaled one of his oh-you-poor-thing-tell-me-more sighs.

Max gave him an exasperated look. “This place only holds about seventy-five people so the biggest challenge will be working on the guest list.”

Killian appeared thoughtful for a second. “Max, should we start the interrogation now?”

Maxim answered him with a hint of mischief, “I’d thought you’d never ask.”

They looked at one another and leaned toward me on their elbows in unison. The synchronization was impressive.

“We chose to let it slide last night but it’s been almost a full day.” Killian paused for dramatic effect. “Who was the hot guy at the bar? You both looked like dogs in heat from where we were sitting.”

“The man is a, what do the kids say these days, snack,” Maxim chimed in.

I shrugged. “Nobody.”

Killian sized me up from across the table. His astute gray eyes studied what I thought was an unbreakable neutral expression. “Victoria Ava Chase, stop your lying this instant.”

“It was just some guy.”

“I call bullshit. We noticed him with two other obnoxiously attractive men while you were speaking with Dawn. That man saw you and beelined right over. How do you know him?”

“Fine,” I relented. “It was the guy who pulled over to see if I was having car trouble. Happy now?”

Two sets of eyes widened in curiosity. “Mildly hot?” they asked at the same time.

---