Page 20 of Wrath’s Nightingale

“What can I get you, sir?”

“I’ll have chianti.”

The server hurries away, returning in a few moments with chianti.

“Good evening, my name is Stefan. I’ll be your server for the evening. Can I get you started with an appetizer?”

My dad smiles at the server. “Our girl is visiting from New Orleans. She’ll order everything now if you don’t mind.”

Stefan smiles, “I’d be happy to take your order.”

“Let’s hope I remember everything,” I say with a laugh. “To start, we’ll take the spicy shrimp, calamari, fried mozzarella, and prosciutto stuffed mushrooms. We’d like two Italian chop salads, a gorgonzola walnut salad, and two Caprese salads. All dressing on the side.

“For mains we’ll take linguine with clams, spaghetti, and meatballs with two extra orders of meatballs, lasagna, salmon Sorrento, chicken carbonara, quattro al forno, shrimp fra diavolo, one of each of your vegetables and two orders of garlic bread.

“Oh! I almost forgot about dessert. My father would never forgive me. Two tiramisu and two dolce platters, please. And yes, we’ll need to go boxes later.”

Stefan takes it all in stride. “I’ll be back with your appetizers in a few minutes.”

No sooner is our server out of sight than a thought hits me. “Wrath, I’m so sorry. I forgot to ask what you wanted. I was trying to get the family order.”

My man throws back his head and laughs hard.

“I like everything you ordered. No need to order more,” he leans over and drops a kiss on my forehead. “Thank you for thinking of me, Nightingale.”

“Why do you call her that?” Tyler asks.

“Because she’s, my Florence Nightingale. Millie took care of me in the hospital after I got shot.”

“How did you get shot?” Micah asks.

“My brothers and I were ambushed not far from the super dome. I took a hit early on. Millie took excellent care of me. My family adores her.”

“You met his family?” Micah asks.

“They were at the hospital every day.”

“Do they live close by?” Dad asks.

“They live in New Orleans. My dad started a construction company in his early twenties. He retired seven years ago. My brothers and I took over the business. The club owns part of the business now. We’ve tripled in size since then.”

“How many brothers do you have?” Lisa asks.

“I have two brothers. An identical twin and a Kentucky triplet.”

“What’s a Kentucky triplet?” Tyler asks.

“Something we made up as kids. I don’t even know why Kentucky. Wesley was born on the same day in the same hospital as Walker and me. His parents surrendered him. My dad fell in love when he went to see us in the nursery, and he came home with us the next day. We’re all the same height and build. I also have a little sister, Willow. She turns twenty-six this year.”

“She’s really nice. Your whole family is,” I add.

Wrath’s hand finds mine under the table. He interlocks his fingers with mine. Our appetizers arrive as we trade childhood stories. Dad has us all laughing so hard tears are streaming down my face.

“Did someone forget to invite me to a family dinner?”

What the fuck is Aaron doing here?

“You stopped coming to family functions years ago,” My dad says.

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