Page 8 of The Billionaire Who Saved My Cat From The Mafia

And now I can’t stop thinking about her.

“So maybe just a day hiker, then?”Aunt Phyllis asks.

“Doubt it.”I take another bite of my steak, still fighting a smile.Any kind of hiking is out of the question in those boots.

Finn laughs.“Welp, I guess that’s all we’ll get out of our mime-in-residence.”

Cal scowls at me from the opposite end of the table.“The cabin on Washoe Ridge?That thing’s still standing?”

“Barely.”

“Man, I haven’t been up there since the night that…” Cal cuts himself off and shoves a biscuit into his face, pretending that he hasn’t broached a not-suitable-for-family subject.

Declan snickers.

Jasmine produces one of her dramatic sighs.“Go ahead and say it, Uncle Cal.I’m not a baby anymore.”

“True,” Emma says, wrapping a loving arm around her new daughter.“But you’re still a kid, so you might as well enjoy it.”

Jasmine grins up at Emma, and Finn smiles at both of them.His little family.

Yeah, this lovey-dovey shit can make me queasy at times, but honestly, I’m happy for them all.Each person at this table has gone through hell and back to claim their slice of joy.They deserve it.

Emma fought to let go of a painful past while Finn finally believed he deserved a second chance at a happy family.

Victoria put her crooked father behind bars and Cal let go of his suspicious nature before she was lost to him forever.

Evander and Phoebe endured a deadly, record-breaking blizzard—and then had to deal with the resentment of her five brothers—before they could carve out a future on their own terms.

Declan and Summer somehow held on while the rollercoaster of fate did its best to destroy any shot they had at happiness.

They’ve earned all the good shit they’ve found.They jumped through hoops of fire for it.

Good for them.

And me?

I’m living here on Yosemite Ranch under the open sky instead of behind prison bars.I’m free to do whatever I want and come and go as I please.

There’s a steak on my plate.

It’s all good and I know I’m fucking lucky to have all of it.

There’s nothing more I want out of life.

And I never want it to change.

CHAPTER 4

Frankie

Fuck it all and fuck it all back again.

The rancher was right.

This wood isn’t burning.How the hell am I supposed to know that the color of wood even matters?Does the green indicate it’s too fresh to catch fire?

Ugh.