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I never liked being afraid. But when Liam and my father left me at the apartment, I felt true fear.

Minutes later, my cousins descended on my penthouse like a storm of crows ready to peck the eyes out of anyone threatening one of their own. I laughed through my tears.

“You didn’t all have to come,” I said.

Even better, they had Shelly with them as a surprise.

“Shut up. I’ve been dying to see your new place,” Shelly said, emerging between my riotous family.

I cried harder and hugged her, squeezing her so tight she squeaked.

“I missed you too. Now please let me get off my feet. They make me stand for like forty hours straight at the hospital.”

“Come in,” I said, giggling as I pushed her onto a stool while everyone else filed in after us.

“Cookie time,” Lucy shouted, and waved several dozen baggies of homemade cookie dough in a variety of flavors.

“I could get down with some cookies,” Andrea said sagely nodding as she snatched the bag holding the snickerdoodle dough.

Of course, they had already heard what happened, and they were there to cheer me up with some sugar and flour, which I was a hundred percent fine with.

“Smells so good,” I moaned, sniffing at the delicious scents coming from the oven.

“Okay, tell us what happened.”

“Tonight?”

“No! We wanna hear how Liam finally admitted he luuurvvves youuuu ,” Lucy teased.

I mean, I was so happy about it of course I told them.

“Ugh. You are so damn lucky. I’ll never meet anyone working the crazy shifts I have to work,” Shelly lamented.

I just rolled my eyes.

“First of all, we have binge-watched every medical TV show in history and all those doctors do is have sex with everyone else at the hospital, so save your false piety. Now, tell us who you’re banging!” I demanded.

“Oh my God, Micky, that’s TV, not real life,” Shelly replied, covering her face. But I could have sworn she was blushing.

“Honestly, cuz, you are the only person I know getting any actual D in real life, so share the deets. Please. I am begging you!”

“Eww. Actually, pass on that. Liam is like our cousin now and the last thing I want to know is what his little dick looks like,” Clementine said, looking repulsed.

I couldn’t help myself. I fell into a fit of giggles.

“Yeah, and when he called telling us all to come over, I mean, he was almost like a big brother. So yes, skip the sex talk, please. So gross,” Lucy said, shuddering visibly.

“Wait. Liam told you guys to come here?” I asked, my heart thundering inside my chest.

“Yeah. He said you needed the company.”

That man.

If I didn’t already love him like mad, that revelation would have sealed the deal for me. He was just so thoughtful, anticipating what would make me feel better after all that happened today and delivering it effortlessly and anonymously.

Other men would have wanted credit. But not Liam. He just wanted to make me feel good.

God, I love that man.

Chatter surrounded me and I sighed, just taking it all in. My cousins. My best friend. It was all so perfect.

An evening of cookies and wine, gossip and giggles—that was exactly what I needed after the chaos of the day, after the horror of being kidnapped and threatened.

I knew it should have bothered me, watching my father and my husband kill two men. But it didn’t. Those guys had been warned, and they chose to participate. It was their choice and their fault.

After all, it was hardly fair to start a fight then cry when you lost it.

The girls were good company, but my thoughts drifted to my husband frequently while they were there.

“You know, you look happy, Micky. Love and marriage look good on you,” Shelly said, and I smiled, feeling myself glow from within.

“Thanks, Shell.”

The sweet scent of freshly baked cookies permeated the air, and the sound of our laughter mingling with the low hum of music in the background was just perfect.

Everything I needed.

Exactly everything.

But there was one thing I needed more—one thing that no amount of wine or cookies could satisfy.

And that was him.

My Liam.

His presence.

His warmth.

His closeness.

He was my peace, the calm in the middle of all the noise. And in that moment, with everything else stripped away, all I could think about was how much I could not wait for him to come home.

I was desperately in love with my husband and for the first time since I had that revelation weeks ago, I wanted to shout it from the rooftops.

He was all I needed. Nothing else in this world could compare, and when he came home tonight, I was going to show him.