Page 99 of The Maxwell Brothers

I chuckled. Yeah, that was pretty close.

“Almost on point, cousin dearest,” Travis said. “I’m Team Distract Tyler right now.”

“Holy shit, that sale really changed you, huh? I approve. Okay, so what if I bring him to Paris for a week or so? A change of scenery would help.”

“He has physical therapy daily,” I put in.

“Damn. Okay, so we keep the party in Chicago,” Kimberly murmured. “Are Lena and Emmett there too?”

“No,” Reese replied. “Should we call them?”

“Hell no,” Sam explained. “I have about a million ideas, and none of them should reach our parents’ ears.”

We all burst out laughing, and for the next half hour, we passed ideas around. We had more than enough to keep Tyler occupied for a year. My ears were ringing even after Kimberly disconnected from the call.

My phone beeped with a message while we were all talking over each other, and I forgot about it. I took it out now, checking my messages.

Lexi: How is Tyler?

Lexi: Tate.

Lexi: Hellooooo. I’m worried.

Tate: Sorry. My siblings and I met up to brainstorm ideas to help Tyler.

Lexi: Wow, you all move fast. I have some ideas too! I’ll tell you all about them this evening.

This woman. She kept surprising me at every turn. I’d been with her when I saw the video online, and she was just as concerned as I was. I couldn’t believe she cared about my family’s troubles so much. Lexi fit in my life so perfectly—as if she’d always been part of it, of me. I couldn’t wait to go home and show herexactlyhow much that meant to me. I planned to prove my appreciation with a lot of orgasms.

“Not to be a buzzkill, but what are we doing about Malcolm?” Travis asked, sounding more like his old self.

“Leave Malcolm to Tate and me,” Declan said in a calm and collected tone, which could only mean one thing: he was finally doing things my way. We were going in for the kill.

“And me,” Reese said. “I’m done playing nice. He doesn’t deserve it.”

CHAPTER 27

TATE

The next twoweeks moved at an insane pace. Declan practically slept at the office. After chatting with all my siblings, plus Reese and Kimberly, they all agreed to my plan: buy the neighboring building. Without access to that building, he couldn’t build the spa at all, so then he couldn’t sue us for loss of business opportunity anymore.

Since Dean Hanks, the owner of the neighboring building, was involved in the lawsuit too, he wasn’t too keen on talking to me and Declan at first.

But he wasvery keenon selling us the building once we told him how much we were willing to pay for it. It was twenty percent above market value. We lost money on it, but it didn’t matter.

“Your phone chimed. I think it’s a message,” Lexi exclaimed on Monday morning. We were both in the bedroom getting ready for the day. It was the first day of school for both her and Paisley. Lexi hadn’t moved in yet officially—her lease was expiring at the end of the month—but she spent almost every night here.

I grabbed the phone from the nightstand.

Declan: The judge dismissed the case as soon as I told him the sale went through. I’m going to sleep for a month.

I turned the message to Lexi, who squealed, immediately moving her hips in that funny way she did when she was happy about something.

I gripped her waist, keeping her flat against me. Her breasts pressed against my chest. Feeling her nipples get hard was such a damn turn-on, even at 6:00 a.m.

“You’re the only thing keeping me sane these days,” I murmured against her skin, mapping her neck with my mouth and her back with my fingers. I meant every word I said. Coming home to Lexi this past week had been the highlight of every single day.

“Hmmm… itwasan insane week. So, it’s over now?”