Page 47 of Fair Trade (New York Monarchs #2)

forty-three

Isabella said yes.

Obviously.

Mateo and his daughter set up the first floor of their apartment with white candles of all sizes, creating an aisle made of sprinkles that led to the kitchen.

That was odd, but to each their own. In the kitchen, there were hundreds of bright yellow Post-Its stuck to the wall of windows that spelled out MARRY ME as tall as the starting pitcher himself.

On one Post-It, he wrote cásate conmigo . He left that one next to the impressive diamond ring.

As soon as the couple and Mateo’s daughter were done wiping their tears, the rest of our group emerged from our hiding spots, sending poor Isabella into a crying fit.

Luisa softly wipes away her own tears as she listens to Isabella’s retelling of the day up until the moment Mateo got down on one knee.

I never got down on one knee. Luisa never got to have a moment like this.

The thought slashes through me, and I force myself to take a deep breath.

Luisa catches my eye and makes her way toward me.

My arms open, and she slides into my hold so easily.

She looks up and smiles, my hand caressing her cheek. “These are my happy tears.”

“I know.” I bend down and kiss the spot I last saw a tear. “And I want to be the person who gives you all the happy tears.” Her eyes widen, but I keep going. “And I want to be the person who’s there when the sad ones come too.”

“Nick.” She gasps quietly, most likely trying not to draw attention to us during such an important time for the newly engaged couple.

I shake my head. This’ll have to wait until another time.

I try to lift the mood, not wanting to have Luisa’s head in a tailspin for the rest of the night.

“Because I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’m kind of partial to my wife.

Although, that first night, I’m pretty sure those tears weren’t happy or sad ones.

Could you tell me again what you were doing that caused you to tear up at the same time you were having trouble keeping your saliva in your mou—”

Oomph.

Her elbow to my stomach hit a lot harder than I thought she could manage from this angle. Leave it to me to never underestimate my wife again.

Her eyes hold equal parts heat and indignation.

“Really, Lucifer? Here? Now?” She goes to shove me away, but I spin her in my arms and tickle her neck with my short beard, then pepper kisses against her skin.

“Okay, Okay. You win. Stop. You know I’m super ticklish right there.

” She wiggles her juicy ass against my front, and I release her before the little minx takes playing dirty any further.

“God, these two can’t keep their hands to themselves for two seconds, I swear.” Daisy rolls her eyes but doesn’t hide her bright smile.

I know she’s happy for us. I just wish I could feel the same about her relationship.

“Sorry, Daisy, but your brother and Luisa probably spend all day lighting their sheets on fire, so I guess you’re going to have to get used to the PDA.” Isabella beams as she looks between Luisa and me.

“Congratulations.” I lean over and kiss Isabella on the cheek.

“Yeah, yeah. Send a card or something, but hands off.” Mateo pulls Isa into his chest, and she places a giggling kiss under his jaw.

Coach Weston joins our circle. I’m surprised to see him here, simply because I’ve never seen the man anywhere besides the stadium grounds.

“Congrats, guys,” he offers.

I jump at the chance to needle him a bit. “Oh, look, he speaks.”

He grunts as he throws an unimpressed look my way. Daisy comes to his defense. “What are you talking about? Luke talks all the time.”

Multiple eyeballs shift across the room, none communicating out loud what we all suspect.

“Bathroom?” Coach mutters.

“Down the hall, to your right,” Mateo offers, and Coach moves swiftly in that direction.

Daisy looks at both couples standing before her. “What was that all about?”

My Angel seems to be the valiant one when she speaks. “It’s nothing, really. I think the guys are busting his balls a bit. But…”

“What?”

“When it comes to Luke, aside from things that have to do with trades and contracts, well… He only really talks to you, Daisy.” I pull Luisa into my arms, not liking having her standing a few steps away from me.

Daisy waves off the comment. “That’s silly. I’m probably the only one who talks his ear off. Or maybe he talks to me because I’m the one stealing his lunch on most days, or it could be—”

“Hey, you don’t need to justify it. It’s fine, Daisy.

” Isabella places her hand on my sister’s shoulder.

“Even if he doesn’t want to talk to us, that’s okay.

Means he feels comfortable around you. Or maybe he finds us all super annoying, which, in that case, would mean I question his state of mind, and we should kick him out of our home immediately,” she teases.

I see Coach coming back our way and figure now is as good a time to invite everyone. “Hey, Luke, before you go, I wanted to let you know we’re throwing a joint bachelor and bachelorette party. For Luisa and me, Mateo and Isa, and Daisy and Damien.”

He keeps his face impassive, but I don’t miss his clenched fist. “Pass.”

Ah, yes. Man of many words, that one.

“Oh, you don’t have to include me in the celebrations, guys.” Daisy’s cheeks blush slightly.

“Why not? You’re a bride to be, and you have been engaged the longest. You deserve a night of fun,” Luisa pushes.

Daisy smiles, but I know it’s one of her fake ones, the one she reserves when she poses for pictures with our father.

“Damien doesn’t do that kind of stuff. He, um.

Yeah. He won’t be able to attend.” The room goes silent, and she squirms. “But that doesn’t mean I won’t go!

We’ll have the best time. I can plan the night for the girls, and we can make it into a whole weekend, if you want.

We can always get on Nick’s jet and go somewhere.

I know I’ll be the odd woman out, but I don’t mind, truly. I can bring board games, or, or…”

“I’m in,” Luke answers, interrupting Daisy’s rambling. When we all look at him in confusion, he shrugs. “I like board games.”

“Right,” I say, not bothering to hide the suspicion in my tone. “Board games. We’ll be sure to have plenty of them for you, Coach.”

He nods, then simply makes his way to the elevator to leave Mateo and Isa’s penthouse without so much as a proper goodbye.

“Well, that’s settled. Looks like we’re having a party,” Daisy squeals happily.

Luisa twists in my hold and catches my eye. She raises a brow, but keeps her smiling lips shut.

This is definitely going to be a part of our pillow talk tonight.