Kate
“So I guessI’m kind of… engaged?” I announced as we sat down. It was a statement of fact but also kind of a question.
We were at my house.
I was hosting girls’ night for the first time ever.
Well, it was kind of girls’ night. The men, our men, had agreed to go to the bar in town for a ‘spell,’ but Hades had stared at Freya in an odd way and told her ‘she was getting an hour, no more no less.’
Even Macy, who was well versed in alpha male stares and intense utterings, had raised a brow at this.
But then we’d gotten distracted at the various ways in which our men said goodbye. Swiss, for his part, had yanked me into a kiss that made everyone else fade away, and when he’d let me go, everyone had been whistling and cheering.
It seemed our goodbye had gotten X-rated for even this group. Swiss had grinned widely and kissed the side of my head. I’d shrank into his side and gotten very red.
“Oh my fucking god!” Macy screamed.
She slammed her glass down on the table so she could come and give me a hug. Then she grabbed my left hand, yanking it up to inspect my naked finger. She rolled her eyes. “The asshole didn’t get you a diamond,” she scoffed. “They always do things backward.”
I grinned at her as she released my hand. “I don’t need a diamond. I’ve had plenty of those,” I waved her away. “I just need the life I know we can have together.”
Macy’s eyes sparkled, and she squeezed my hand. “That’s beautiful, babe,” she murmured. “And you are going to have an amazing life, I know that.”
“Seconded,” Caroline called out from her spot in the armchair I’d just bought at my new favorite antique shop.
Swiss had complained about all the trips, but he’d been rather hard to drag out of there on our latest trip and had added a handful of items to our cart. It had warmed my heart, to see him picking things out and putting them in our home. Putting pieces of him here.
We no longer stayed at the club. His room was cleared out of all of his belongings, which was a good happenstance since a new member had just patched in.
Blade… Yeah, that was his name. He was a man of few words, and of course, ridiculously attractive, if you liked that ‘he might kill you or fuck you’ kind of vibe.
I only had eyes for Swiss.
“A toast!” Macy declared, holding her freshly poured glass up in the air. “To all of us getting the lives we deserve, and giving them to the men who deserve them too.” She waggled her brows. “And to never having to fake an orgasm.”
I let out a chuckle and raised my glass as did Freya and Caroline.
The cool liquid slipped down my throat, warming me from the inside out. I was sitting here enjoying wine with three women I trusted implicitly. I was able to—and encouraged to—get as drunk as I wanted if I so wished. I could say anything I wanted to these women about my relationship, about Swiss, and it would go no farther than this room.
Oh, how much had changed in less than a year.
“Freya,” Macy barked. “You know it’s bad luck not to drink on a toast.”
I looked to where Freya was sitting beside me, holding on to an untouched flute of champagne.
Her lower lip was clamped between her teeth. “Well, if we’re announcing things,” she mumbled, chin practically pinned to her chest. “I’m pregnant.” She raised her eyes.
“Oh my god, you so are,” Macy rolled her eyes in a warm way. “I can’t believe I hadn’t noticed, you’re glowing.”
Freya rolled her eyes. “If I’m glowing, it’s sweat from all the throwing up I’ve been doing,” she countered.
Caroline narrowed her brows. “Are you not happy about this?” she asked, leaning forward, catching the edge in her tone.
You can take the journalist out of the warzone, but she’ll never stop being a journalist, it seemed.
“I am happy,” Freya answered, her expression not matching her words as she placed the wine glass on the side table. “Or at least I was happy,” she corrected. “Until I told Hades.”
I pursed my lips. Although Hades was an intimidating—okay, downright scary—dude, he did not hide his love for Freya or his daughter. He adored them. With a love that radiated badass intensity but a purity too.