Page 129 of The Love Destroyers

“I don’t want you to be my secret,” I told her. “I want to shout from the rooftops that I’m banging you.”

She shakes her head at me but gives me another of those smiles. “Classy.”

“Always. I’d also like to shout from the rooftops that I’m crazy about you, and I think you’re the smartest, sexiest, classiest woman I’ve ever met.” I run my fingers over her cheek. “And the universe must think I’m okay, after all, because that’s the only way I’d get lucky enough for you not to wantmeto be your dirty little secret.”

“So we’re telling everyone?” she asks as the first police car pulls into the driveway, followed by another, and then by Nicole’s car. We both lift up our hands and rise to our feet. Shadow squirms a little, adding a foot to the top of my sweater for leverage.

“We’re telling everyone,” I confirm to Emma. “Everyone.”

“The intruder’s inside,” she calls out to the two policemen as they get out of the first car. “We tied him up.”

I glance at her, smiling, and shout for everyone to hear, “This is my beautiful girlfriend, Emma, and I’m the luckiest man alive. She’s way too good for me.”

They give me strained, impatient looks, but someone wolf-whistles in the distance. My money’s on Nicole.

Emma looks at me, her eyes alight, and says, “Really, your girlfriend?”

“Damn, I hope so. Don’t tell me I just lied to those officers.”

Her answer is to lean in and kiss me, our hands still lifted to the air, and I’m happier than I’ve ever been in my whole existence.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

EMMA

There are so many reasons why Seamus O’Malley-slash-James and I should not be a couple.

He is, after all, my brother’s brother-in-law. Everyone knows it’s a bad idea to date an in-law.

He is also a man with a secret that could crush us and destroy my legal career.

And it must be said that he is deeply obnoxious about thirty to forty percent of the time. To be fair, the same is true of me.

A divorce attorney would probably give us less than a ten percent chance at making it work. But I’ve decided to leave that kind of negativity in the past. Maybe it’s stupid to take a chance with him, knowing everything I do. But most of the people in Jeffrey Nichols’s life trusted him. He had the reputation of being a just, good man.

As a lawyer, my job has been to make cases seem simple and straightforward, as if there is only one view of a situation that is correct and viable, but life is never so straightforward. It’s dirty and dangerous andexciting, and there are more important things than logic. Like Seamus’s ability to make me laugh, no matter what’s happening.

Or his sweet streak. I see it everywhere now—from his limitless patience with Chuck to how he always goes out of his way to make people laugh.

Of course, he is still very,verynaughty.

Then there’s his irrepressible charm. Animals grovel for this man. Carrot and Shadow are both obsessed with him, and he’s even Pied Piper-ed them into liking each other. Women are drawn to his charm, too, of course, but I don’t mind. I can’t blame them for wanting him, and his attention never strays from me.

Even now, he’s watching me as we sit at the parlor table in Smith House with Nicole and Damien, Rosie and Anthony, Claire and Declan, their friends Lainey and Jake, and my mother and Chuck. I lift my eyebrows and change the direction my legs are crossed, making sure to give him a good look at the flask attached to my thigh. His grin widens, and I flash him five fingers to indicate we’ll be leaving in five minutes.

I have plans for this man of mine.

It’s been a month and half since Jeffrey Nichols broke into my mother’s house. We’re all here in the Smith House parlor to drink champagne, eat treats made by Claire’s bakery, and celebrate the success of Operation Love Destroyers. Chuck was the one who planned this party, so there are plenty of earnest touches like heart-shaped balloons and cookies. Seamus and I already broke one together, smiling at each other over it.

It feels good to celebrate.

Jeffrey was arrested the night of the home invasion. My mother did, in fact, get him on camera. While the security system was usually only turned on at night, she’d recently switched on the motion-activated function. She claimed it was because she suspected the children next door of gallivanting on her lawn and wanted proof, but I’m guessing she wanted to know if Seamus and I were having more late night visits. Herinterfering served us well, because we caught Jeffrey on camera, climbing the wall and using the key he’d illegally had made to enter our house.

But that’s just the start.

Ellie had plenty ofcollectibleson that thumb drive, enough to thoroughly ruin his career and credibility. Evidence of legal malpractice. Evidence of embezzling. Evidence of bribery. We’d released the contents to the press and the police.

Speaking of Ellie…

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