Page 111 of Queen Of WildCards

Acegroaned from her lap, rolling his eyes at their antics. "You'reseriously fighting over who tells her first?Ithink it's more than obvious we're fucking head over heels for her by now.Allof us."

Ismiled and nodded, not as eager as the others to have to fightSpadefor the imagined slight.Instead,Ikissed her temple, pulling her against my chest, reveling in the way she felt in my arms, safe, where she fucking belonged.

"Stillregret answering that call, doc?"Iwhispered against her hair, a tear falling to the top of her head, oneI'ddeny until my dying day.

"Noton your life," she laughed, placing a kiss against my throat asIheld her closer. "Notonce."

"Love'ssuch an overused word, butI'lltell it to you as often as you like, doc,"Iwhispered, meaning every word. "Youjust tell me when and where."

"Howabout you come up with a better nickname than doc,Cass?Let'sstart there."

Ilaughed through real tears, swallowing them down as she healed my fucking soul once more. "It'sa deal, beautiful."

CHAPTERFORTY-EIGHT

MALLORY

Ace'swound healed pretty quickly, thanks to the doctor on call at theKing'smansion.Aftera brief interrogation whenAcedropped me on their doorstep, theKingshad put me in a room and left me there overnight.Ifnot for the safety features installed in their home,I'dhave been stuck there and likely killed when the intruders showed up, guns blazing.

Asit was,Imanaged to save two of their lives in the process of almost escaping, and in return, a temporary truce was called.

Jokercame clean with them about his involvement in the heist, and with the return of the jewels, his part in this whole mess was forgiven.

Acewas a work in progress, and his loyalty to me was still in question, but we were working on it, and taking a bullet for someone went a long way toward working off any forgiveness he needed to earn from me.

Spadecalmed down after the first weekIwas back, though he still took to occasionally stalking me anywhereIwent.Especiallyif it was out of the house.

BlackJackwas a solid pillar of support as things evened out, smoothing over relations with theKingsinAce'sstead, serving as more of a leader thanI'dexpected him to be.Heand their ghost, oddly enough namedSpectre, traced down theRossifamily members responsible for the hit, and the decision was made to pursue revenge against them.

Thatwasn't our scene, though.Wewere white-collar crime.Inand out, heists, money grabs, the basics.TheKingsdidn't shy away from the dirty work, so they could take on that particular wheelhouse.

Speakingof dirty work . . .

Istood on the edge of the new ring theKingshad installed inSpade'sgym, appreciating the fine line of his lean but muscular torso, his tattoos flashing as he went toe-to-toe withBlackJack, of all people.

He'dbeen the first oneJonahlet touch him, and after the little near-death fiasco with theKingsand the hit squads, he'd wanted to brush up on his hand-to-hand combat and teach me self-defense, too.Iwas reluctant to deny him, especially since it meantIgot to wrap myself around him—a lot.

Takedowns, you know.They'revery hands-on.

Spadestepped in whenIstarted to lag, insisting someone should wear out the man in the ring for me, shooting me a wink and a smile as he hurled his body gracefully up and under the bottom rope in a nice roll.Hewas on his feet in a flash, reminding the taller man why size didn't always matter, andIcouldn't help but enjoy the unintentional show they were giving me.

Fuck, it was so hot when my men went at each other and worked up a sweat.Thatalmost always ended in a shower, andIalways got an invite from one or the other—sometimes both, depending on who was playing.

Jonahwasn't there yet, though.Notquite.

"Youenjoying your show, beautiful?"

Casssnuck up behind me, his front tucked against my back, hips pressed insistently against my ass asIlet my eyes drift closed and feel him.Thetemptation to turn away and watch him instead of the boys was strong, butI'dpromised to pay attention.

Ipromised, dammit.

"Whatsort of trouble are you getting up to,CassianFontaine?"Iteased, my voice dropping low so the others didn't hear me.

Hislaughter was magical, and it twisted my insides every timeIheard it, not thatI'dever want him to stop. "Ohno, not the full name.Somebody'sin trouble!"

Hisfingers traced my spine, andImoaned a little as he ticked off each vertebra like they were a deck of cards and he was about to shuffle.Ireally, really had to try to focus asSpadeducked a punch and reflected the move, his eyes darting to mine for a split second, narrowing when he spotted his crew brother behind me.

"Leaveher alone,Joker.She'sbusy."Anotherswerve as a fist came within an inch of his face this time, his grin spreading across that gorgeous face, his newly-trimmed, shoulder-length red hair waving in the breeze. "She'llnever learn a thing if you don't stop dragging her off to fuck when she's supposed to be observing."

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