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I sighed. Yeah, I could definitely do without the wine. “Just getting groceries for dinner. Let’s leave it at that.” I turned to walk away, but then Blakely grabbed my shoulder and wrenched me back around.

“You don’t get to turn your back on me,” she said with a sneer. “You owe me an apology. You ruined my life, you little bitch. You showed up here and made my whole family turn against me.”

I barked out a short, surprised laugh. “I’mthe one who ruined your life? Don’t be ridiculous.”

“You think you’re better than me?—”

I had been more than prepared to walk away, but if Blakely insisted on getting into it, I wasn’t afraid to face her. Not when I was still so pissed about what she’d done. And she had the audacity to call me a bitch? “Blakely, you ruined your own life.You thought those lies wouldn’t come back and bite you in the ass? You kept my son from his father for nine years.”

“Ace is supposed to be withme,” she hissed. “Ever since you came back, he’s ignored me, and now he won’t even look at me. You ruined everything!”

“If he wanted to be with you, he would be.” I shook my head. “You’re delusional. You got kicked out because you made shit up and fucked up our lives with your selfishness.”

“If you hadn’t showed up, this never would’ve happened!” Blakely lurched forward, like a half-aborted attack.

“Watch it!” I snapped, clenching my fist. If she wanted to try something, I’d lay her out.

“Mom? Are you okay?”

Dylan dropped the dog treats and ice cream into the grocery cart, then hurried to my side. He stepped in front of me, his shoulders square, his own fists clenched.

Blakely’s jaw dropped. No doubt because Dylan looked exactly like Stephan.

“Everything’s okay,” I said, tousling his hair. “This nice lady was just leaving, wasn’t she?”

Dylan kept his eyes on Blakely. Goosebumps rose on my forearms. I’d never seen my kid like this—defensive and strong. Like his father.

“That’s definitely Ace’s kid,” Blakely grumbled. She glared at me. “Fine. I hope you’re happy.”

I smiled and waggled my fingers in a wave at Blakely. She stormed away, six-pack in hand. It wasn’t a great reaction, but the petty part of mewashappy. After all the damage Blakely had done, it felt good to chew her out a little bit. I wasn’t going to tell Dylan that, though—not the best example to set. But damn, it really did feel good.

“Who was that?” Dylan asked. “My dragon didn’t like her at all.”

“No one important,” I said. “Let’s finish our shopping and get home.”

Dylan nodded, but he glared at Blakely’s back until she disappeared among the aisles.

I bit back a smile. If Stephan were here, he’d be damn proud of his son.

16

ACE

“Smells good in here,” I said as I closed the front door behind me.

I’d had a long, irritating day at work. Now that our shipment was finally at the auto shop, we had a lot of overdue orders to fill. Managing those orders while still keeping on pace with actual car repairs was a balancing act, and I’d had to rearrange most of our schedule. And all of that was on top of keeping the clan informed about Sean and his lackeys—as well as making sure we had the paperwork in place for the upcoming distillery opening. I was stretched thin. It was doubly frustrating since every moment away from Harley turned my dragon into a whiny, little bitch. If he couldn’t claim her, he wanted to be with her every second of the day. I had the same feeling. But it simply wasn’t possible.

“I’m making Dylan’s favorite, honey-glazed brussels sprouts,” Harley said.

I itched to press her up against the counter again. That kiss had given me a Pavlovian reaction to seeing her cook.

“Dang, that’s a pretty grown-up food,” I said. I ruffled Dylan’s hair. He was slumped on the couch, watching somecartoon on the TV and frowning slightly at the screen. “You all right, bud?”

“He’s grumpy,” Harley said from the kitchen.

“What happened?”

“Nothing,” Harley said.