Page 19 of Breaking Into Love

“Shit,” Dracon muttered, while Emma and I laughed again. Heath shook his head, but I saw the smile pulling at his lips. I bet there was one hell of a story behind Tessa and the Liege Commander. I hoped she’d led him on a merry chase before agreeing to become his wife.

“Emma! Mandy!”

Soph rushed through the door with three alpha Enforcers trailing behind her. I knew their names, too. Xanthus, the leader of the group, and Kain and Radek. I could tell by the way they watched Soph that she was loved. The huge smile on her face displayed how happy she was.

The three of us clung to one another, and surrounded by the women I thought of as sisters, I realized just how lonely I’d been since they’d left.

“What are you doing here, Mandy?” Soph asked.

“That would be me,” Tessa said with a wave.

“Hello, Mrs. Diamato,” Soph said. “It’s good to see you again.”

“You, too, dear. The last time the two of you visited me here, you talked about how much you missed Mandy. I thought it would be a great surprise to get her here for a visit.”

“Mom, you can’t just send Enforcers on personal errands for you,” Heath admonished.

“Of course, I can,” she informed him. “I’ve been doing it for years, honey. Your father can’t always see what’s right in front of him. So I move things until he can’t ignore them anymore.”

“I’m not sure what you mean by that, but I’m certain I don’t want to know,” Heath said.

“Let’s make the most of the evening,” Tessa encouraged. “I’ve ordered dinner for all of us. It will be here in an hour. I figured by then your father would be done blustering and we could all sit down and enjoy it.”

A giggle welled up inside me, and I tried my best to smother it with my hand. The more Tessa spoke, the more I adored her.

“So what have you two been up to?” I asked Emma and Soph as we settled on one of the couches.

“We’re both stationed here, now,” Emma told me. “Dracon, Heath and I stay in our shuttle, docked at the space station above the outpost. You probably saw it on your way here.”

I blushed and shook my head. I wouldn’t admit what I’d actually been doing on my way here. But getting a glimpse of a space station hadn’t even been on my mind. Luckily, my color was already high, and I didn’t think either of them noticed.

“The guys and I bounce between here and the space station above,” Soph filled me in. “We do recon in this quadrant, so we’re on the go a lot.”

I could tell how excited she was. Her Enforcer uniform also had the AS by the tiger symbol. As I glanced over at their men, I noticed they all had them. Command must have redesigned the emblem for the Alpha Squad members. I had to admit I loved it, and I loved seeing Emma and Soph in them.

“So what have you been up to?” Soph asked me.

I couldn’t really tell them about the code I’d been working on, so I filled them in on everything else, which reminded me to give Soph a smack.

“What’s that for?” she howled, rubbing her arm.

“That’s for making Miles think it was open season on Mandy!”

“You didn’t?” Emma gasped while Soph dissolved into giggles.

“I might have mentioned I didn’t want you to be lonely,” she managed to get out.

“It was awful, Soph. I couldn’t go anywhere without him popping up,” I admonished her.

“So you came here with Mrs. Diamato?” Soph said.

I shook my head. “No, she sent two alpha Enforcers after me. Actually, we thought the Commander had sent them to bring me here.”

“That must have been interesting. I hope they were nice,” Soph said.

“I sent Tor and Webb after her. I’m sure they treated her wonderfully,” Tessa said.

“You came here with Xantor and Dayes?” Soph exclaimed then glanced at Emma. “Did you know?”

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