His to Take (Wicked Lovers #9)(58)
Author: Shayla Black

“Thanks for the update. I’ll swing by and see my sister tomorrow,” Logan promised.

“She’d like that,” Morgan assured him with a smile.

Joaquin just stared. If Kata had gone into early labor—or any labor at all—he would never have known. That shouldn’t bother him. After all, Hunter could more than take care of her. But Nate’s death had made one fact brutally clear: Life could be cut unexpectedly short at any moment. Kata was one of the few people on the planet he knew would be there for him, if he’d let her.

“We’re not late, are we?” A big Latin-looking man in a slick suit sauntered in with a grin, holding hands with a very pregnant blonde.

Behind her, another man with dark hair and designer duds held her other hand. In his left, he clutched a prettily wrapped bottle. His more serious face looked carved with lines of experience, but when he smiled, his happiness projected all over the room. “If we are, it’s Xander’s fault. My younger brother takes more time to do his hair than me and our wife put together.” When the blonde between them laughed, he prodded her. “Come on, back me up on this.”

Xander sent her a scowl.

“Javier, I love you. I’m pleading the fifth.”

“Tell the truth,” he demanded. The silent or I’ll punish you hovered in the air.

“You don’t have to do anything he says, belleza,” Xander assured her smugly.

She withdrew her hands from theirs and frowned primly. “You guys know the rule. Work your squabbles out before you bring them to me. There’s only one way I’m ever in the middle of you two.”

At her broad grin, Javier dropped a hand to her distended belly. “We remember.”

“Let’s reenact that tonight.” Xander nuzzled her neck.

The blonde giggled, then headed toward Callie, shaking her head. The two women embraced, and the petite brunette asked if they could speak privately soon. When the other woman agreed, Callie turned and introduced Bailey.

The blonde’s name was London. She wore the hugest wedding rock Joaquin had ever seen, along with a truly happy glow. The older brother set their gift down, then the two men each grabbed a bottle of water and watched their wife with indulgent grins.

Joaquin stood in a corner, now alone, watching the interactions around him. Chatter drifted through the room. Smiles abounded. Friends stood beside one another. Spouses offered a soft caress, held each other’s hand. A jovial air hung in the room. These people were happy not just to be celebrating a friend’s birthday, but to be all together as well.

Bonds and encumbering responsibilities like these had always annoyed him, felt foreign and constricting. Did these people know something about life that he didn’t?

A glance at Bailey proved she fit right in, easily conversing with London and Callie. Tara and Kata joined them a moment later. Jack finally released Morgan’s hand and she drifted into the circle of women. Not long after that, all the men clustered near the door, talking shop and ribbing one another. Joaquin stood alone. Normally, he preferred that. Today, he felt oddly . . . left out.

He frowned. It didn’t matter. In a few days, he’d never see most of these people again.

Sean approached him, beer in hand. “You all right?”

He wondered why the man cared. “Fine.”

“You look pissed off.”

Confused. “Thorpe’s a great guy and all, but I’m supposed to be saving Bailey’s life, not hanging streamers and partying the night away in a dungeon.”

Waiting for play I won’t be having with a woman I have no business wanting.

Hell, his thoughts made him sound pitiful.

“You got another one of those?” He nodded down at Sean’s beer.

The former FBI agent pointed to Axel behind the bar. “He’ll hook you up. Before you get one, did you talk to Bailey about last night?”

It chafed him to answer to anyone, but he knew Thorpe and Sean had him by the balls. “Yep. We’re square.”

“Good. You know things might get . . . heated tonight.”

Joaquin barely managed not to wince. “Bailey and I will be gone before then.”

Sean just smiled, as if to tell Joaquin that he was out of his mind. “Whatever you say.”

Suddenly, Sean pulled his phone from his pocket. The little screen lit up, and he shushed the crowd. When all fell silent, he hit the button to answer. “Hey, Thorpe. You on your way back?”

Whatever the other man said made a secretive smile cross Sean’s face. Callie sent him a questioning look, and the man’s grin only grew. His merry blue eyes danced with mischief.

Callie turned to Bailey and London with a whisper. “Uh-oh.”