Page 122 of Knot a Thief

I hold my breath. Not sure of my place right now.

“Do you want a Daddy Seb?” Silas asks.

“My Daddies spoil me.”

“Well, that’s an excellent reason,” Ava says and giggles. “That’s why I like them too.”

“Can we all fit on your boat?” Max asks, changing the subject. “Mine won’t be here until tomorrow.”

“There are three staterooms. Ava and I have one. You and Silas can share and Lily can have the smaller one.” I give Max an enormous grin.

“No way,” Max argues.

“Lily and I will share for tonight and you three can argue over the other two,” Ava says. Giving us her best smile. “I need to catch up with this cherub.”

Max and I grumble, but Silas looks like Ava has just hung the moon and stars for him.

Silas chuckles, wrapping an arm around her waist. “Come on, you two. Let the ladies have their catch-up. I’m sure we can wait until Lily is asleep.”

As I watch Ava and Lily, now bathed in the golden Italian moonlight, I feel a bittersweet ache in my chest.

I’m overjoyed to see them reunited, to see Ava so happy, and to be part of this moment, and to be a member of this pack. But there’s a sadness too, knowing that while I’ll love every child Ava has as if they were my own, none will truly be mine.

Yet, as I look at Ava’s radiant smile and feel Lily’s small hand reaching for mine, I know that biology doesn’t define family. Love does. And in that, I am rich beyond measure.

“Seb, will you read me a book?” Lily asks. It’s as though she feels I need it.

“I’d love to.”

“I’ll come too.” Ava smiles and I join her, making our way below deck, and I can’t help but smile.

This pack is unconventional and it may get complicated, but somehow I believe Max and Silas, and especially Ava, want it to work.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Ava asks softly as she joins us on the deck an hour after I left her with a sleeping Lily in her arms.

“I think I’m going to need a bigger boat.”

She chuckles. “Max’s boat is ridiculously big.” She turns to Max. “My sister is having a bachelorette party in Miami in two weeks, and I’d like to go.”

“Okay,” Max murmurs. “Do you want me to book a hotel, a villa, or take the boat?”

Ava laughs out loud and clicks her thumb and middle finger together. “Just like that?”

Max lifts his glass of whiskey to his mouth. “Just like that, Ava. You can have anything in the world.”

She grins. “God, I’ve been doing all this thievery to live this life, not knowing how rich my future pack was.”

Max smiles. “Did you always do it for money?”

Ava glances up at the night sky and shakes her head. “Not always. Sometimes we did it because it was the right thing to do.”

She rises from her seat and strolls away. I watch as she opens the safe and returns to where we are. “Here.” She holds out her hand to Max.

He smiles. “My watch.”

“Yeah. I thought I should return it,” she says. “I’ve had it long enough.”

“But how will I know where you are if I take it back?” Max replies.

---