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All of that went unnoticed as Mila mixed and talked.

“I’m so sorry. I bet you guys wish you’d never met me! I can’t believe that happened. It was like we were suddenly on some seedy talk show. The only thing that could've made it worse was if someone announced they were pregnant by Dad or something.” She gave a little hysterical laugh. “Although they only just got here. Maybe there’s some young mother on her way to show up at the door any moment now.”

Carter exchanged a look with Gio, unsure what to do. The vampire looked as uncertain as Carter felt. Shuffling everyone to a nearby hotel didn’t seem to be calming Mila down. If anything, she appeared even more upset than when they’d all been here screaming at each other.

“Your siblings seem nice,” Gio said, his tone hesitant.

Mila slapped down the wooden spoon she was stirring with. “How can you be okay with all this? My family invaded your home and screamed loud enough for the neighbors to hear! You should be kicking me out and telling me never to come back!”

Carter rushed up to her with a growl. He grabbed her hands, ignoring the stickiness and turned her to face him. “We all bring good and bad to this relationship. None of it will ever be bad enough to make us leave you!”

“But you and Gio didn’t bring in a bunch of yelling people,” Mila said, tears finally escaping her eyes, breaking Carter’s heart.

“Oh honey, I’ve done so much worse!” Carter said. “I’m an alpha wolf shifter. Gio has pulled me out of more fights than you have fingers. He had to pay Mikey to rebuild the inside of Downward Dog once because I wrecked the place.”

Mila blinked up at him. “Really?”

Carter nodded. “The night you brought me home wasn’t the first or even the fifth time Gio’s had to call Faith to fix me up. Without a pack, I was constantly finding trouble. Especially during the day when Gio couldn’t be there to stop me from picking fights. Your family drama is nothing compared to that.”

“I agree with Carter,” Gio said, stepping up behind her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and hunched down so he could rest his chin on her shoulder. “Your family is nothing compared to the trouble he would get into.”

“But you’re so sweet and peaceful,” Mila protested. “That first night I met you, the fight was because you were attacked by those creatures. The, um, dirmites?”

“Durmin,” Carter corrected, then decided to tell Mila the whole truth. “They might have attacked me because I attacked them the previous evening when I was trying to get to Gio. Technically I started it, but in my defense, the human they’re modeled after is an asshole.”

Mila stared at him, and for a moment, Carter was sure she was going to get upset. Then she burst out laughing. “Does this mean Gio’s the only one in our trio that doesn’t cause trouble?”

Carter was happy to correct her. “Oh no, Gio has gotten into some fights. He’s possessive. I’m impressed with his restraint tonight.”

It occurred to Carter that Gio had stayed amazingly calm despite the mean things James and Barb said. He looked over at the vampire who tried to appear angelic. Ah, so that was the game they were playing!

“One of these days, someone will touch you inappropriately, and Gio will separate their arm from their body and beat them to death with it,” Carter said.

Mila gasped, then started laughing again. “Stop, you’re making that up.”

It was good to see her happy after being so upset. To try and keep up the good humor, he lifted her hands to his face and started licking the flour and sugar off her fingers. “Yum, you always taste so good. I think you got some sugar down your shirt. Let me get that for you.”

When he tried to bury his face in the v of her blouse, Mila tugged her hands free and stepped back.

“Bec could walk in,” she said, scandalized.

“Then we should go upstairs,” Gio suggested, then nipped the skin below her ear. Carter watched her expression turn needy.

“I don’t know,” she said, looking around the kitchen. “There’s a lot I should do here.”

“It can all wait,” Carter insisted. Mila kept protesting but let him and Gio lead her upstairs and distract her late into the night.

The eclairs didn’t get stuffed full of cream that night, but Mila did!

Chapter 26

Mila

“Can you find me a couple of handsome guys to sweep me off my feet and help me start my own business?” Vivi asked the next day while they were all having lunch at the Hotel del Coronado. Barb and James had grudgingly agreed to join them but were surprisingly silent. Mila thought it had something to do with Carter whispering something to them, but she didn’t ask.

Sometimes you just had to enjoy the moment and not ask questions.

“I thought you liked where you were at?” Mila asked.