Page 76 of Untamed Sinner

I shake my head. "No."

He looks personally wounded. "I thought we were friends."

"We're not," I say.

Mandy shoulders past him, going inside. "I'm willing to negotiate."

Luke gestures me in. "Hendricks, I may like her better than you."

I snort. "You like everyone better."

"Not true.” He closes the door behind us. “Mason's still questionable."

"Fuck you, Riot," Mason calls from somewhere inside.

Mandy grins.

I reconsider every decision that brought us here.

Emma, Jake’s wife, appears from the kitchen, wiping her hands on a dish towel. Her face lights up when she sees Mandy, and she crosses the room without hesitation. She’s pregnant but she’s not far along enough to show yet.

I’d never have pegged Jake Callahan to settle down and have a family. All it took was the right woman to turn a hardened bastard into a husband and soon-to-be father. From the looks of things, Mason and Luke aren’t far behind.

These men are building lives now. Wives. Kids. Futures. Things men like us aren’t supposed to get.

I refuse to consider what that might say about me.

Emma wraps Mandy in a hug.

Mandy stiffens, just for a second. I see it because I see every fucking thing she does. Then her arms come up and she hugs Emma back.

Something tightens in my chest. Maybe I’m starting to understand why they risk so much to keep what they have.

"I’m so happy to see you, Mandy.” Emma pulls away. "Lily's at the clinic. I can call her."

"No." Mandy shakes her head. "Let her work. I’ll see her later."

Something passes over Emma's face. Understanding, possibly. "She'll be upset she missed you."

Mandy shrugs. "She'll survive."

"That's debatable."

Mandy smiles.

There it is again—that strange fucking sensation in my chest every time she does something ordinary. Walks into a kitchen. Eats a donut. Laughs. Gets hugged by someone who gives a shit whether she lives or dies. Things she should have had all along.

If Luke knew, he’d call this personal growth. But then Luke thinks an erection is personal growth.

"So, are we planning something illegal?" Luke asks as we all walk into the kitchen.

Harper, Luke’s woman, looks over her shoulder from where she’s washing dishes at the sink. "Why is that always your first question?"

"Because when Hendricks shows up, the answer is usually yes."

Jake enters the room with Mason behind him.

"Office," Jake says, heading straight to the back door.