Page 115 of Shadow Dance

“I promise.”

“Do you pledge your life?” he asks, changing the wording of his previous question to something definite.

“Yes, I do.” I wait a beat for the emotional ambiguity of what I just did to hit me, but it never does. Instead, there’s a sense of relief. Like the inevitable has happened, and all is as it should be.

Lucky shakes my hand and pulls me into a hug. “Welcome, brother.”

Owen thumps my back in approval. “Good man.”

“This calls for celebration,” Tristan says, plucking a bottle of whiskey from the bookshelf.

Letting myself into the apartment,I stride past the garment bags and boxes of wedding supplies clogging our living room and head for the bedroom. Thank God we’re down to the last ten days. If I never see another seating chart or swatch of fabric, it’ll be too soon.

My wife-to-be yawns at me from her nest of blankets. “Hi.”

“Hey, Sleeping Beauty,” I tease.

“Haha,” Maeve says, her voice husky with sleep. We’re at the end of her first trimester, and while she’s not showing yet, the nausea has been real and so has the exhaustion. I knew she was struggling when she started cutting back at the ballet studio. “What time is it? I feel like I just laid down.”

I glance at my watch. “Five-ish.”

“Wow.” She sits up against her pillows, loosening her messy bun as it starts listing to one side.

The notebook she carries around to keep track of wedding stuff slips to the floor with a thud. “I thought we were all done with this,” I tease, picking it up and plopping it on the bed.

She reaches for her ever-present water bottle, a soft smile spreading across her face. “Just finalizing some details. I can’t believe it’s so close.”

“Me neither.” Resting one knee on the edge of the bed, I lean in to kiss her.

“Wait, why do I smell whiskey?” she asks, sniffing me suspiciously. “What exactly did Lucky want?”

Maeve is too smart for her own good, but that’s one of the reasons I love her. I lie down beside her, twirling one of her curls around my finger. It’s gotten long again, and while I really do love it at any length, long is my favorite.

“Cruz.”

“He just wanted to discuss a few things. Tristan and your dad were there, too.”

Her eyes narrow. “What did they want to talk about?”

“What do you think?”

“They got you, didn’t they?” Maeve sighs in resignation. “Unbelievable. I knew Lucky would do this.”

For a long time she wanted nothing to do with syndicate life, but she’s mellowed over the year, accepted it as a part of who she is. Still, I know she worries I’ll get sucked into things that go against my moral code. What she doesn’t realize is that a part of me craves this life. Even the questionable parts. I tried to deny it to myself for a while, but it seems as if all those years of pretending to be someone I wasn’t, built me into a new person altogether.

I might run with a different crew these days, but the principles remain the same. It’s a brotherhood.

I press my palm lightly to Maeve’s still-flat belly. “Are you upset?”

A tiny smile sneaks across her face as she rests her hand over mine. “Nah, not really.”

“Well, howdoyou feel about it?”

“I don’t know. I need to wrap my head around the fact that my man who used to be a cop pretending to be a bad boy now really is a bad boy.”

“You know my loyalty is to you first. Always.” I kiss her. “And this little guy. Or girl. Everything else comes second.”

Maeve returns my kiss, her lips soft and warm. “I know,” she whispers. “And I trust you. I just worry sometimes.”

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