It had meant a lot to her that I’d stopped my world from turning to be with her. In the last months of her life, she’d become my best friend. We’d talked about Gabriel. We’d talked about Sonya at length. My mother loved her like a daughter despite her imperfections. Because of them. Just like I did.
Sonya and I had gotten married at the park where I’d taught Gabriel to play ball. It had been a quiet ceremony, with only our family and friends in attendance. Gabriel had been the ring bearer, and he stood with us at the altar. He knew the significance despite not knowing I was his father. Mama had believed I should be there for him and when he got older, tell him the truth. Sonya and I had agreed—Holly and Carlos, as well.
Mama had been almost normal the day of the wedding, her color right, laughing like I remembered. She’d smiled all day.
None of us knew she’d be gone the next day. We’d all been there. She’d had a moment with Gabriel, though what she’d told him was still a mystery. What she’d said to me would stick with me for the rest of my life. She’d said the cancer had been worth it, because it had given us the time to find each other. Just before she passed, I asked her to watch over all of us, especially Gabriel and the grandchild she was going to have. That news had made her smile, an angel’s smile before she’d ascended to heaven. Knowing she was going to be a grandmother again was a gift she received before she drew her last breath.
“I hope our daughter is nothing like you,” Sonya said.
“What about our son?” We hadn’t known at the time Mama died that we were having twins.
“God, no,” she groaned. “I refuse to have a son who takes popcorn from his pregnant wife.”
“Yeah, that’s a shitty thing to do.”
“Can you watch your mouth in front of your children?” she asked in mock horror.
“As soon as you do, sugar. Those charley horses make you cuss like a sailor.” I kissed her cheek again. “And the orgasms I give you do too.”
“How many times do I have to tell you: just because we’re having twins doesn’t make you some sort of super sperm donor,” she huffed, leaning into me.
“I don’t give a damn how many times you say it. I’m a stud. That’s all you need to know,” I returned proudly.
“I’m asking for it, and I will never repeat this, but yes, you are a stud.”
I beamed. “Thank you, sugar.”
“You’re welcome.” She offered her cheek, demanding yet another kiss. I obliged. Keeping a woman happy was more rewarding than I’d ever imagined. “What are you going to do when I get too big for you to victory fuck?” I’d gone overboard taking her any and every way I wanted after we’d won the baseball games. “That’s not happening,” I assured her.
“What about those two? Their stomachs are flat, and they don’t crave copious amounts of that brisket Miss Ruby sends.”
I slid my arms around her waist, not even looking at whoever she was referring to. “We’ve been through this. I only need one woman. Hell, you take all my damn energy.”
“Believe me, I know.”
We’d put my past need for multiple women to bed, though Sonya still liked to bring it up. She more than satisfied me. I needed the intimacy I had with her. And when she’d asked me for a threesome with another man, I’d proved to her that she didn’t need anyone else either. “I have needs, Tigress. You’re the only one who can satisfy them.”
“I better be,” she said.
Turned out my tigress had a jealous streak a mile wide. I was tempted to bring another woman into bed just to see what she’d do. I loved that she was vicious. I’d have liked to see her tear another woman apart for even looking at me, but I refrained. She pushed me too, flirting with other men to see how far I’d go. I only had to remind her that I’d kicked the shit out of two men at once, one of whom wasn’t even interested in her, and that was enough.
I didn’t regret how I’d lived, avoiding intimacy at all costs, because it made me appreciate Sonya all the more. I’d been on the losing end before, but that was nothing compared to what I had with Sonya. “Are you going to the store today?”
“I have to carry your children, provide our living, and support your hobbies?”
“Yes, and speaking of, I hope you have money for a taxi. It’s a long walk home.”
She screamed loud enough to get the attention of the people milling around after the game. I shut her up with a kiss, her mouth yielding to mine after only a moment.
I’d kind of fallen into a job, hacking for the government by way of Daniel’s friend, Donato. He was impressed with my skills, so much so that I did work for him on the side. I did everything remotely, still volunteering at Paths of Purpose every day. Even when my “sentence” was up, that wouldn’t stop. I’d still go each week. Sonya and I both got a lot out of our time there. She’d paid Mrs. Quinn for lying but had never stopped hanging around, despite running her own business.
With some of the money she’d made off the coin, she’d opened her own sporting goods store. I worked there when I wasn’t at Paths, and she still helped Trish with the food truck when she was needed. We were doing pretty well, better than I’d anticipated, to be perfectly honest. I didn’t care if it lost money. That store was Sonya’s dream. It made her happy, and she was damn good at it. If she was happy, I was happy.
“You can walk home.” She ripped her mouth off mine, glaring at me. “You need the exercise.”
“Sugar, you are my workout regimen.”
“Do you ever shut up?” Her eyes lit as she looked past me. “Oh, thank God, you’ve come to rescue me,” she said as Dad approached.
“No, honey. You’re stuck with him.” He pointed at me.
“Why didn’t someone talk me out of marrying him? I didn’t realize this was permanent.”
I held up my palm to show her the scar of our truth pact. “Don’t lie.”
She scowled and grumbled something unintelligible.
I slung an arm around Dad. “Ready to go over the fine details of the new program at Renegade Oil?”
About a week after I’d presented the paperwork to my family, giving them SPE, they’d come back to me with a surprise of their own. Easton and Mulaney had already started another small company they called Renegade. They were going back to the basics, didn’t want the monster of a company we’d run for so many years. We sold SPE. Dad retained all the mineral rights Carter Energy had owned, and we all ran Renegade together.
They’d dealt me in. I hadn’t said no, because I didn’t want to be left out. Things were different this go-round. I had developed a new software program that was making it easier for us to keep track of our holdings. It was simple enough that even my father could use it. I was proud of him for trying, and though we were already close, it had brought us together even more. We’d argued over it and a multitude of other things, but at the end of the day, we set it aside. The two of us had made a commitment to one another to communicate, and so far, we’d stuck to it.
“Mr. Drew, Miss Sonya, Grandpa.” Gabriel ran over, his white uniform filthy from the dirt.
“Hey, slugger. Where are you headed in such a hurry?” I asked when he stopped in front of us.
“We’re having pizza up at Miss Vivian’s house instead of ours,” he informed us. It was Saturday night. Holly and Gabriel always had pizza on Saturday evenings, and now we were all a part of it. “Miss Muriella said to tell you she made one just for you. Can you eat a whole pizza, Miss Sonya?”
“There’s three of us.” She patted her belly, and Gabriel joined in. He loved talking to the twins. It was as if he knew they were his siblings, though we’d all agreed it was best to keep that between us for now. “I can eat a whole pizza.”
“I bet you could eat one too,” I said, turning his dusty ball cap backward on his head. “Where’d that dirt on your face come from?”
“From when I slid home,” he said, like I should remember.
“Oh yeah. You did, didn’t you?”
Gabriel n
odded, and my father put an arm around him. “I miss Grandma.”
“She’s here, watching, even if you don’t feel her,” Dad said hoarsely. He’d taken Mama’s death better than I’d expected, though there were days when he asked us to leave him be.
We’d buried Mama under her favorite tree on Grandma Carter’s farm. It was peaceful there. Sonya and I had visited a few times. That helped some, but it didn’t get any easier. I’d found my mother again only to lose her.
“I feel her all the time,” Gabriel said solemnly, putting a hand over his heart.
Sonya sniffled, her emotions all over the place with the pregnancy. “You are going to be such a great big brother.”
He beamed. Muriella and Stone had just had a little girl. I suspected there were more children on the way from everyone else too. We’d told Gabriel all of them would be his brothers and sisters, but the way he was around Sonya was different than he’d been around Muriella. He loved them both equally, but he was extra protective of the twins even though they weren’t born. And I knew exactly where that came from because Easton had been the same with me. Fiercely loyal and protective. It had helped me understand why and how he’d been able to forgive me, even when I hadn’t believed it was possible. Seemed like Gabriel had more than just me in him. Thank God.
“I’m going to teach them to play baseball and soccer. When I learn football and basketball, I’ll show them that too.”
“When are you going to have time to run the oil business?” Dad asked, tugging on the brim of his cap. Gabriel had taken to it—not like Mulaney, but I think he just liked spending time with my dad. With Holly and Carlos’s approval, Easton had included Gabriel in Renegade Oil. He didn’t know it yet, but one day, he might get to put what my father was teaching him to use. If not, he’d have something our family had provided for him. I got it now, why my father had worked so hard. We headed toward the edge of the park, where a fleet of Escalades was waiting to take us home.
“Guess you won’t have to pay for that taxi after all, sugar,” I said, pressing my lips to the top of her head.
She held up my wallet and smirked, the thief. “I wouldn’t have anyway.”
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Book Stuff
As soon as The End was written on Dangerous Redemption . . .
* * *
We started Drew’s book.
* * *
It wasn’t a choice and looking back, even though we thought long and hard, Drew was determined to have his story told.
We knew bits and pieces of his past. We knew what he’d done to his family, Holly, and Gabriel. But we had no idea what was in his heart.
None of our characters are perfect, yet they all are inherently good. We couldn’t really say that about Drew. He was awful. There was no way to justify or excuse the things he’d done.
But there was a little glimmer of goodness in the way he treated his Mama.
Maybe that’s why we listened when he demanded we put pen to paper. Or maybe he just wouldn’t hush.
Or maybe we wanted to get in the head of someone so bad.
And then along came Sonya.
If we’re perfectly honest, we didn’t see her coming . . . at all. She might not be quite as bad as Drew, but she wasn’t far off. We loved her snark, her brutal honesty, and that she made no apologies for who she is.
We also loved that she knocked Drew flat on his ass.
Because both of them were so so bad, our restraints came off. They didn’t hold back, and neither did we. Writing this book was a blast. We never knew what would happen next and with every word we loved them more.
But the end was bittersweet.
We lost Loretta (crud . . . even as we type that, we had to use our sleeve to wipe the tears away). She was a hell of a woman. Strong and a fighter. The kind of woman we aspire to be.
This also wraps up the Paths To Love series. We’ve lived with these characters for so long that we don’t remember what it was like without them. They have changed us in ways we never expected. They’ve given us so much, showed us what we were capable of, and we’re grateful they let us be part of the family.
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xoxo,
Grahame Claire
Acknowledgments
Writing a book is a labor of love. Writing a series . . . it takes a village. And we’re so incredibly lucky to have people who inspire, encourage, and support us.
That starts with our families. They chase our dreams along with us. They keep us grounded even as we reach for the stars. And they don’t mention when our hair looks like Crisco because we’re on a deadline. That’s unconditional love right there.
We’d be lost without the book community. It never ceases to amaze us how kind and uplifting the romance world is.
Alessandra Torre, we can never thank you enough for your guidance and friendship.
Tia Louise, you’ve been there from the beginning and your kindness in the book community and to us is inspiring.
P. Dangelico, your guidance is invaluable and so much appreciate. Thank you so much for all you do.
Claudia Burgoa, you make us laugh, keep us straight, and encourage us every day. Love you to pieces, lady.
Catherine Cowles, what would we do without you? In all the joys, successes, and disappointments, you’re there and we’re so thankful to have you.
Emma Renshaw, your endurance and perseverance no matter what gets thrown your way inspires us. Thank you for your friendship.
Sue Grimshaw, you are such a star. Your positivity keeps us going, and we’re so privileged to have you as our editor.
Marion Archer, we have adored you from the first time we ever communicated all those years ago. The way you “get us” still blows our minds. Thank you for taking our stories to the next level.
Karen Lawson and Janet Hitchcock, going through your notes is always so much fun. Thank you so much for making us laugh and whipping our books into shape.
Jenny Sims, you are a joy to work with. We appreciate your eagle eyes.
SueBee, you have been one of our biggest supporters from before we were even sure we’d publish a book. Thank you for your friendship and love.
The wonderful ladies of Grahame Claire Reader Hangout . . . thank you for always answering our random questions. If it weren’t for you, we would’ve gotten how sugar is packaged for commercial kitchens totally wrong. It means so much that you’re as invested in our books as we are. Getting to spend time with you . . . there aren’t words for what you mean to us.
Our beta readers Jessica, Christy, Diane, L. Duarte, Sonia, and Sabrina . . . your honesty and never-ending support means everything. These books wouldn’t be what they
are without you. Thank you.
From a little blogger and reviewer, no words are enough to let my partner know how much she has brought to her life.
And to you, the best readers in the whole world, thank you for taking a chance on our words. Your excitement for our books is just . . . it’s incredible. Thank you so much for the kind words and messages. We love you all more than you’ll ever know.
Also by Grahame Claire
PATHS TO LOVE SERIES
It’s Not Over
Three Dates
Righting Our Wrongs
Heartbreaker
Dangerous Redemption
Thick As Thieves
About the Author
Grahame Claire is a USA Today bestselling author of contemporary romance.
A writer. A blogger. United by our love of stories and all things romance. There was definitely some insta-love. Hello? Books involved. A little courting. A lot of writing. The result . . . Grahame Claire.
Soulmates. Unashamed of our multiple book boyfriends. Especially the ones that rooted in our heads and wouldn’t leave us alone. Don’t worry. We’ll share.
Pleased to meet you.
Our favorite thing about being an author is you, the reader. So please, reach out. If you want to get on the exclusive mailing list (trust us, you do), you can do that here.
Let’s chat books on Goodreads. We can gossip about our book boyfriends on Twitter at @grahamewrites, Facebook at www.facebook.com/grahamewrites, our Facebook group Grahame Claire Reader Hangout at www.facebook.com/groups/GrahameClaireReaderHangout, Instagram @grahameclaire, or send us an email anytime at [email protected].
Thick As Thieves: An Enemies-To-Lovers Romance (Paths To Love Book 5) Page 28