Page 77 of The Billionaires' Gamble

“What the hell, Kingston?” LaShonda asks… from my side of the bed.

I glare at her with my good eye.

“You punched me.”

“I punched a figure standing over me, giving me a heart attack.” LaShonda presses a hand to her ample chest.

“It’s freaking dark in here.”

“Because we were sleeping, genius.”

“Why aren’t you in the guest room?” I ask, pacing away, rubbing the sore spot beneath my eye.

Katherine wraps an arm around my waist, tugging me toward the door. “Come on. Let’s put some ice on that.”

Downstairs, she gently pushes me onto a barstool and rummages through the freezer. The under-cabinet lighting is a warm honey color, and I wish I could bottle this moment. Just the two of us sharing a bit of peace and quiet. Even though my eye hurts and my cheek aches, I wouldn’t change a thing. Being here with her, like this, feels very full circle. A dream come true.

“LaShonda packs a heck of a punch.”

“Serves you right for sneaking into her room,” LaShonda says from the doorway.

“I wanted to say goodnight. You stole her.” I pout.

Katherine’s other bestie gives me a withering look. “You’ve had her all to yourself for two weeks. Learn to share.”

Sometimes it bugs me that LaShonda has known Katherine longer. All those years that they were pen pals gives her an edge. Maybe not in person, but they were the best of friends before Katherine and I ever met. And every so often, I feel like they communicate in a way Katherine and I can’t. Which is wild because Wildfire and I finish each other’s sentences on occasion.

But they don’t even have to talk to know what the other is thinking.

Katherine rounds the island with a cold pack in one hand and a kitchen towel in the other. “Let me see.”

I drop my hand, and she winces.

“She got you good. It’s already swelling.” She wraps the pack with the towel and hands it over. “Hold this on it. It’s probably going to bruise.”

“My first black eye from a woman.”

“Like I said, serves you right. Sneaking about in the middle of the night.”

There’s a soft tap at the side door, and we glance over to see Alex standing there, brows raised in question.

LaShonda gives a good-natured sigh and crosses the room. “Come on in. Not like we’re getting any sleep now anyway.” Then to Katherine, “I’ll leave you to them. Apparently, they need goodnight kisses or something.”

I smirk behind the ice pack as she heads for the back staircase.

“What’s going on?” Alex asks.

“Oh, you know. Just someone sneaking through my window,” Katherine says, telling on me.

His dark gaze swerves to me and then back to her.

“It was unlocked?”

I’ve never heard Alex sound so close to having a heart attack before.

“Unlocked. Open. Same difference.”

Now he’s close to an aneurysm.