Page 28 of Cruel Revenge

As long as I keep Joshua at a distance and away from my darker…urges…then there’s no need for any of them to worry.

Aiden clears his throat. “I’m fine with it. If Skyla is happy with her husband, that’s what matters.”

Ellie’s jaw drops, and Sean looks like he’s seen a ghost. The others all turn to Aiden looking like they have no clue who he is or what he’s done with our brother.

The shouting restarts almost immediately.

Royce shoots his hands up in the air. “How is this okay?”

Summer rounds up on Aiden. “This better mean you are okay with whomever I want to date now.”

They all start talking over each other as they make their way to the table, but this is my chance.

I grab another piece of bread before dashing down the hall to the office. I grab the files Aiden left on his desk for me and stride out the front door, straight to my car.

As I get in, I take a deep breath.

Dealing with my family is not for the faint of heart. While I love them all, the desire to run away to the woods and never be seen again only gets stronger after every visit.

If this is as feral as they’re going to be about the wedding, then everything is going to be fine. But if they decide to kick it up a notch—or eighty-seven—when they officially meet Joshua as my husband for the first time, then things are going to be a disaster.

I have to warn him.

Joshua opens the door,his dark hair a mess and a boyish smile on his face as he leans against the frame. “I didn’t think you were going to be stopping by tonight, wife.”

“Well, my family is a bunch of feral monsters, and I thought that I should probably come over and warn you about that since there’s going to be no real escaping it for the next six months or so.”

He laughs and crosses his arms. “I don’t think I have to worry about them too much.”

I roll my eyes and tuck my hands in the pockets of my jeans. “You don’t really know them that well. You might have done business with Aiden before, but they’re worse when they’re all together. Ellie is probably the most functional of us all. Royce is an ass, but Gia and their kids kind of temper him out, I guess.”

“And the others?” He steps to the side, holding the door open. “Come in, you may as well talk to me over dinner.”

“I just came from dinner—” My stomach starts growling immediately.

He arches an eyebrow, glancing between it and me.

I sigh. “Okay, so maybe I left before the food was served.”

He rolls his eyes and waits until I’m inside before shutting the door behind me and twisting the lock into place. “Come on. I made more than enough food for both of us.”

“You don’t have to do that. I just wanted to come over and tell you that my family is planning a wedding reception, and they’re probably going to act like monsters during it.”

“A reception? I’m down for having a party.” He heads into the kitchen, going to a pan of chicken on the stove.

“You don’t know these people. They’re currently arguing between a keg stand competition and a black-tie event.” Iwander into the kitchen with him, looking over his shoulder to see what he did to the chicken to make it smell so delicious.

The chicken simmers in some sort of sauce that smells like white wine and sun-dried tomatoes.

He throws some spinach in the pan and stirs it around.

“First of all, go sit down. I’m making dinner, and you’re not going to stand here, hovering over my arm and waiting for the chance to jump in. Second, if your family wants to have a keg stand competition for our reception, then I hope they’re all prepared to get their asses handed to them.”

The corner of my mouth twitches as I go sit on one of the stools on the other side of the island.

“Your brother never would’ve told me to go sit down while he made dinner.”

“Logan is an idiot and always has been. He’s never going to get his act together, and as horrible as it may sound, I’m glad you dodged that bullet.”

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