Page 83 of Enforcer

Brynne bounds in the door with flowers and a worried look.

I try to sit up, and she shakes her head. “No, lay down. You need rest.”

Dante sees the two of us whispering and moves out of the room.

“Plan B, Lyss? Really? Are you alright?” she asks me.

My eyes water. “I panicked. Then I thought it wouldn’t be so bad to be pregnant if Dante were the father, and it fucking sent me spiraling. It was the only thing I could think of.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

I laugh. “You were busy having the best day of your life, B.”

“But you’re my best friend. There’s never a fucking time of day when I don’t want to be involved if something is going on with you, Lyss. Do you understand me?”

“What would you have done?” I counter.

“Well, first off, I’d have brought you back to reality before you rushed off to the pharmacy and took matters into your own hands. And if that’s the route you still chose, we would’ve researched it, and then you’d have had some idea what these side effects were.”

“In your wedding dress?” I ask, a mocking tone to my laugh.

“In her wedding dress,” Slate adds, coming to the other side of the bed. “She loves you, and therefore I love you, Alyssa. Even if things with Dante don’t work out, you’re family now, understand? In this family, we’re never too busy to handle a crisis, even at a time of happiness.”

My tears come unbound, falling down my face as joy hits me like an elephant on my chest.

“I’m not used to… I might not always react properly.” I had to raise myself when my mom checked out after her divorce. She wandered through life like a ghost, then found religion and clung to it like it was her new husband. I always had to handle my problems alone because I was always alone.

It feels odd to have people rallying around me. This family I stumbled into is going to take some getting used to.

“That’s alright, Lyss. There will be growing pains, but we’ll love you through them.” Brynne’s words have me choking on sobs as I tug her to me, wrapping my arms around her. My hand reaches for Slate behind her back, and he takes it, squeezing tightly.

“You’re supposed to be on your honeymoon,” I tell them, sniffling and trying to control myself.

“The cabin isn’t going to uproot because we made an extra stop, nor is the private jet going to take off without us,” Slate says, sounding every bit the mafia Don he is.

I snort a laugh. “Spoken like a man who thinks he’s God.”

Brynne pulls back from my hug and wipes my tears. “Don’t tell him he’s not; he’ll be grumpy all day.”

“Are you alright here with Dante? Because we can stay,” she adds.

I roll my eyes. “I’m fine. Did you bring the keys to my new place? Thank you, by the way. Once I’m up and running, let me know how much everything is and who to pay each month.”

Brynne grins as she tugs the keys from her purse. “Technically, the family owns it, so I’m not charging you rent. Pay the utilities. We’ll have them transferred into your name.”

I nod, thanking Slate with a look that he only curtly nods at.

Dante walks back into the room, crooking his finger for Slate to enter the hall.

“What do you think that’s about?” I ask Brynne as she smoothes my hair down.

“Who knows? There’s always something going on. I choose not to let the little piddly family things affect me too much, or they’ll drive me insane.”

I nod. “Good thinking.”

She looks at me like she does when she’s about to say something I won’t like, and I sigh.

“Brynne, don’t…”

---