The Pact

by Max Monroe

Holy hell. I’m an asshole.

  Me: You guys, I am so, so, so sorry. My phone died last night, and it’s a very long, crazy story, but all you need to know is that I’m good. Fantastic, even. I love you both so much, and I swear, I’m doing really, really good.

  I hit send and add one more message to the chat.

  Me: Oh and, Damien, I need to permanently stay on the East Coast.

  Damien: You’re good? YOU’RE GOOD?!! Listen, missy, I’m going to spank you so hard the next time I see you, and I’ve already visualized the whole scene happening on the West Coast. So, you’d better give me a damned good reason if I’m going to mentally rearrange my vision to accommodate smelly New York.

  Me: I’m in love with my husband and he’s in love with me, and yeah, I’d kind of like to keep living with him.

  Damien: Well…hot damn! I guess you’re off the hook, then. Because that’s a pretty good reason.

  Damien: Happy for you, Daisy. Even if you’re a little biotch and made me cry!

  Gwen: Time to settle in, darling.

  Me: Settle in? For what?

  Gwen: Happiness.

  “Come dance with me.” Warm hands wrap around my waist, and I glance back to see Flynn standing behind me, resting his chin on my shoulder.

  “Everything go okay with Remy?”

  “Yeah.” He nods. “We’re good.”

  “Is he…mad at us? At me? For…lying to everyone?” I ask just as I lock the screen of my phone and set it on the table.

  “No, babe.” Flynn shakes his head. “He gets it. But even if he were pissed, it wouldn’t fucking matter. You and I are a package deal.”

  “A package deal. I like that.” I smile and reach out to adjust his tie. “Did you…tell him…about…?” I question, and Flynn places a gentle hand to my belly.

  “No, but that’s only because it’s Jude and Sophie’s night,” he answers and holds out a hand toward me. “We’ll tell them soon. But for now, how about that dance?”

  I don’t hesitate to place my hand in his and let him lead me out onto the crowded dance floor. In a matter of minutes, I’m tucked safely into his arms and we’re swaying around the room to the music.

  I look around the venue, taking in all the familiar faces that have become some of the most special people in my life. Uncle Brad and Aunt Paula giggle like teenagers as they dance across the room.

  Lexi cackles as both Wes and Winnie dance with her.

  Ty steals an amused Aunt Paula from Uncle Brad’s arms.

  And Jude stares down at Sophie like she’s the only woman in the whole wide world.

  Damn, they look so happy.

  “Do you want a wedding like this?” Flynn whispers quietly into my ear, and I look away from the happy bride and groom dancing in the center of the ballroom to meet his eyes.

  “Like a wedding do-over?”

  He nods.

  “And replace our glorious memories with Marilyn Monroe?” I smile and shake my head just as I stand up on my tippy-toes to press a kiss to his lips. “Never.”

  Flynn places his hands on my hips and searches my eyes, but I already know what he’s silently asking.

  “I love our wedding day memories just as they are. I don’t want to change them.”

  “I feel the same. But…I do have something serious to tell you.”

  Panic seizes my breath. “What?”

  “I never took back the rental dress and tux. So, I’m pretty sure we can expect a charge on our next credit card bill.”

  I stop in the middle of the dance floor. “Are you serious?”

  He nods. Smiles. And leans forward to press a soft kiss to my lips. “At the time, I didn’t understand why I wasn’t ready to return them. Now—now, I do.”

  Be still my beating heart.

  “Well, holy hell, I don’t think I can be upset about the bill now!” I yell with a playful slap of his chest. “Flynn Winslow is a secret, sentimental softy.”

  “Only for you, babe.” He winks and places a gentle hand to my stomach.

  “Our baby is in there,” I whisper, and emotion builds in my throat, urging tears to prick my eyes.

  Never in a million years would I have guessed Flynn would be the father of my child, but now that our tiny baby is growing inside my belly, I’ve never felt more blessed in my whole life.

  Flynn bends over to place his lips to my belly, a soft, discreet press of his lips over my bridesmaid dress, before standing back up to pull me into a tight hug.

  “When do you think we should tell everyone?” I ask when I see that his mom and Winnie and his brothers and Uncle Brad and Aunt Paula have now made a circle around Jude and Sophie on the dance floor.

  “Let’s handle it like our wedding.”

  I tilt my head to the side. “What do you mean?”

  “My family is fucking crazy. We’ll tell them after the baby is born.”

  Laughter bursts from my lungs. “Pretty sure they’re going to know before the baby is born, you know, with the whole, this belly of mine is going to get much bigger thing. Probably, like, scary bigger.”

  “I can’t fucking wait.” He rubs my belly again, and we both look toward the center of the dance floor to find a giggling Sophie sitting in a chair and Jude striding up toward her with a big, sexy smile on his face.

  Sophie’s sisters and a few of the other bridesmaids start to throw one-dollar bills toward the happy bride and groom, and Flynn smirks down at me.

  “Just think, babe, all these crazy motherfuckers are your family now.”

  I smile up at him. “They sure are.”

  Talk about a dream come true.

  Two months later…

  Flynn

  “I feel nervous.” Daisy flashes a shaky smile in my direction, and I reach out to take her in hand in mine.

  “There’s nothing to be nervous about, babe.”

  “I know.” Her free hand fidgets with the paper on the exam table. “It’s just that…I don’t know…I hope everything is okay with the baby.”

  “It will be, Dais.”

  She starts to open her mouth again, but when the door to the exam room opens, she quickly snaps it shut and watches as a woman in a white doctor’s coat walks inside.

  “Good morning, Daisy. I’m Dr. Summers. How are you feeling today?”

  “Do you want the real answer or the fake answer?”

  The doctor grins. “The real answer, always.”

  “Well, I’ve been better.” Daisy shrugs. “Morning sickness has been kicking my ass the past few weeks.”

  She’s not joking. Every morning, like clockwork, I wake up to Daisy in the bathroom with her face in the toilet.

  “I can imagine, Daisy, but I will tell you that, generally, once you’re well into the second trimester, those symptoms will start to dissipate.”

  “I have everything crossed that’s the case,” Daisy answers and looks over at me. “I’m sure my husband feels the same. My morning puking now serves as his alarm clock.”

  Dr. Summers laughs and meets my eyes. “And I take it you’re that husband?”

  I nod and smile. I’m proud as hell to be Daisy’s husband, but that doesn’t mean I’m ready to get chatty with everyone now.

  “Well, are you two ready to see your baby today?” the doctor asks as she puts two latex gloves over her hands.

  “I think so.” Daisy flashes a nervous smile in my direction.

  “Of course, we’re ready,” I reassure, but I glance over my shoulder to the door. “But we should have two more people who want to be here for the ultrasound. They should be arriving any minute.”

  Daisy looks at me quizzically, but I don’t offer any explanation.

  “I always say, the more, the merrier,” Dr. Summers comments and begins to set up her ultrasound equipment. “A baby is something to celebrate.”

  “Flynn, who else—” Daisy starts to ask, but three knocks ringing against the door interrupt her midsentence.

  Slowly, two heads peek inside.
/>   “Did we make it in time, darling?”

  Daisy’s jaw nearly hits her chest. “Gwen?”

  “And Damien!” a jovial male voice exclaims as he steps into the room.

  “What?” My wife’s smile is infectious, and she glances between Gwen, Damien, and me. “Did you do this?”

  I shrug. “I might’ve had a part in it.”

  “Had a part in it?” Gwen teases. “He was the mastermind behind it all.”

  “Plus, there was no way Gwen and I were going to miss this for anything,” Damien chimes in. “It’s not every day that your best girl gets knocked up.”

  Daisy snorts, but when more knocks sound against the door, she’s looking back at me.

  “Flynn! How many people did you invite?”

  “Technically, he didn’t invite us,” my sister Winnie answers as she steps inside the exam room. “But there was no way in hell we weren’t going to be here.”

  And right behind her, Lexi, Wes, my mom, Aunt Paula, Uncle Brad, Jude, Sophie, and Remy file inside. To say it’s getting tight in the room is an understatement.

  Oh, you’ve got to be fucking kidding me.

  Remy notices my scowl, though, and steps up to whisper in my ear. “It’s the first baby in the family since Lexi, dude. We couldn’t fucking help it.”

  When he pulls back, a shiny pool of a tear glistens in the corner of his eye. Just like that, any remark I might have made is silenced immediately.

  “Well, this is quite the crowd we have here,” Dr. Summers comments with surprised eyes. “I guess…well…everyone just try to find a spot?”

  “Oh, don’t worry, we’ll manage because there is no way in hell we’re missing this,” Sophie responds with a smile. “Love you, Daisy!”

  “Okay, well, I guess we’ll get started,” the doctor says as she squirts gel on Daisy’s belly.

  “Wait! Don’t start without me!” An all-too-familiar voice fills my ears, and I look back toward the door to see my brother Ty sliding inside the exam room.

  Daisy looks at me with shocked eyes, and I raise both hands in the air. “I only invited Gwen and Damien. I don’t know how everyone else managed to get here.”

  “You should’ve invited us, you bastard,” Ty comments, and Remy reaches out to slap a hand to the back of his head.

  “What? He should have. That’s our niece or nephew in there.”

  “Um…can someone…turn the lights down?” Dr. Summers questions, and Uncle Brad starts to hit every damn switch he can find, causing all the lights in the room to go on and off erratically.

  “Wait! Not that one!”

  “This one?”

  “No, the one by the door, sir,” she directs, and after we’ve all experienced the kind of light show that would be labeled as an epilepsy risk, Uncle Brad finds the one damn switch the doctor meant.

  “Okay, that’s great. Thank you.”

  “Not a problem, Doc!”

  “Don’t be so proud of yourself, Bradley. You nearly gave us all a seizure,” my mom chastises, but thankfully, Dr. Summers ignores the peanut gallery and focuses on the ultrasound.

  “Okay, Daisy, let’s see your baby.”

  “Yes! Let’s do it!” Jude cheers. “I got fifty bucks that it’s a girl!”

  “I’ll take that bet, brother. I say it’s a boy!” Ty joins in, and Jude scoffs.

  “No way God will let another Winslow brother enter this world!”

  “Boys, I brought you into this world, and I will take you right out of it if you don’t shut up.”

  “Sorry, Ma,” Ty says, but the bastard is grinning like a kid.

  “Okay, then,” Dr. Summers announces. “Now, are you ready to see your baby, Daisy?”

  Daisy nods, inhales a deep breath, and her eyes become riveted to the screen.

  For once in her life, my wife is speechless, and I can’t stop myself from stepping closer to her side and taking her fingers in mine. I lift her hand to my mouth and press a soft kiss to the back of it.

  I can still hear my fucking brothers whispering about their goddamn bets behind me, but when the vision of a tiny, fluttering heart is on the big ultrasound screen, I can’t focus on anything else.

  “Well…Daisy…this is Baby A,” Dr. Summers announces, and Ty is the first one to start asking stupid questions.

  “Baby A? You guys already named your kid?”

  “And this, right here, is Baby B.”

  “What’s A-B stand for, Flynn? That some kind of acronym?” Uncle Brad questions, but I’m too busy blinking my eyes one thousand fucking times.

  “Uh…um…” Daisy mutters and looks up at me. “W-what did…?” Her eyes shoot back to the doctor. “I’m sorry, but did you just say Baby A and B? As in, t-two babies?”

  “I did.” Dr. Summers smiles. “You’re having twins.”

  Instantly, the room erupts into fucking chaos.

  “Whaaaaaaat?”

  “Twins! I’m going to have two more grandbabies!”

  “Dude, this is nuts!”

  And all I can do is stand there, holding my wife’s hand against my chest, and look at the two profiles of Daisy’s and my babies.

  Twins. My wife is having twins.

  “Flynn…I don’t even know what to say,” Daisy whispers, and I lean down to press a kiss to her lips.

  “Me either.” A shocked laugh escapes my lips. But when I stare into her eyes, a thin sheen of emotion blurs my vision. “I love you.”

  Her lip quivers. “I love you too.”

  “We usually have to wait until your twenty-week ultrasound to find out what you’re having, but Daisy, I know the sex of your babies. Would you like me to tell you?” Dr. Summers asks, and Daisy nods.

  “You’re having two boys, and since they share a placenta, I’m pretty sure they’re identical.”

  And just like that, the room is back to chaos.

  “Two more Winslow boys! Holy shit! Watch out, world!”

  “I can’t believe this!”

  “You owe me fifty bucks, bro!”

  But when I look down at my wife with tears welling up her eyes and a smile cresting her lips, I swear, she’s never looked more beautiful or happy than she does right now.

  Damn, this woman, she’s made my life.

  “Well, I guess this all only really leaves me with one option,” Ty says cryptically, stealing the thunder in a room full of showboats.

  “And what’s that?” Winnie asks smartly, a sarcastic grin lighting up her space.

  Ty scoffs. “To fall in love, obviously,” he says with a duh-like shake of his head. “And to do it bigger and better than the rest of you.”

  Famous last words, bro. Joking or not, those are some very famous last words.

  THE END

  Love Flynn, Daisy, and the rest of the Winslow crew and want to read MORE

  Winslow Brothers?

  Well, we have great news!

  You can cure your Winslow Brothers’ cravings right now and find out what really happened during Remy’s bachelor party in this FREE novella!

  GOTTA HAVE FATE!

  It’s completely FREE and not-to-be missed!

  AND

  You can preorder the next book in the Winslow Brothers Collection today!

  The wild and crazy Ty Winslow is next.

  The Secret is coming soon!

  Completely new to the Winslow Brothers?

  Grab The Bet to read all about how Jude and Sophie fell madly in love. Trust us, you won’t regret it.

  Keep scrolling to read an excerpt if you need a little more convincing!

  BEEN THERE, DONE THAT TO ALL OF THE ABOVE?

  Never fear, we have a list of nearly FORTY other titles to keep you busy for as long as your little reading heart desires! Check them out at our website: www.authormaxmonroe.com

  COMPLETELY NEW TO MAX MONROE AND DON’T KNOW WHERE TO START?

  Check out our Suggested Reading Order on our website!

  WHAT’S NEXT FROM MAX MONROE?

&nb
sp; Stay up-to-date with our characters and our upcoming releases by signing up for our newsletter on our website: www.authormaxmonroe.com/newsletter!

  You may live to regret much, but we promise it won’t be subscribing to our newsletter.

  Seriously, we make it fun! Character conversations about royal babies, parenting woes, embarrassing moments, and shitty horoscopes are just the beginning! If you’re already signed up, consider sending us a message to tell us how much you love us. We really like that. ;)

  Follow us online:

  Facebook

  Reader Group

  Twitter

  Instagram

  TikTok

  Goodreads

  THE BET EXCERPT

  Saturday, February 17th

  Jude

  I don’t know what it is, but I feel like luck is in the air tonight—well, luck and an arctic fucking cold front. I smile at the thought, but also, with a bounce in my step, I pick up my pace to decrease the time I have to be outside in this blistery-as-hell winter wind.

  Two blocks from my destination, my phone vibrates in my jacket pocket, and I pull it out to find a message front and center on the screen.

  Bianca: You busy tonight? I’d sure love some company…

  I grin and shake my head, typing out a quick text.

  Me: Sorry, honey. Working.

  Bianca: :(

  I smile.

  Bianca is a beautiful woman, but she’s not my girlfriend or my ex-girlfriend. She’s not even really a friend, if I’m being honest.

  She’s nice and sweet, and we hang out from time to time, and she’s one of a million. A million who are just as good a fit for a temporary fun time or companionship or a distraction from life’s complications.

  Truthfully, when it comes to women, this is generally how I like to keep things.

  No strings attached.

  No relationships.

  Just a whole lot of fucking fun. I learned thirteen years ago after watching my eldest brother Remy get left at the altar that it’s better that way. No soul-crushing hope, no professions of love, no waiting for the one diamond that outshines the rest.

  Because it doesn’t break my heart to turn Bianca down, and it wouldn’t break my heart if she were the one to walk away.

  She’s replaceable—and so am I. We all are. And I’m fortunate enough to live in New York, one of the biggest, busiest cities in the world, where the possibilities are endless.