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I was happy for my sister and Tajah, but I had to admit, I never saw them ending up married the way they did. When Tajah first approached me about helping her do research for her new book series about the BDSM/kink lifestyle, I thought all I needed to do was tell her a few things, and that was it. Wrong. I quickly found out it wasn’t something she wanted barely to scratch the surface of, and then done. She wanted to talk to people who lived it. Get to their motivations and what it meant and did for them. And she wanted to see it for herself.

I’d been open about being a part of a club. I didn’t say much about it or what I did there, not to her or my sister, Cady. For one thing, I figured they didn’t want to know. Two, it wasn’t an interest they shared with me, so there was no need to worry. I kept saying no when Taj pleaded with me to help her get into the House of Lustz. It wasn’t until she said she was either coming to my club or going to one that she wouldn’t be as safe in that I’d cracked. There was no way in hell I’d allow her to do it, and I didn’t want to set foot in one of those places.

Once I agreed to ask, I went to Reuben, the manager. He was in charge when the owner, Mikhail, was gone. It just happened that Mikhail took the first vacation he’d had in years when I came asking. Reuben met with Tajah and listened to her pitch. When she was done, he agreed to allow her in if she met all the criteria. She’d filled out the necessary paperwork, taken the orientation, and cleared a background check. With these out of the way, I had no recourse but to bring her.

None of us knew that when Mikhail came back, he’d be pissed and rescind her membership. That was the beginning of them. Not anything I saw coming. The only situation that shocked me more was when Cady and another patron, who at the time worked at Lustz, later ended up together.

I loved my sister, but she’d always been a hard person for most people to understand and like. She had this side to her that rubbed most individuals the wrong way, including me. I wasn’t proud that I tried to warn her away from Hoss by reminding her how every relationship she’d had ended badly. I thought Hoss was going to pound on me for that.

I learned that Cady was a brat and needed the right man to understand her. That man had to be a brat handler, and Hoss fit the bill perfectly. They had their ups and downs and misunderstandings, but in next to no time, they were living together. Immediately after that, he asked her to marry him, and they organized a double wedding with Mikhail and Tajah. Of course, it was due to Taj’s mom, Tamara, and Victoria, Mikhail’s second cousin’s wife, that it all came together the way it did. Looking around the large reception area, I saw perfection. Those two women had outdone themselves.

Both brides were up on the dance floor with their husbands. I’d never seen either of them smile so much. They were radiating with happiness. Of course, Tajah had an additional excuse to be so radiant. We’d only found out, not long before the big day, that she was pregnant. Both she and Mikhail were over-the-moon happy about it. They hadn’t wanted to wait to start their family. After her terrible first marriage, I was doubly pleased for her.

I was tempted to ask Cady if she and Hoss planned to do the same, but I feared the answer. I thought it might make more sense for them to settle in as a married couple for a few years before bringing kids into it. However, if she caught wind that I felt that way, it would cause another rift between us. We’d finally healed the one placed there by me about six months ago on Halloween. I’d said things to her that I wasn’t proud of, and it took this long to get us back to our usual selves. Plus, my new brother-in-law was a hulking beast. I didn’t want him to rip my head off.

I wasn’t a puny shrimp, but he towered over me, and his muscles had muscles. I was six feet two, and my muscles were present, only they were leaner. Hoss looked like he could crush your head with one hand. If you were a moron with preconceived ideas about people’s looks, then looking at him, you would think he wasn’t anything more than a knucklehead who couldn’t string a sentence together. That would be a huge mistake.

When I found him standing as the security guard outside Lustz, I partially thought he wasn’t the brightest. I was shocked when I learned he did that job to de-stress from his crazily successful tech company, which made him a multimillionaire. He was Mensa-level intelligent and could retire now and never have to work a day in his life again. However, that wasn’t him. I knew he’d be able to take care of my sister in more ways than one. And I kept my terrible assumption about his intelligence to myself.

Cady threw back her head and laughed at something Hoss said to her. He was staring at her with a wicked grin on his face. You could tell, just as you could with Mikhail and Tajah, that he adored my sister, and she felt the same way about him.

While I was delighted for all four of them, it did make me feel left out. You’d think by now, at thirty-seven years old, I’d be used to it, and it wouldn’t bother me any longer. However, it did sneak up on me and cause me to have these moments of melancholy. I might be a successful lawyer in intellectual property law, but I was still not close to what I ultimately wanted to be. I battled to feel included and seen every day.

Sure, being in intellectual law, which dealt with protecting the rights of creators and inventors when it came to their patents, copyrights, and trademarks, was needed in Nashville, the country music capital of the world. The songwriters and singers were endless. And then you add other artists, such as authors, into the mix, and I stayed busy and made a more than decent living.

Professionally, I was where I wanted to be. I had respect and confidence in that. Privately, I wasn’t close. I had no one special, and that included anyone who could be a partner in the kink scenes I loved and needed. Playing with different people every time had lost its appeal. For a while, it was thrilling.

I went to Lustz less these days because I felt it was the same people and the same old thing. My attempts to date a regular woman hadn’t been any more successful. I thought if I found the right woman that way, I wouldn’t need her to be a part of my kink world. I could put it aside. The chance of discovering someone who could be a partner inside and outside Lustz was a pipe dream.

I was yanked from those depressing thoughts by the approach of Cady and Hoss. I smiled. “You two finally tore yourselves apart long enough to take a break,” I teased.

“Yes, so I could come and ask my big brother to dance with me again,” she said.

I’d stood up with her for the father-of-the-bride dance. Even though our parents were alive, they hadn’t been invited. Not that they would’ve come anyway. Or if they did, Dad would sneer and look down on everyone. It was better to avoid that possibility at all costs. The brides and grooms would be much happier without them.

“I’d love to dance with you. I’ll bring her back shortly,”

I assured Hoss.

“I’ll be waiting right here. Have fun,”

he replied.

He watched us clear to the dance floor. We’d timed it perfectly, and a new song was beginning. I wrapped her up, and we began to step. I knew how to dance and didn’t just stand there swaying in the same spot. Cady was staring up intently at me.

“What’s up there, Tiny?”

I razzed. She hated to be called anything that brought her petite height into the conversation.

“Hey, just because Big Man gets away with calling me that, it doesn’t mean you can. I’ll have to put a beat down on you if you keep it up,”

she threatened.

I laughed. “I can’t help it, Cady. You get such an intense look on your face. I know you mean it, but it’s still funny. However, since it’s your wedding day, I’ll behave. Any regrets?”

She immediately shook her head emphatically. “Not a one. I don’t know what I did to deserve him, but I’m thankful we found each other. You know what that means, don’t you?”

“You’re having kids right away, too,”

was my automatic answer.

“I wasn’t talking about that! Sheesh, give me a day or two to think about the other. No, I meant that it’s your turn. Tajah and I are settled, Carver. It’s your turn to find happiness, the forever kind.”

I sighed. “Cady, I’m damn pleased you two found your husbands. But don’t go thinking I’m next. I think that ship has sailed for me if I haven’t found someone who can fit my needs by now.”

“Nonsense. Hoss is thirty-nine, and Mikhail is forty-five. You have time. You just need to be open to it. I didn’t anticipate meeting Hoss, and Tajah sure didn’t Mikhail. It’ll happen when you least expect it.”

Not wanting to argue about it, I nodded and switched the topic. “Okay, I’ll watch for the perfect one. Tell me about the honeymoon. Where did you decide to go?”

This diverted her, and she happily told me about their honeymoon to the Bahamas. It was a place she always wanted to go, and they’d be there for two weeks. I let her enthusiasm wash over me. As we chatted and finished our dance, her excitement lifted my spirits. After returning her to Hoss, I went to find Tajah for another dance. I might have to fight Mikhail for her, but I’d do it.