Kennedy tried to tone down the shit-eating grin she’d been sporting since waking up between Marcus and Knox and found out that what she’d thought was the best dream she’d ever had was actually reality. Damn.
As if having Knox back in her life, and hopefully ready to implement some positive changes in his own, wasn’t miracle enough, seeing him and Marcus get along—and make out while fucking her—had absolutely blown her mind. There had to be less of a chance of that happening than a woman being diagnosed with agammaglobulinemia. And now here they were, hanging out in the communal dining hall on the ground floor of the Shields’ headquarters.
It was a wide-open space with a state-of-the-art stainless everything kitchen along one wall. A long butcher block table with comfy padded leather benches stretched along the other. James had custom built the furniture and all the cabinetry, which was painted a dusty blue. He’d covered the walls with a subtly iridescent subway tile that looked like freshly fallen snow in the moonlight. Nolan’s girlfriend, Laurel, and one of the Powertools wives, Kate, who owned an antique restoration and decorating business, had decorated the space with plenty of plants and contemporary farmhouse flair to lend it a homey rather than an institutional feel.
It had become a tradition for them to eat together, Shields and significant others and occasionally their Middletown friends from the Powertools, Hot Rods, or Hot Rides, too. On that night, some of them cooked, a few split a pizza, and the rest brought their own previously prepared meals from their apartments upstairs. It wasn’t a requirement to join in, but their careers could be isolating. Spending time with people who got it, and shared common goals, was as nourishing for their souls as their food was for their bodies.
“Wow. It’s awesome that you have so many people to watch your back,” Knox leaned toward Kennedy and murmured to her.
“They’re more than simply co-workers. They’re my friends. A support system.” Kennedy glanced over at Sola, who winked at her. Ruby flashed her a thumbs-up. She couldn’t wait to talk privately with the women since they’d obviously caught on to the vibe between her, Marcus, and Knox immediately.
“Since you were too busy to answer our damn texts earlier, we ordered your usuals,” Sola said to Marcus and Kennedy before turning to Knox. “Sorry, we weren’t sure what you liked. There’s plenty of pizza. Help yourself.”
“You want some of my sausage sandwich?” Marcus asked politely as he unwrapped it.
Every single Shield in the room cracked up before Liam busted their balls. “I thought you were saving your sausage for Kennedy, homie.”
“Nah. I prefer the meatball sub, thanks.” Kennedy bit into it with relish, making the men in the room groan. Aarav covered his crotch with one hand, inspiring Sola and Ruby to laugh twice as hard.
Knox looked between Marcus and Kennedy. She wasn’t sure if he would play along or bolt until he grinned. “Maybe I’ll have a little of both. Anyone got a taco to go with it? I’m a fan of variety.”
When Kennedy blushed and Marcus only chuckled knowingly, everyone else grew quiet. James slapped his hands on the table, his eyes huge. Tact was not his forte. “Wait. Did you guys finally do it? And with him, too?”
In their close-knit team, privacy wasn’t a thing. Hell, almost everyone in the room—Nolan’s and James’s significant others excluded—had already seen and heard her fuck Knox. Oops.
“You’re just now figuring that out?” Sola teased him. “Haven’t you seen the way they’re clinging to our girl and how damn happy yet exhausted she looks. Come on, you’ve had enough group sex to know what all that adds up to.”
“You’re right. I have.” James buffed his perfectly manicured nails on his Robin T-shirt before his wife, Devon, teasingly smacked his shoulder.
Kennedy didn’t confirm or deny. She did, however, keep right on smirking and licked sauce from her fingertips deliberately, not-so-secretly relishing the attention both men paid to her every tiny move.
“Well, damn,” Ruby joked. “I guess I’m going to have to find myself a couple of studs to try out this threesome shit with since you all seem to recommend it so highly.”
Ace raised his unbroken arm, probably because he was on a pretty hefty dose of pain pills. Kennedy had instructed him to make sure they stayed locked up in his and Liam’s place so they couldn’t be any sort of temptation for Knox. “Liam and I got you covered.”
Liam shot Ace a glare and yanked on his wrist until he lowered his hand. “Quit it.”
“Probably best not to fuck where I work.” Ruby looked to Sevan—Ransom and Levi’s wife—who was smothering an amused expression with her napkin. “How about the Hot Rides or the Hot Rods? They have any unattached sexy mechanic friends?”
“Unfortunately, they’re taken and living the settled life these days.” Sevan rested her head on Levi’s shoulder while Ransom rubbed a slow circle on her lower back.
“Damn. I guess I’ll keep repping for Team Single then.” Ruby flipped a crimson lock over her shoulder.
“Me too,” Aarav grumbled, and kicked out a corner of one of the benches so he could swing into a spot across from Sola, who concentrated a little too hard on her own meal. “Relationships are too damn much work.”
Kennedy stared at the guy. He was handsome, his thick, defined brows slashing across his tanned skin, which highlighted rich brown eyes that often observed every detail of his surroundings. He was calm and usually so outwardly neutral that they’d referred to him as a machine, especially when he was behind his sniper rifle. Lately, though, like now, he seemed a bit frustrated. She wondered what the hell was keeping him from approaching Sola as everyone but her best friend knew he wanted to do.
“Well, if you change your mind, we live right across the hall from you,” Ace kept rambling at Ruby despite Liam’s obvious shut-the-fuck-up glare.
“Yes, I’m well aware.” She didn’t seem to mind. “You’re not the quietest neighbors I’ve ever had, you know.”
“Oh. Oops.” Ace didn’t seem very sorry.
Liam, on the other hand, choked on one of the healthy grilled chicken salads he’d assembled for him and Ace. Kennedy made a mental note to ask Ruby exactly what she’d heard through the walls. Interesting.
“Speaking of relationships, I, uh, was wondering what you all thought about us maybe holding a reception. Here, at Shields.” Sevan looked around the room as if waiting for someone to say it was a stupid idea. It was only recently that she’d discovered this found family and become part of it like Kennedy had too. “I know we upset some people—ahem, my sister mostly—when we eloped. So…”
“That’s the best idea I’ve heard in a while.” James clapped and pulled out his infamous planner from beneath the table. He started flipping pages and extracted an entire rainbow’s worth of colored pens from a pouch in the back. “When are you thinking? Maybe in June. That will give us time to talk to a florist, and taste-test catering, and arrange for a photographer, and—”
“I promised you wouldn’t have to worry about a thing, didn’t I?” Levi laughed when Sevan hopped up and jogged over to James.
“Bless you.” She hugged him. “That’s one reason we slipped away to get it over with. Planning and everyone watching me after years of fading into the shadows. It was overwhelming. But I see now that we hurt Joy by not including her, which was never my intent. Can you help me make it right?”
“Oh, honey, let’s bring Joy in on this. We’ll put her in charge of a bunch of stuff. Together we’ll figure out your vision. Then I’ll create an inspiration board, and once we have your style nailed down, I’ll buddy up with Joy and we’ll arrange everything. The only thing you’ll have to do is show up and have a magical night with those two hunks of yours while your sister preens and shows everyone how proud of you and happy for you she is. It will be a kick ass party and stress-free for you, I swear.” James gave her a loud, smacking kiss on her cheek.
“Thanks.” Sevan turned away and knuckled something from the corner of her eye. She’d grown up alone, then hidden in plain sight pretending to be a young man in order to take down the president of a motorcycle club. Being able to rely on people who knew and loved her for her true self was still new and kind of scary, Kennedy assumed.
Before they could get too far into the details, Jordan strode into the dining hall. He didn’t have his husband, music legend Kason Cox, or his wife, Wren, a welder who worked at Hot Rides, with him. That was unusual, unless…his popping in had more to do with work than pleasure.
Sure enough, a couple of strangers followed close behind him. Both, all business. The taller of the two had close-cropped dark hair with an especially neat beard that was offset by his partner’s shaggy reddish facial hair and messy topknot.
“You hungry?” Liam held the open pizza box toward their boss, who snagged a slice of pepperoni.
“Sorry to interrupt dinner.” Jordan leaned against the counter and bit off damn near half of the piece of pizza at once. Had he not even taken time to eat that day yet? When Liam swung the leftovers toward the newcomers, both shook their head no in unison.
“Since Ace is going to be sitting on the sidelines for a while and some of us have family with us here…” Jordan motioned toward Nolan, who was perched between his girlfriend, Laurel, and his boyfriend, Jace. “I figured we could use a few extra set of eyes around at least until we’ve figured out this situation with Knox and the Vipers.”
“Never hurts.” Marcus took a deep breath, as if he’d been worried too.
“Everybody, this is Legend.” Jordan pointed to the man who seemed like he could have been part black bear given his size and the thick, dark fur that coated his arms and peeked from the three open buttons at the top of his light gray, ribbed shirt. “And that’s Tavish. Don’t ask where they came from because they can’t tell you. Know that they were highly recommended by people I trust and I’m happy to have them onboard, especially right now.”
Knox blew out a breath and scrubbed his hands over his face. “I’m sorry to be bringing shit to your door.”
“You haven’t yet,” Jordan pointed out. “I’d rather be over prepared in case trouble finds us. Either way, we’re glad to have you so that we have a shot at shutting some of this down for good.”
When Kennedy looked around the room, she saw respect in her fellow Shields’ gazes, which wasn’t always easy to earn.
Knox swallowed hard and nodded. “I’ll do whatever I can to help.”
“Let’s move this party into the command center.” Jordan jerked his head in that direction.
“Damn it. I’m starving,” Nolan grumbled as he eyed his pizza as if debating whether to stuff the remainder in his mouth at once.
“Bring your dinner with you. Just move.” Jordan pointed.
“You trust him with red sauce on our new carpet?” James seemed horrified.
“Absolutely not. How’s this? Bring your dinner and don’t spill any or James will dock your pay to clean the carpet.” Jordan grinned, knowing full well they made enough to buy a whole new one for every meeting if necessary.
“Worth it.” Nolan swiped a napkin over his mouth, then swooped in to kiss first Laurel and then Jace, both of whom were laughing. He lowered his voice then. “If this goes late, don’t wait up. At least I’ll have thoughts of what the two of you are doing in bed to keep me occupied.”
“Or…you could concentrate so you don’t get someone killed by being a horndog.” Sola flicked a garlic knot at Nolan.
He caught it and popped the whole thing into his mouth before mumbling around it, “I’m great at multitasking.”
“I can attest to that.” Laurel wiggled her brows, giggling.
But as she and the rest of the family members huddled up and the Shields filed out into the boardroom, the atmosphere in the room chilled considerably. Unfortunately, Kennedy didn’t think it had anything to do with the state-of-the-art HVAC system James and the Powertools had installed for them.