Page 29

“ M rs. Ramirez?” Mrs. Marsden’s voice comes through the speaker, crisp and clear.

“Yes?”

“I’m going to lunch, do you need anything before I go?”

“No, thank you, Mrs. Marsden. I’ll be going myself in a few minutes. Enjoy!”

“Thank you, ma’am. I’ll see you shortly.”

“Ma’am?” I mouth to myself and shrug.

I suppose it’s respectful, but I only recently turned twenty-four, not forty, and it feels a little weird.

Honestly though, Mrs. Marsden is the sweetest woman. She is mid-fifties, very pleasant and is amazingly efficient at her work.

She’s been married to the same man for the last thirty-five years and has worked as a loyal Volkov employee for the past twenty years.

She’s kind and patient but also tough as nails, someone who knows the system inside and out like nobody’s business.

I’m really glad to have her on my side. It took me all morning to set up my system and upload all my software.

I expected to have to order the basic office supplies I’d need, but apparently, my amazing husband had already taken care of that for me.

Sammy had an entirely new system sent up to my office to prepare for my arrival.

Three enormous, curved monitors, and two specialty keyboards, one wired and one wireless for when I needed to move around. Both were mechanical with color-coded keys and a Dyslexie Font typeface designed to improve readability and reduce common typos for people like me.

The thought of him doing all of this without being asked—just anticipating my needs and acting on them—warms me from the inside out.

But it doesn’t stop there. The real key to my heart is the ergonomic lumbar-support chair with memory foam cushions, and beneath the desk, a foot swing.

He just knew .

He really just knew.

But I shouldn’t be surprised because Sammy seems to know everything about me.

A fact that makes my pulse race and my whole body tingle in ways I probably shouldn’t be thinking about at work.

He loves me. He told me so.

I’ve been cowardly— a damn idiot —for not saying it back yet.

I feel like I should just call him now and get it over with.

But I’m not going to say it here.

Not at work.

Not when I’ve had all morning to let it simmer in my head, growing heavier by the second.

For now, I focus on something I can control.

Like lunch.

Andrea is on her way, and we agreed to keep it simple by grabbing something from the cafeteria downstairs.

I don’t know why, but I don’t want to leave the building without Sammy. It just feels wrong.

Maybe I’m being ridiculous, but I can’t shake the feeling.

Right on time, Andrea appears in my doorway, her signature smirk already in place.

“Hey there, important boss lady. You ready for lunch?”

I snort and open my mouth to answer, but before I can, I catch sight of the others filing in behind her.

Andrea didn’t come alone.

Elena. Merida. Julia.

All of Sammy’s sisters.

My sisters-in-law now.

My stomach clenches, my nerves firing off in every direction. It’s not like I haven’t met them before. I have. Plenty of times.

But I wasn’t married to their brother then.

Now, I wonder if maybe they’re mad.

If they feel like I took something from them. If they think I don’t deserve him.

If they—but that thought dies as suddenly as it came because, before I can spiral, before I can even breathe , the room erupts with squeals and hugs, laughter and congratulations.

No awkwardness.

Just acceptance and pure, genuine joy.

Merida grips my hands. “I knew you two would end up together.”

“Oh, my God, I’m so happy for you!” Julia adds, practically bouncing as she squeezes me in a hug.

“We’ve been waiting for Sammy to do something about his ridiculous obsession with you for years,” Elena laughs.

I freeze, her words echoing in my head, rattling around like a live wire with nowhere to land.

We’ve been waiting for Sammy to do something about his ridiculous obsession for years.

Years.

Not days. Not weeks. Not months.

Years.

Something shifts inside me, tilts my entire world off its axis.

All that time, I thought I’d been pining for him alone. Thought my crush had been one-sided, that I was nothing more than some dumb kid, the little sister’s friend that Sammy— strong, untouchable, and so far out of my league —would never see as anything more.

But I was wrong.

He wanted me.

Just as long as I’ve wanted him.

And that realization totally wrecks me.

Pride.

Pleasure.

Possession.

The three Ps slam into me like a freight train, a heady mix of emotions I can’t untangle even if I tried.

Because this thing between us was always meant to be.

And now that I know?

Now that I really know?

I don’t think I’ll ever recover. And more, I don’t want to.

Just like that, the anxiety melts away, replaced by something warm and unexpected.

Relief.

Acceptance.

Family.

I exhale, a grin breaking across my face.

“Wanna shake a tail feather? I gotta get these three back to university before they miss a class,” Andrea says.

“Oh my God, please make me late for Calculus,” Elena begs.

“No can do, sorry. I’ve got a meeting in an hour, so we better go. Besides, I am starving,” I admit, grabbing my purse and sweater from my chair.

The sweater isn’t exactly necessary. I mean. it’s warm outside, not even a hint of a breeze.

But the office is kept at a crisp sixty-five degrees, the kind of cold that seeps into your bones, that has you rubbing your arms absentmindedly.

So, I take it.

And then we head for the elevator.

The ride down to the cafeteria is quick, but the moment we step out, I realize just how big this moment is.

I’m not just having lunch with Andrea. I’m sitting down with all four of Sammy’s sisters.

And I know what this is.

It’s an interrogation wrapped in the guise of casual conversation. A test disguised as lunch.

I don’t blame them.

If I had a brother like Sammy— strong, loyal, the kind of man who would burn the world to protect the people he loves —I’d be cautious about anyone who claimed to love him, too.

But I’m not just anyone.

I’m his.

Still, the moment the cafeteria doors swing open, my nerves fade into amusement.

“Wow. I’m always so impressed by this cafeteria,” Merida says, eyes wide as she beelines for the sushi bar.

I bite my lip, scanning the options before settling on the stand serving Greek food. The scent of fresh spanakopita and grilled souvlaki makes my stomach rumble.

Andrea joins me, and a few minutes later, we’re all seated at a round table, eating and laughing like we’ve been doing this for years.

I don’t have siblings.

Never knew what it felt like to sit in a circle of people who just get you on an unspoken level.

But suddenly, it’s like I have four sisters.

And I like it.

The conversation is easy, flowing from harmless teasing to stories about childhood, from work gossip to who’s dating who.

But then— just as I knew it would —the topic shifts.

The air changes.

And Andrea, the oldest, the one with Sammy’s sharp instincts and the same piercing hazel eyes, looks at me across the table and asks the question I know has been sitting on her tongue since we sat down.

“So, this thing with our brother. Are you in it for real?”

Silence.

Everything else— the clatter of plates, the low murmur of conversations around us —dims to nothing.

I don’t flinch.

I don’t look away.

I meet Andrea’s gaze head-on.

And I tell her the truth.

“I’m in it with my whole heart.”

The tension that had been building shatters.

Andrea’s sharp eyes soften, and Julia grins before shoving another forkful of salad into her mouth.

“That’s what I said,” Elena says in a singsong voice.

Merida hums, like she’s pleased with my answer.

And Andrea, the most serious of them all, nods once, like she already knew.

They don’t say anything else about it.

They don’t need to.

Because they know now.

I’m not going anywhere.