Page 52 of His Forever

Marco slapped him on the shoulder. “You signed up for the craziness when you married my mom, man.”

Slider shrugged. “You’re not wrong.”

I laughed and hitched my thumb toward my office. “Why don’t we have a drink while the girls get reacquainted?”

Slider’s eyes lit up, pointing right back at me. “Now that sounds like a damn good idea.”

We headed toward my office, leaving the echoes of laughter and loud chatter from the kitchen behind.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Brynn

“Married.” Tatum’s voice cut through the chatter as she raised an eyebrow at me.

I nodded and grabbed a carrot off the veggie tray, then swirled it in the homemade dill dip Bristol had made. “Uh, yeah. I was married for a few years.”

We’d finished dinner about an hour ago, and the guys had retreated back to Leo’s office for drinks. The girls and I had gathered around the table while munching on snacks none of us were really hungry for. But when it came to Bristol’s cooking, resisting wasn’t an option—especially her dill dip.

Fayth tipped her head to the side, eyeing me with curiosity. “And why didn’t I get an invitation?”

I let out a laugh. “Because I was pretty sure you didn’t want to attend your brother’s ex-girlfriend’s wedding.”

She rolled her eyes dramatically. “Woman, you were basically married to that man already. You just didn’t have the ring or paperwork.” She wagged her finger at me, teasing but also dead serious. “And I would’ve been there. Leo’s my brother, sure, but that doesn’t mean I don’t know what a dick he can be.”

And that right there was why I’d always liked Fayth. She was honest to a fault.

“Well, it was probably for the best. I’m not sure you and Guy would’ve gotten along.” Normally, I didn’t use Guy’s real name when talking about my ex, but something told me Fayth, Bristol, Jada, Tatum, and Kitty wouldn’t recognize it.

Jada raised an eyebrow, leaning in slightly. “Is your ex the connection that’s helping Leo right now?”

I choked on the carrot I was chewing, not expecting that question. Coughing, I grabbed my glass of wine and stammered, “Oh, um… well...”

Fayth’s sharp gaze narrowed on me. “What aren’t you telling us, Brynn?”

I waved my hand, trying to play it off. “It’s nothing.” I forced a smile, even though the heat was rising in my cheeks. “Guy is the connection helping Leo.”

Tatum raised her hand like she was in school, her eyes wide. “I don’t believe you. Partly because Leo told me that if I had questions about you being married, I should ask you directly.”

“Stop,” Bristol called from the stove, where she was pulling a tray of cookies out of the oven. “You really think Brynn wants to talk about her ex?”

She set the hot pan down and slid another tray in, but Fayth wasn’t letting it go. “Spill, girl,” she urged. “We’ve all dated our fair share of assholes. Cyn, one of the ol’ ladies back at the clubhouse, dated a real dickhead. We pretty much renamed him Asshat.”

“Yeah,” Kitty agreed, nodding along. “I tried online dating a few times, and the creeps that came out of the woodwork were insane.”

Royal raised her hand, smirking. “I could tell you all about my ex. The only good thing he gave me was Kane.”

Tatum was practically leaning across the table now. “Spill, Brynn. I doubt it’s as bad as you think it is.”

I took a deep breath, knowing there was no way to downplay this. “Guy… turned out to be Guy Maranga, the most powerful mafia boss in the world. He died two years ago, and I took over his empire.”

The room went dead silent.

“Holy shit,” Royal whispered, her eyes wide.

“Wow,” Bristol gasped, blinking like she wasn’t sure if she’d heard me right.

“Yeah, right,” Fayth laughed, shaking her head. “Did Leo put you up to this?”

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