Page 436 of The Morally Grey Billionaires Boxset

"You look like you need a drink, Priest," Finn drawls.

"You look like you’re ready for a new adventure," Sinclair drawls.

"I’m ready for something, but it’s not what my grandmother's asking of me." Edward’s jaw tics.

"If it wasn’t for my grandmother, I wouldn’t have found my soulmate," I offer.

"Grams, may her soul rest in peace, was an extraordinary woman. She loved you. My grandfather, on the other hand…" He shakes his head. "In all honesty, I didn’t know of his existence until a week ago."

"A week?" JJ frowns. "How’s that?"

"Turns out, my father was estranged from him, but Grandad’s taken it into his head he needs me in his life. I think he also sees it as an opportunity to bring my half-brothers in line."

"Thought you were an only child?" I search his features.

“Yeah, me too. Then…a week ago, I find out, not only do I have a grandparent I never met, but I also have a bunch of half-siblings…who hate me."

"Why do they hate you? They barely know you."

He reaches over and grabs a bottle of water, then twists open the cap and glugs down half of it before setting it down and staring at it as if for answers. "Grandad changed his will so I'm his main beneficiary. My half-bros are not happy about it."

"Not like you need the money," Sinclair drawls.

"Except, his fortune makes my father’s empire look like a corner shop.”

“I’m confused,” Finn scowls. “Your grandfather changed his will so you’d get most of his money? In addition, he wants you to take over his empire?”

I nod.

“And your half-siblings? How do they come into the picture?” I ask.

Edward rubs the back of his neck. “Turns out the man I call my father is not my blood father.”

“He’s not?” Sinclair asks.

Edward sighs. “This is confusing and convoluted, and I will not be holding a Q you look like you could use the prayers." Caspian snickers.

JJ whistles. The rest of us look at Caspian with varying degrees of exasperation. Bringing up the church with an ex-priest? Not advisable. The silence stretches.

Then Edward arches a brow in his direction. "Spoken like a true prick, Prick."

The rest of us propping up the bar chuckle.

"That fucking nickname." Caspian glowers at me.

"Don’t complain. It’s better than 2Dix." I nod toward the other end of the room where Gideon, one of our defensemen, is talking to one of Goldie’s friends at the coffee station.

Yep, there’s a coffee and cupcake station, because the wife insisted on it.

We're in her bookshop, and you need them as an accompaniment for hungry and thirsty readers, which most of her friends are.

And there are wine and cocktails with innovative names like Dramanie, after the Dramione fan fiction that her friend Penny loves to read, and Sugar and Spice, because they love to read spicy books.

Then there's Cliffie, Five Chillies, G00d Girl, Booktail, The Pierced Eggplant, The HEA, and My Fave Trope, to name a few.

Most of the names are incomprehensible to me, but if it makes her happy, who am I to complain?

I can’t take my gaze off of my wife where she’s talking to her friends.

As if she senses my gaze, she looks up and flashes me a smile.

Her golden eyes gleam, and her soft hair is a halo around her head.

My golden girl, my angel, my redeemer, my rescuer.

She kept me from falling into a dark place, she rescued me, gave me the happiness I didn’t think I had the courage to grasp, but with her by my side I can do anything.

I touch my tongue to my lip, and her gaze grows heavy. Her cheeks flush, then she shakes her head slightly.

I widen my gaze.

She shakes her head again and sends me a pleading look, which I interpret correctly as meaning, just a few more minutes; we owe it to our friends.

They all turned out for our second wedding. The Seven, the Sovranos, as well as Knight and Penny, and Cade and Abby. Even #Declene, along with Hunter, the Prime Minister of the country, and Zara turned up to toast us. Then, there's the rest of my team, who are scattered around the room.

This is a closed-door event, but the press got wind and camped outside until my wife and I went out and briefly spoke to them.

After which, Abby took over and promised to send them exclusive pictures.

We withdrew, shutting the main doors and closing the shutters of the bookshop.

Once they realized there would be no more sightings of the goings-on, the paps finally disbursed.

I can’t wait to get out of here and take my wife with me.

But she’s right; we do have to stay on a little longer.

Yep, I’m learning fast that the key to a good marriage is falling in line with the wife’s ideas.

Not that I would dream of doing otherwise.

Keeping my Goldie happy is the most important job in the world, as far as I’m concerned.

There’s a woof, and the clatter of paws. Sinclair and JJ immediately grab the champagne bottles and hold them out of reach. Tiny stops in front of us. There’s a look of disdain on his face. He eyes the bottles of bubbles, then makes that pleading sound in the back of his throat.

"Nope, not happening." Sinclair shakes his head. "This can’t be healthy for you, ol’ chap."

JJ reaches down and rubs Tiny’s big head. "It’s for your own good."

Tiny whines.

"That’s what they say," Edward says bitterly. "For your own good." He grabs Tiny’s collar. "Come on, boy. I know how you feel. Let’s go get you something to eat."

He leads Tiny toward where Mira and Goldie are deep in conversation. Halfway there, Tiny breaks away. He gambols over to Goldie and comes to a stop in front of her. He plants his butt down, then sniffs at her stomach.

"Tiny, what?" Mira gapes.

Goldie looks down at Tiny with an exasperated look. "Shoo, boy."

Tiny sniffs at her belly, then woofs.

"Stop it, Tiny." Goldie scowls at the dog.

"Why is he sniffing your stomach?" Mira frowns.

Tiny woofs again, then wags his tail. He sniffs at Goldie, then turns around to glance at me. I kid you not. That mutt… He has an elevated soul.

Edward looks at the dog, then at Goldie, then turns to me. "Something you want to tell us?"

Goldie looks at me, then throws up her hands. "Should I? I mean we weren’t going to."

I walk over to her, past Edward, past the annoying mutt who decided to give away our secret.

"You might as well." I pull her into my side.

She glances around the room, then a big smile fills her features. "We’re pregnant."

"You’re with child?" Mira yells.

Everyone turns their gaze on her.

She flushes. "I mean, you’re going to have a baby!” She takes a step forward and trips on Tiny’s tail. The mug goes flying from her hand, the contents spilling over Edward before the cup bounces off his chest and hits the ground, then spins away.

"What the fuck?" He glances down at the coffee stain he’s wearing across the front of his suit, over his shirt, and the front of his pants.

"Oh god, I’m so sorry." Mira removes the scarf from around her neck and dabs at his suit lapel, then at his thigh, then his crotch.

Edward’s entire body goes rigid, but she doesn’t seem to notice.

"I’m not normally like this. I mean, I can be a klutz, but I thought I was over tripping over my two feet, or in this case, Tiny’s tail. But Tiny didn’t mean to cause the accident, did you?"

Tiny woofs, then head-butts her with enough force, the momentum causes her to tumble forward. Edward catches her. For a second, they stare at each other.

The air around them grows heavy with unsaid emotions. Then Tiny barks, and both of them jump back from each other as if scalded.

"Sorry, sorry, oh my god, I am so sorry. And I sound like I'm a record, stuck on repeat. You do know what I mean by a record, right?" She peers up at him. "Of course, you do. You’re much older than me—not dinosaur age, but close to it—so I’m sure you do."

Edward’s already rock-hard jaw grows more rigid. All expression is wiped from his face.

Mira pales. "Gosh, I didn’t mean to imply you were ancient. I mean, you're, what, twenty years older than me?"

Edward glares at her.

"Okay, fifteen, at least." She coughs. "Not that I don’t like older men.

I have a soft spot for them." She shuffles her feet.

"No, no, not that kind of soft spot. I mean, I find older men so much more confident. You know what you want, and you don’t hesitate to get it.

You guys have your shit together, you know? "

Edward’s glare intensifies.

"I don’t mean I find you attractive. Not that you’re not good looking.

You have that whole tall dark and intense look going on, which I admit, is a turn on.

Not that you turn me on." Spots of color stand out on her otherwise pasty complexion. "Oh my god, I didn’t mean to say that. Also, whoa—you’ll have to dry-clean your suit. I’ll pay for it, of course."

There’s utter silence in the room.