“I'm serious, Tom. I don't want Rafe to know about my problems with Auntie G's. What if he thinks she's telling the truth and that I really did steal my PBF Bombz recipe from her?” I chewed my lip and looked down at the cafe table where I sat with Tom.

“Milo. Rafe would never believe that Milo would steal a recipe from that lying skank. As if.” Tom curled his lip in disgust. He was always my champion defender, but this mess with Auntie G's had him particularly riled. “Anybody who knows Milo knows better than to believe this pack of lies. And if Rafe did believe it? Then screw Rafe because Rafe would not be the alpha that Tom thinks Rafe is.”

I looked up at Tom, my eyes blinking rapidly as I fought to follow his sentence. Sometimes Tom's lack of pronoun usage got really awkward. Running my hands over my face, I shuddered out a sigh. “I know. I just, well, I don't want him to think that he has to rush in and save the day or something. All I need to do is find my Nana's recipe book and show it to my attorney. We have sixty days to fight the cease and desist order, or I'll lose the rights to the recipe forever. He said that the age alone of the family recipe would do a lot to prove my claim, along with your statement of helping me make these for as along as you can remember. Which, by the way, I appreciate.”

Tom rolled his eyes and waved a hand at me in a shooing gesture. “Omega, please. Nana made those PBF balls when Milo and Tom were in diapers. Tom's lucky that there are no pudgy pictures from a childhood spent eating those little fat pills. The only change that Milo made is to the name. And Tom stated that in the deposition.”

I nodded and took a drink of my latte. “Well, still. Thank you, Tom. You're a good friend and you've always had my back. But I have to save this recipe. Not only is it my top seller, but it's special to me because it was Nana's.”

Tom nodded mournfully. “So what is Milo going to do? Milo doesn't have the recipe book, and thanks to Milo's dad, Milo no longer owns the family home. This is a problem.” Tom's worried expression touched me. I reached over and grabbed his hand.

“I have a plan.” Tom looked at me skeptically, but waited for me to explain. “The house won't finish escrow until next week. Tomorrow night, I'm going to sneak in and go look through Nana's stuff in the attic. That's the only place it could be.”

Tom shook his head and began to interrupt, but I held a hand up and continued: “Dad packed up her personal things when she passed away, and put them up in the attic by her mother's oak wardrobe. When they did the auction of the furnishings, they didn't bother with the attic because they couldn't find the key. Remember? Well, I have a spare key and I know how to get up there from the old servant's entrance, so I can easily get in and out without being seen.”

Tom gasped. “Milo! That's a horrible idea! What if Milo gets caught? Milo could be arrested for trespassing!”

I shrugged. “I don't think that Chief Baker would arrest me. He knows that's been my family home for five generations before me. And technically, until it finishes escrow, it's still mine. Right?”

“Omega please. Milo is well aware that the bank foreclosed on that property after Milo's father died. That is why Milo was unable to retrieve the belongings inside and now must break in like a thief.”

I huffed out: “I'm not a thief if I'm taking what already belongs to me! It's not fair that my dad was able to mortgage Nana's house in the first place. But I can live with that, I have to. I just can't handle not being allowed access to my family belongings.”

Tom raised an elegant brow and said: “Well, if Milo isn't a thief, then why is Milo sneaking in through the old servant's entrance in the dead of night? Hmm?”

I hunched over and propped my chin on my forearms that were resting on the tabletop as I looked up at my friend with wet eyes. “I don't know, Tom. All I know is that I can't wait for the new owner to take possession, and hope that he or she will allow me to rifle through Nana's stuff. I just want to find an ending to this legal nightmare and this is the easiest way, okay?”

Tom shook his head, his eyes clouded with concern. Still, he reached over and affectionately ruffled my hair. “Okay, Milo. But Tom will come along and be the lookout so that Milo doesn't get arrested.”

“No, Tom! I can do it myself. It will be fine.” I sat up in consternation. “I'm not dragging you into this little caper of mine, Tom. It's not happening.”

“It is happening, because Tom has declared that it will be so. Besides, if Milo does not include Tom? Tom may have to fire off a few strongly worded hints to Ian and Rafe that Milo needs help.” The little shit sat back and crossed his arms over his chest, giving me a smug smile like he already knew he'd won.

Okay, yeah. He totally did win, but only because he knows me so well. “Fine, Tom. Have it your way. But make sure you're photo ready in case we get arrested. I mean, you wouldn't want an uggo mug shot on your record, right?” I smirked at him over the rim of my cup as I took a long drink of latte.

“Milo is evil. But never fear, Tom will be ready for any and all photo-ops. Now, tell Tom why this is being put off until tomorrow? Does Milo have plans for tonight? Perhaps plans with a certain sexy alpha?” Tom all but purred as he nosed into my private life with zero regrets.

“Yes. I have a date with Rafe tonight. I'm just cooking him dinner at my place, we're not doing anything too exciting.” I tapped a finger against my coffee cup while I waited for Tom to explode into a pushy stream of advice. In less than five seconds, Tom was pushing away his cup and giving me directions for how he saw my evening going. This naturally included a little more over-sharing of his sex life than I wanted to hear.