Page 44 of Lesson In Faith

Thinking of the shy, withdrawn sub she’d been just before Christmas, Merrick decided marriage was definitely good for her. Maybe it was the security of the ring on her finger or the lifelong commitment of the men by her side, but she was thriving.

Whistles and applause rang out—it was a good crowd of guests tonight.

A couple at the end of the bar snagged Merrick’s attention. The Dom was close to six feet, his back to Merrick. Fit and lean, he carried the bearing of a man who was comfortable in his skin, wearing dominance like a crown. But it was the shock of white-blond hair that piqued Merrick’s curiosity.

He only knew one other person whose hair came close to that color.

The man’s partner was on the shorter side, her own blonde hair tumbling to her shoulders in darker shades. Her profile was familiar—Merrick was sure he’d seen her here before, but couldn’t quite place her.

Grit strode over. “Nice to have them back, right? Jonah’s learning but he still hasn’t mastered Liam’s charm yet.”

“Bartending with social anxiety can’t be easy.” Merrick glanced at Sierra and smiled. “Don’t know who’ll be happier—Sierra being reunited with her stuffies, or the horde of Littles waiting for the Sanctuary to open again.”

“There’s definitely been some disappointed Littles over the past few weeks,” Grit agreed, then lifted his hand to gesture to the couple Merrick had been watching. “I’d like you to meet some friends of mine, Merrick. I worked with them both for years in Phoenix.”

Oh, that’s where he’d seen them before—twice, actually. The first time was when Tabitha returned to Serenity after a long, grueling absence that almost ruined Grit. The second was the night of Liam, Mack, and Sierra’s engagement.

“Thought they looked familiar.”

Merrick folded his arms over his chest as the pair approached, measuring the Dom. He had the stealth and grace of a leopard prowling through a jungle. Every step held a purpose. But it was his eyes, sharp and blue, that were a weapon all their own.

“Archie, J, this is Merrick.” Grit flicked his hand toward his friends. “Merrick, meet Anarchy and Jasper Fairfax.”

“We’ve heard good things about you,” Jasper said smoothly.

Big brown eyes shining with intrigue, Anarchy nodded. “Sorry we’re late. We were supposed to be here two weeks ago but our oldest gremlin made a grievous life error by attempting to achieve global domination from the garage roof.”

“I, uh…” Baffled, Merrick frowned. “Sorry?”

Jasper rolled his eyes in exasperation. “Don’t be. Kaylyn is a law unto herself. This month’s ambition is to become the supreme global leader by the time she reaches ten. Apparently POTUS doesn’t have nearly enough panache for her.”

Anarchy laughed. “I think we’re confusing him, Jasper. He doesn’t know the players in our weird and wonderful family game.”

“Ah, of course. Kaylyn and her sister, Mia, are our twins. They’re almost six. We have a son, Callum, who is eighteen months younger, and prefers building things to plotting mass destruction.” Jasper smirked, hooking his arm around his wife’s waist. “Number four is due in May,” he added in an undertone, “although we haven’t made an announcement yet for… reasons.”

“Sierra?” Grit asked.

“Yeah.” Anarchy teared up. “It feels like a crime to celebrate a fourth child when she’s struggling to conceive even one. So Jasper and I celebrated in our own way until we can share the news with our friends.”

“Hell, guys, congratulations.” Cleverly, Grit stepped forward to hug and kiss Anarchy, then slapped a back on Jasper’s shoulder as though simply welcoming his friends after not seeing them for a while. “The secret is safe with us, right, Merrick?”

“We’re a vault,” he answered dryly. “Congratulations, truly.”

“Thank you. So yes, we were supposed to be here a couple weeks ago, but Kaylyn’s brain thought that in order to attain global control, she needed to rise above everyone else, and the highest point she could reach was the garage roof. She seized control for about ten minutes, according to our nanny, before she fell off the roof into the shrubbery.” Archie rolled amused brown eyes at the antics of her daughter. “Kaylyn broke her arm, the nanny quit, and chaos yet again descended.”

The kid sounded badass, Merrick thought in approval, but he still wasn’t sure why they got the impression he was expecting them at all, let alone earlier.

“Merrick, Archie is my contact,” Grit said quietly.

His—oh, shit. Somehow, he’d forgotten all about that conversation. Or maybe he just didn’t want to think about finding out where Tamsyn came from, having a face to blame for the fear she lived with when her triggers fired.

“You’re the contact?” Merrick asked dubiously, giving her a more thorough assessment. Where were the nerd clothes, the blatant homage to everything tech? Weren’t hackers supposed to be… moreout there?

“Not your typical computer geek, right?” Unoffended, Archie grinned. “Trust me, it’s not the first time I’ve been underestimated. Grit thought you might be hard to convince I’m the one you need, so I hacked into your bank account for a peek. How does a guy who works at a BDSM resort get so flush?”

Merrick waited, silently daring her to expose his finances.

Her grin widened, screamingBrat!“I’m not going to blurt out your personal wealth, Merrick. Your middle name, however, is fair game, right?”

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