Page 94 of Heartbreaker

“He just hadn’t met the right woman,” Mrs. X says. “Someone eventually would have snatched him up.”

“Not Colt.” Banks shakes his head.

“You realize you used to say the same thing, right?” Dash nudges him.

“Fuck off.” He scowls at his friend.

They trade a few insults, and Briar tells them to shut up so they don’t wake Aspen.

Royal gets up and comes over to where I’m perusing the rest of the photos on the mantel.

Briar and Frankie at what appears to be a christening ceremony.

Briar, and the guys—all five of them—at her college graduation.

Royal holding Frankie as a newborn.

“When was this?” I ask, pointing to the picture.

He smiles. “She was just a few hours old. I couldn’t stop staring at her. Holding her. She was just this perfect, tiny little angel.”

“Were you in the delivery room with her?”

He nods. “I was. Her parents were stuck out of the country, and Dash was too grossed out about seeing his sister’s vagina to do it. Atlas is too much of a control freak—he knew he couldn’t handle seeing her in pain like that. And Banks was on a road trip. Which left me. One of the best moments of my life, watching Frankie come into the world, holding Briar’s hand…It was an emotional day, less than six months after Colt died, so we werestill pretty raw. Frankie helped us heal.” He clears his throat. “I guess she’s still helping. Especially with me.”

I slide my arm through his. “She’s a special little girl. And you’re a very special man.”

He looks down at me. “If you keep saying stuff like that, I might start to believe you.”

“You should.” I lean against him, and he wraps an arm around my waist.

“I’m really glad you’re here,” he says. “With me. With us. Everyone likes you.”

“And I like them.”

I could get used to being part of a family again.

This family.

Royal’sfamily.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Royal

“These are really,reallygood,”Jade says, finishing off her second Gamebreaker.

Her cheeks are flushed and her lips are swollen. My dick twitches, reminding me of how she looks after I’ve made her come.

It doesn’t help that she’s leaning against me, her tits pressed into my arm, her scent in my nose. I want her—alwayswant her. But this is good for her. The last week on a whole has been good for her—getting her away from the assholes on her team, setting her up with Maddie, with Kate Martensson, my crisis control publicist, and with Dash, who’s taken control of her security.

My house is safe.

Her place in Nashville is getting an overhaul, so it will be safe soon enough.

Maddie and Kate are dealing with Farrah and the record company and the media.

And I’m on Jade duty.