Chapter TWENTY-TWO-ARLISS

I guess I expected something from Kian when it came to me tending bar tonight.

Maybe a growl.

A possessive scowl.

Some dramatic no woman of mine is gonna go back to work at that shithole moment.

Instead, what I got was this.

I sigh as I look around.

This is so much better than any over-the-top display I could have ever imagined.

I wipe down the bar and pop the tops off a couple of beers for my customers and I smile.

Bob’s Bar isn’t fancy. Hell, the lighting is dim, the jukebox hasn’t worked right since ever, and the floors still creak like they’re narrating a ghost story.

But tonight, it feels like a kind of home.

Jezebel and Emmet are tucked into one of the high-top tables, laughing about something. She’s drinking milk and Emmet’s arm is slung protectively across the back of Jez’s chair like he can’t bear not to touch her.

Across from them, Avery is blushing like a schoolgirl as Dante leans in, whispering something that makes her swat at him with a napkin.