Page 55 of The Billionaire's Promise

"Call me tomorrow morning," Vance said to Abigail, "and we'll set something up. Now, are you going to give me my kid back?"

"Not yet," Jacob said, interrupting. He slid an arm around Abigail's waist, pulling her against his chest, looking down to study her face as she cuddled Rosalie. If Aiden was a shark in a suit, Jacob had a reputation for being even worse. He was cold, hard, and uncompromising.

He'd always been kind to me, but I didn't doubt the rumors. Seeing the look on his face as he watched Abigail with Rosie, I also believed the rumors that Jacob Winters was deeply in love. There was something in his eyes, more than affection, more than warmth. He looked at her like she was everything to him. Like she was his world.

Abigail tilted her face toward Jacob, but didn't take her eyes off Rosie's. "Do you want to hold her?" she asked. Jacob took Rosie with the same ease Aiden had displayed. At Abigail's look of surprise, he said, "Aiden wasn't the only one with a herd of younger cousins and siblings. By the time Charlie was five, I swore I never wanted to see another baby again. But this one looks okay."

He nuzzled the top of his niece’s head, the tender gesture surprising.

We were interrupted by the sound of metal striking glass and turned to see Holden grinning, his arm around Emily, the fork he'd struck against his glass dangling in his hand. Wait, what? Emily was Tate's girlfriend. Why did Holden have his arm around her like that? Jo, Holden's girl, was watching with a half-smile.

"We have an announcement," he said, the wide grin on his face matching the one on Tate's, in contrast to the semi-amused scowl Emily wore.

"We don't have to do this now," she said. "We haven't actually decided."

"Yes we have. I heard it. Tate heard it. Josephine heard it. Aiden heard it. You agreed. Deal's done."

"Fine," Emily muttered. "Go ahead."

"Tate and I are very pleased to announce," Holden said, "that Emily has finally agreed to join us at WGC after she graduates."

Tate let out a whoop and tugged Emily out of Holden's grasp, lifting her in the air and spinning her around. "She also agreed to move in with me," Tate said.

Emily laughed and protested, "Tate, shut up."

"No fucking way," he said, setting her back on her feet and kissing her. When he was done, he said, “Do you know how stubborn you are?"

"Apparently, not as stubborn as you," she shot back.

"Damn straight," he said. Vance turned to Holden, now standing beside us, one arm around Josephine.

"Why didn't Tate make the announcement?" Vance asked.

Jo laughed. "Because Emily refused to negotiate with Tate. She said he was devious and he knew how to talk her into anything."

"Smart," I said. "How long did it take you to talk her into signing on?"

Holden shook his head in exasperation. "Too long. We've been trying to get her on board since we found out she designed a game we both like. But she said it was a conflict of interest. She's very stubborn. But she's also a huge fan ofSyndromeand crazy in love with Tate, so we had an edge."

Syndromewas Winters Gaming Group's flagship game and a massive hit. Both Emily and Josephine were computer science grad students at Georgia Tech. Josephine was doing work I didn't really understand with some kind of device meant to help the blind navigate. Word was they'd made good progress with it, and Josephine would have her pick of employers when she graduated.

But Emily's specialty was game design, making her a perfect fit not just for Tate, but for his company. I wasn't surprised they'd talked her into working for them, even though the last time the subject had come up, she'd been adamant about not taking any handouts. From what Tate and Holden said about her talents, offering her a job was no handout. They were lucky to have her.

"You're not going to make another announcement, are you?" Josephine asked Holden in an undertone.

"Do you want me to?" he asked, dropping a kiss on her temple. She shook her head. "Not really, but you can tell Vance and Magnolia."

Curious, I waited. Vance interrupted to say, "Josephine's moving in with you."

"Did you tell him already?" Jo asked Holden.

"He didn't have to. He wouldn't let Tate get one up on him like that."

Holden sent Vance a glare that was only partly in jest. "Jo moving in with me has nothing to do with Tate. I've been trying to get her to move in with me since our first date. But she didn't want to stick Emily with their lease, and Emily refused to do the same to her, so Tate and I had to gang up on them to get our way."

He looked so pleased with himself, I had to laugh. I knew Holden well before Josephine had shown up, and I would have put him at the top of my list of guys who were never going to settle down. He'd met Jo at Mana, the club he owned with Tate, while she was on a date with another guy. One look at her, and he'd fallen hard.

It was cute because while Jo was pretty, with her dark blonde hair and intelligent blue eyes, she was not the girl I would have thought would capture Holden's attention. She was a geek, in the coolest way possible, and was more often to be found in old jeans and a hoodie than in club wear.