Page 26 of Sweet Oblivion

“You don’t have to be, Delaney.”

And that truth in that sentence . . . ?

That almost ruins me.

“You two are so hot, we’re really not going to have a hard time selling this marriage,”Olivia declares to the room, and chaos ensues.

Ryker

“Fuck me, Liv. Really?” I groan and drag a hand down my face as Olivia drops her bomb like she’s the hot, blonde weather girl on Channel Six, telling us about the storm hitting this weekend.

Pretty fucking sure Mom’s head threatens to explode.

I expect to see steam coming out of her ears any second as her face turns an unhealthy shade of red.“Excuse me?”Mom asks, glaring daggers at Liv before throwing her hands up.“Wait. Do not answer that.”

“Was there a question?”Dad asks Mom, completely unbothered, and immediately regrets it when she turns the look on him.

The one my brother and I hate.

The one that brings three-hundred-pound linebackers to their knees when she walks into the locker room. Eleanor Kingston Beneventi has been a vice president of the Philadelphia Kings for as long as I’ve been alive. Intimidation is in the job description. Even if she’s not at the top of the company food chain, she’s pretty far up there.

She mastered the art of nonverbal communication long before I ever lost my hearing, and it only makes her more terrifying. The only woman I’ve ever met who can go toe-to-toe with her is my Aunt Scarlet. Which is unfortunate, considering Scarlet is the one at the top of the damn food chain. The CEO and general manager of the Kings.

She also happens to be Liv’s mother.

Our family isn’t just complicated.

It’s chaos. Pure and simple.

Heavier on the pure, and lighter on the simple.

“It’s the best option,”Liv announces calmly, like she’s not detonating a bomb inside Delaney’s living room.

My jaw tightens as Tori comes to sit on my feet. Not by them. On them. Because adding a thirty-pound potbellied pig to the mix is just what this situation needs, apparently.

“You can’t be serious,”Mom snaps, already shaking her head. “I changed your diapers, Olivia. You just passed the bar. You are not a trial attorney. We’ll bring in someone with more experience?—”

Oh shit.

Liv passed the bar on her first try years ago.

“Aunt Len.”She rolls her eyes but doesn’t call Mom out on her dismissal.“This is the best option.”Liv doesn’t even flinch.“I’ve spoken with the partners at the firm. I trust them with my life?—”

“Well, I don’t,”Mom snaps again.“And I don’t trust them with Ryker’s.”

Jesus.

“Lenny...”Dad wraps his arm around Mom’s waist and pulls her back against his chest, grounding her before she can go full-on scorched-earth mode.“Let her finish.”

“Fine.”She wiggles out of his hold. “I’m listening.”

I don’t wait for the rest.

I honestly don’t care what they’re saying because across the room, Delaney sways on her feet. Just barely. Most people probably wouldn’t even notice. But I do. I always do. Dropping down onto the couch, I reach for her, my hand closing around hers before she can argue. “Sit.”

She opens her mouth to protest. It’s in the way her lips part and her eyes narrow, but I tug gently, steady but firm, until she gives in and sinks down beside me.

Too quiet.