Page 586 of The Winslow Brothers

Jude looks up, and his jaw practically hits the table. “Holy shit.”

And then Flynn, last but not least, unleashes a cackling burst of laughter that has him slapping his hand on the table.Flynn.The quietest brother of them all.

“Everyone,” I begin the introductions. “This is my friend Cleo. Actually, she’s friends with Ty and Jude and Flynn, too. And she was kind enough to agree to join us tonight for a little reunion of sorts.”

“It is my pleasure,” Cleo says, and I don’t miss the way she smiles at my two youngest brothers who are still trying to pick their jaws up off the floor.

“Any friend of Remy’s is a friend of ours,” Uncle Brad announces. “But if you don’t mind my asking, how exactly do you know our boys?”

Jude chokes on his own saliva.

“Many, many years ago, she was our fortune-teller,” I explain, and Cleo grins over at me. “The night of my non-wedding’s bachelor party.”

“What?” Uncle Brad looks around the room. “Who goes to a fortune-teller at a bachelor party?”

“It was Jude’s idea!” Ty chimes in.

“Wait…are you a…?”

“No, Brad. I am not a stripper,” Cleo answers before he finishes his question, her mouth turning up into an entertained smile.

“What the hell? What idiot planned that for a bachelor party?”

“Uncle Brad, we went to a strip club first, then the fortune-teller,” Jude mutters. “Fuck.”

I don’t miss that Flynn is now eyeing me with amused curiosity, his brain calculating how current events came to be.

“I’ve been handling her investments,” I tell him, and he shakes his head on a laugh.

“You’re screwing with me.”

“No.” I grin. “For the last fourteen years, actually.”

“You’ve been handling her investments for fourteen fucking years, and you never told us?!” Ty shouts. “What the hell?”

“Ty!” My mother is quick to chastise. “We have a guest!”

I’m loving this all too much, I know I am. But after all the shit I’ve put up with from my brothers over the years, it feels outrageously fun to be the one pulling a stunt.

Maria eventually steps in, introducing Cleo to each member of our family by name and then offering her a seat at the table.

Of course, Cleo takes it all in stride and sits down, her eyes very much enjoying the show around her.

“You like word games, Cleo?” Howard asks, his favorite party trick always holstered and at the ready, and she nods.

“Love word games, my dear.”

“Okay, I’m going to give you a word—” he starts to tell her, and she stops him midsentence.

“I know the rules, my dear. Go ahead with your first word.”

He furrows his brow, a little creeped out by the whole thing, but does what Howard is so good at doing and just goes with it. “Surprise?”

“Pregnancy.”

From beside me, Maria starts coughing into her hand, damn near choking on food or something. “You okay, babe?” I ask her, and she nods erratically, reaching for her water glass to take a sip.

“Fine. I’m fine.”

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