“True.” He relaxed slightly, reaching up and catching my hand. He laced our fingers together, using his hold to tug me closer. I shifted so my leg went around him. He pulled my other leg over his knee, and I only had to lean forward half an inch to rest on him, hugging him from the side. His hand moved to my knee, and he began tracing up and down the inside of my thigh. “He works for my dad. I’m going to see if he’ll promote him.”

“What?” I started to pull away.

He caught my hand, keeping me in place. He shot me a sideways look. “The requirements will be that he has to protect you, not hurt you. One move against us, and he’s out of a job.”

“You think that’ll work?”

Mason shrugged. “If it doesn’t, we’ll figure something else out. I know where he lives, and it’s no gated community.”

“You’d do something to his home?”

Mason moved so he could see me squarely and touched the side of my face. His thumb rubbed over my cheek. “Do you not realize the lengths I’ll go for you?” he asked softly.

A pocket of air caught and held in my throat.

He leaned forward, his forehead resting on mine. “I scare even myself, Sam. There’s nothing I won’t do for you.”

And his lips lowered to mine.

It was Saturday, and I wasn’t working. Petey had told me he wanted his regular staff on. They were complaining about not getting their usual amount of tips. He’d had a weird look on his face, his features all twisted up, but when I didn’t argue, the weirdness left him.

And this meant I had an entire afternoon just for running. I’d been skipping lately, which seemed to appease Mason. He always reached for me when he woke in the mornings, and the last few days, I’d been there.

Those had been good mornings indeed.

This morning had been no exception. He reached for me, and it wasn’t long before he was sliding inside. I knew this was always the best way to start a day. Always. No exceptions.

My theory had been reinforced when we went to the kitchen and saw the haggard set of Nate and Matteo’s shoulders.

I pointed at Nate’s face. “You actually look green.”

He moaned, lurching for the sink. Grabbing hold of the counter, he waited, but nothing came out. He was only dry heaving.

“Oh my God. Never challenge Matteo to a shot contest. And if he challenges you, just let him have the victory.” He gave Matteo a dark look where he lay across the island counter, his butt on a barstool.

His mouth moved against the granite. “I still don’t think you won.”

“Oh, God.” Nate held his head over the sink again. “It comes in waves. I have air, and then nausea. Air, then nausea. It won’t go away.”

Mason moved behind me, putting the coffee into the machine. I held the empty pot, unsure if I wanted to use the sink.

“That could be contaminated just by you being there,” I noted.

“What?” Nate saw what was in my hand. “Oh.” He moved back. “Go for it, quick. I might spew at any moment.”

I filled it quickly and poured the water in the machine as I pressed brew. It started to churn, and I stepped away. “If you guys are so hung over, why are you up?”

Both pointed to Mason.

I looked up at him. He grinned. “I have today off. I made them promise to get up and go golfing with me, no matter how much they drank last night. They promised.”

“You’re going golfing?”

He nodded.

“Were you drinking last night?”

“It’s not really the actual act of golfing that’s of interest. It’s more about who else is going to be there.” His eyes locked on mine, waiting for me to figure it out.

Mason had two enemies, at least that we were dealing with right now. One was not the golfing type, but the other…

“Ah. I got it.” Adam or his father was going to be on that golf course. “And that reminds me, Malinda is throwing a BBQ at the country club today. She reserved the pool and everything.”

Nate and Matteo groaned.

Even Mason grimaced. “You’re going to make me go to that?”

“If I have to go, my posse has to go.”

“We’re your posse?” Nate was grinning at me, or trying. The pallor of his skin made him look like the Joker.

“Mason is, and you’re his, so same thing. I need backup.”

Nate glanced to Mason. “Quinn will be at the party. That’s different than what we have planned for today. That’s socializing.” He said it like that was a bad word.

“I think Quinn senior, too.” Wait. I didn’t know that. “Well, maybe not. I don’t know, but it’s at the country club. It’s Saturday. I wouldn’t be surprised if he shows up.”

Matteo sat up, clutching his stomach, and asked, “Why do we care about Adam’s dad?”

Mason, Nate, and I shared a look before Nate coughed. “Uh…We don’t. Why would you think that?”

Matteo lifted his head in confusion. “What? But you guys just said—”

Mason moved forward, reaching behind me for the filled coffee pot. “He was an ass to Sam one time in school. That’s all.”

“Oh.” Matteo looked to me. “Sorry, Sam. I’m sure he won’t be anymore. He’s probably ecstatic about his son’s engagement.” He smiled, and a dimple showed in his cheek. “It’s kind of sweet, if you think about it. One rich family falling in love with another rich family. They can make babies who are even richer. It’s like you guys all know how to seek each other out, really stick it to the poor folk. Don’t want them contaminating the breeding well.”

This wasn’t normal Matteo, and I glanced at Mason. I wasn’t sure how to respond.

“Becky and Adam met in high school,” Mason said. “It was a private school, but I didn’t go there. Sam transferred out for her last year and a half of school. And you ain’t poor anymore, Matteo. You’ve got NFL teams eyeing you. Your parents might not have a lot of money, but that doesn’t mean they would contaminate anything. They made the best fucking lineman I’ll always want running next to me. No money, no breeding, no private schools could produce someone like you, and I’m thankful.”

Matteo couldn’t speak at first. His Adam’s apple bobbed. “Thank you, Mason,” he croaked out, blinking rapidly. “You didn’t go to a rich private school?”

Mason smirked. “Fuck, no. Can you imagine that? We probably would’ve burned the building down.”

Nate’s head snapped toward Mason at the mention of burning.

Matteo laughed, his massive shoulders bouncing. “That’s true. Man, I really miss your little brother. When’s he getting back?”

“A few weeks.” Mason clapped a hand to Matteo’s shoulder. “I think we’re all missing him.”

After that, a solemn feeling lingered over the group. I felt it even as they left to go golfing, and I couldn’t shake it away as I headed across the street to Malinda’s house. She called while the guys were getting ready to leave and offered me a ride to the country club.

I was dressed in a running outfit, but the tank top could pass for a social event. That was the hope anyway. I had running shorts on underneath a flowy skirt, and my shoes were cute enough that they still went with the outfit. My running music and earbuds were tucked away in one of my pockets, along with my phone.

I knocked on Malinda’s door. “Hello?” I called, going inside.

“Sam, honey.” Malinda moved across the hallway from the kitchen to the dining room, packages in hand.

I followed and saw twenty gift bags sitting on her table. “What’s going on?”

“It’s an impromptu wedding shower for Becky and Adam.” She stuffed the packages in her hands into the gift bags. She motioned to a pile of them on the counter behind me. “Can you help me out? Each bag gets one of those.”

“What are they?” I could see long, rectangular boxes wrapped in white tissue paper.

“Bracelets. Each bag gets a set of jewelry. I’ve got the earrings and necklaces in all of them. I just need to get the bracelets in the rest.”