It was like Augie was hovering between two choices. The one where he would tell me to fuck off and leave, and the one where he’d admit what was happening and let me help him.

What I didn’t expect was a third, completely different, choice. The one in which he leaned forward and came up on his toes as if he was going to kiss me. My gaze traveled down to his soft red lips, and my stomach began swirling with anticipation. I felt my own lips part as my head lowered, and just before I reached to put a hand on his jaw, I heard the unmistakable sound of another car pulling into the gravel drive.

I immediately turned and stepped in front of Augie, cursing myself for leaving my weapon in the car. Warm hands came to rest on my lower back, and I felt goose bumps rising on my skin. Augie shifted behind me until he could see the car in the drive.

“Easy, killer. It’s my grandfather,” he murmured. The words went straight into my ear, almost making me shiver as the warm breath slid against the skin under my collar.

I craned my neck to see past the headlights, and sure enough, an older man began to emerge from the back seat of the sleek black vehicle. He was elegant and poised in a business suit that probably cost more than I made in a month. His hair was a perfectly trimmed salt-and-pepper style that made him look as distinguished as his reputation. Despite being surprised at how young he looked, I assumed I was looking at Jonathan Stiel.

For some reason I still felt the need to keep Augie behind me, but he slipped out anyway and stepped forward. As the man approached, he eyed me standing next to his grandson and looked me up and down as if inspecting me.

“August,” he said in a clipped tone. “I’ve been trying to reach you for hours.”

“Is everything okay?” Augie asked, frowning.

“I need to talk to you about something,” he said, glancing my way.

“Grandfather, this is Saint Wilde. Saint, this is Jonathan Stiel,” Augie said politely.

I reached out a hand to shake. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Stiel.”

He seemed to pause a beat before taking my hand. His eyes were still studying me, most likely wondering who in the hell I was to his grandson. He probably didn’t see Augie often with men like me. I assumed Augie’s normal friends were a bit more refined than I was.

He shook my hand briefly before turning to Augie. “Why don’t we go inside?”

He passed us and let himself in the front door, leaving us alone on the front porch. Augie looked up at me, and I immediately noticed a change in his entire demeanor from minutes before when we were alone. He seemed tired all of a sudden. And stressed. I wanted to reassure him that whatever was going on with him couldn’t be that bad. That it would all be okay. But what the hell did I know? I was just his self-defense instructor for god’s sake.

“I guess I’d better go,” I said.

“Sorry about this,” he said. “I wasn’t expecting him.”

I smiled at him. “You weren’t really expecting me either, so it’s okay.”

Despite the dim light from the porch fixtures, I could have sworn he blushed. “But still. I should have said thank you.”

“For what?”

“For giving a shit. For caring enough to make sure I got home safely. I’m sorry I was an ass about it.”

“You have my number in case something comes up. Please call me if you need me,” I told him.

I was afraid he was going to get angry at me again for butting in where I didn’t belong, but his face softened into a smile. “Yeah, okay.”

“Good night.” I almost stepped forward to kiss his cheek but managed to stop myself just in time. No sense in creating trouble for him with his grandfather who stood scowling at us from the front door of the farmhouse.

I turned to walk to my truck, feeling a strange sense of apprehension at leaving Augie alone with his grandfather. Which was all kinds of bizarre. Why in the world was I feeling protective of the man around his own family? It didn’t make any sense.

Just before reaching the door of my truck, I felt a vibration in my pocket and pulled my phone back out. It was a text.

I felt the edges of my lips turn up. I lifted my head to search him out on the front porch, but I saw just the back of him as he disappeared through the front door. I looked back down at my phone and typed in a response.

I drove the rest of the way back to the ranch with a stupid grin on my face. Once I was parked and out of the truck, I leaned back against the door and typed up another text.

Once I stopped staring goofily at my phone, I realized MJ’s car was parked near the barn alongside Sassy’s Volkswagen Beetle and West’s pickup truck. I made my way to the main house to say hello and see who all was there. I’d been staying in the bunkhouse so my comings and goings didn’t disturb Doc and Grandpa, but I spent most of my time in the main house when I wasn’t sleeping or in town.

When I let myself into the front door, I followed the din to the giant farmhouse kitchen with attached family room. My siblings were sprawled out all over the giant sofas and chairs, and Doc was making something in a blender. Both West and Nico were present, which probably meant their daughter was asleep in the nursery by Doc and Grandpa’s room. Hudson and Charlie were snuggled together in the corner of a sofa, and Hudson’s fingers were stroking down the long length of Charlie’s red hair. The action seemed to be putting his man to sleep despite the noise of everyone talking and the whirr of the blender.

MJ was setting something out on a tray in the kitchen but turned when she heard me say hello.

“Fuck,” she said before rushing over to hug me. I tightened my arms around her and breathed in the familiar, faded scent of Chanel No. 5 that always reminded me of our mother.

“Hey, you,” I murmured into her hair. “You okay?”

“I am now that my other half is here. Where you been?”

“Long story. You staying in the bunkhouse?”

“Yeah. You promise to tell me everything when we get over there later?”

I pulled back and kissed her cheek before nodding. Her light blue eyes peered at me as if checking me for any noticeable changes since she last saw me. It had only been a week or two at the most, so I couldn’t imagine there was anything to notice.

“Moose Jaw, get the lead out,” Hudson called. “My man is starving over here.”

MJ turned to him. “He’s in a coma, Hudson. I think you mean you’re the one who’s starving. And you can hold your damned horses.”

“I’ll get it,” Nico offered, hoisting himself off the arm of the chair he’d been perched on. “I want some of those cream puff things I saw in the freezer the other day.”

Grandpa looked up from where he’d been knitting some purple monstrosity that vaguely resembled a basketball. “How’d your lesson go?”

MJ interrupted before I had a chance to answer. “Were you at Twist? Was Neckie there? How is she? Is she okay?”

I noticed Nico glance over his shoulder toward West with a raised eyebrow. West shook his head without saying anything, and Nico continued to the kitchen area.

“She wasn’t there tonight, but I saw her earlier today and she was good. She left shortly after lunch for an appointment and didn’t come back though,” I said.

This time it was Grandpa who glanced over at West, but instead of lifting a brow, Grandpa narrowed his eyes at my older brother.

West let out a sigh and stood up, disturbing at least three dogs on his trek across the rug to join Nico by the large kitchen island. He slid his arm around Nico’s waist before whispering something into his ear. After Nico nodded, West spoke up loudly enough for everyone to hear.

“We have an announcement to make.”

I realized what was happening before MJ did.

“Nico and I are having a baby,” West continued. “We didn’t want to say anything until the baby came because we didn’t want our poor gestational carrier to be inundated with Wilde family good intentions for nine months, but…”

Nico broke in. “Neckie is carrying our baby.”

There was silence for a beat before the room erupted in pandemonium.

Everyone stood to surround them with excited words of congratulations and a million questions while my twin stood there in pale shock.

West noticed before I could get to MJ.

“Em…” he said. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”

“No,” she said, shaking her head and trying her best to paste on a big smile. It was fake as all hell. “No, that’s amazing. I’m so happy for you! Seriously. So fucking thrilled Pippa is getting a sibling.” She swallowed and spoke again. “You know how important siblings are to us, West. I’m so happy for all of you. I’m just… I’m just going to…”

West glanced at me, and I shot him a reassuring look before taking MJ into my arms and leading her outside into the cool night air.

“It’s okay to be pissed,” I said softly. “I didn’t know. I swear I didn’t. You know I would have told you.”

She snorted. “You couldn’t keep a secret from me if you tried. Remember in eighth grade when you tried to tell me Shayla Tubbs gave you that hickey?”

“It wasn’t my place to out her brother, and you know it.”

She rolled her eyes at me before tucking her head against my shoulder. “I want her to be carrying my baby, Saint,” she whispered against my shirt. “Isn’t that the most selfish thing you can imagine?”

I moved her over to sit next to me on the front porch swing and tucked her back against my side once we were settled.

“It’s totally understandable. And I think she actually feels the same way. That’s why we got you here. She needs someone in her corner right now. Even if it’s just as a friend. I think she’s scared, Em.”

“I want West and Nico to have a baby, I do. But… why Neckie?”

I thought for a moment before speaking. “Maybe it was a way for her to do something for you indirectly. She’s always adored our family. Maybe this is her way of loving us… loving you. You won’t know unless you ask her.”

We sat in silence for a while, listening to the night rustlings of creatures and the few audible reminders of the horses in the nearby barn.

“Is it too late to go over there?” she asked after a little while.

“To Neckie’s?” I checked my phone and saw it was half past ten. “Want me to text her first and ask?”

“Would you mind?”

I shook my head and punched in the text since Neckie and I had already texted back and forth over details of my schedule at Twist. Within seconds she responded she was still up and would love a visit from MJ.

“Go get ’em, tiger,” I said, pulling her close in a squeeze. I felt the slight tremble of her nerves but knew she was one of the bravest of us. She’d tackled law school despite a pretty debilitating case of dyslexia and had created a name for herself in Dallas legal circles. She was kick-ass.

As we stood up from the swing, West and Nico joined us on the porch.

“Sorry, Em,” West said again. “If I’d known you still had feelings for her, I would have talked to you first.”

“It’s okay. I promise.”

“It’s my sperm,” Nico blurted. “I mean…” He looked up at his husband in desperation. Poor Nico hated seeing anyone upset.

MJ laughed and put her hand on his shoulder. “It’s fine. The woman of my dreams is still having my brother’s baby. No big deal.”

West looked crushed. “Em…”

I felt a familiar tightening in my chest. Whenever anyone in my family disagreed, I always wanted to put a stop to it any way I could. Often it was making a fool out of myself to change the focus. But it always made me feel out of control and rudderless when there was strife.

MJ let out a breath. “I’ll get over it, West. It just really took me by surprise. Finding out she was pregnant was one thing, but finding out you guys are the ones who get a little piece of her isn’t easy.”

“It’s not her egg,” West said. “Katie donated it for us, so there was Salerno and Wilde genetics together. Sassy’s too young to make such a big decision. Winnie was going to do it, but then we realized she’d never be able to keep it from Hallie. And if Hallie knew…”

“Everyone would know,” we all said together.

The tension was broken when we all chuckled at the truth.

“That was nice of Katie,” I said. Our cousin had always been generous and kind. It didn’t surprise me at all she’d been willing to help West and Nico out like that.

“Why didn’t you ask me?” MJ asked. “I would have donated an egg for you guys.”

West’s face softened. “We started the process at the same time you announced landing the Bascourt case. There was no doubt that was an incredible opportunity that would require tons of extra hours and energy, Em.”

She nodded, but I could feel the gears turning in her head. “I won,” she muttered under her breath. “Fat lot of good that did. Those motherfuckers still haven’t offered me the position I deserve at the firm.”

West stepped forward and pulled her into a big hug. “We love you no matter what. Who cares if you’re just vacuuming and emptying trash over there? You’re still aces in our book—aiyeee!”

She’d reached up and pinched his nipple the same way she used to do when we were kids. Nico’s jaw dropped in surprise, and he yanked West out of our sister’s menacing reach.

“Don’t fuck with his nips, you horrible woman! I rely on those sonsabitches for entertainment,” Nico exclaimed, murmuring soothing sounds to West as he reached up to rub the injured spot.

“Whatever,” she snapped. “Next time don’t impregnate my woman, assholes. I’m out of here.”

She stormed back into the house, presumably to grab her keys before heading to Neckie’s place.

Nico looked back at me over West’s shoulder. “Think she’ll still set out some snacks for us before she goes?”