Chapter 48 Perched on the counter beside my sink, Lacey swung her legs as she watched me knot my tie. She sighed. "You look so handsome." I found her gaze in the mirror. "Not so different from my everyday look, is it?" Her mouth twisted. "Well, this suit is black, and so is your tie. You never wear black to work." "True. Very observant." I gave the tie one last tug and turned to my girl. "Clara and Jake's wedding is black tie optional. I can't wear my work suits, and this one is more formal." "I wish I could go to the wedding too." She perked up. "I bet Bea's dress is going to be so pretty. Can I help you pick her up from her house so I can see how pretty she looks? Please, Uncle Sally?" Lacey was far too skilled at convincing me to do what she wanted. To be fair, all it normally took was a little pout, batting her lashes, and asking nicely. I smoothed my hand over her silky hair. "Yes. Why don't we all pick her up? Then you can bring Benjamin here for the night." Her eyes lit up. "We're going to have a sleepover with him again?" "Yes, and Bea and I are going to have a sleepover at a hotel. Do you think you can take care of him all night while we're away?" She nodded. "Oh yes. Definitely." Then she went still, her gaze darting over me. "You'll be back in the morning, right?" "I will. We might want to sleep in, so let's say we'll be back by eleven." The brief worry fled her in an instant. "That sounds good. I probably won't sleep in, though." I didn't doubt that, but for tonight, that would be my father's responsibility. The wedding couldn't have come at a better time. Bea and I needed this after the last couple weeks of putting out fires nonstop. I'd asked Sam to leave Nox as soon as I'd discovered how duplicitous he'd truly been. He argued. Oh, had he argued. But now that my eyes had been opened, his tactics no longer worked on me. I would not be manipulated by our shared past, nor could he convince me I needed him to succeed, though he tried. His access to our servers had been immediately revoked, and he'd been escorted from the building. He went quietly that day, but not the next. Then the calls started. To other tech firms. To every contact he still had. He even tried to go to the press but backed off fairly quickly. I suspected his own lawyers had gotten to him before he could go too far. Unfortunately for Sam, the whisper network worked fast in the tech world. Sure, there were always firms that were like hungry dogs and would do anything to make a buck, but in the security sector, being incorruptible was vitally important. And Sam had proven he wasn't. He hadn't just burned bridges, he'd salted the earth behind him. I hadn't expected the aftermath of Sam leaving to be so...quiet. At first, that silence felt like relief. The absence of his voice in meetings. No more subtle redirects. No more gentle but consistent second-guessing. Just a return to clarity and control. Sam had built relationships I hadn't cared to maintain-partners I'd tolerated for the sake of his diplomacy, teams he'd handpicked with loyalty to him, not Nox. When he'd left, some followed, while others lingered, waiting to see if I would stumble. I stayed steady. Each day, I hit the limit of my bandwidth, sealing cracks in the foundation I hadn't seen until Sam left. My meetings with the developers from the Slack channel Paul had shown me had been insightful. Some were pompous jackasses, but others made good points. It wasn't the logistical fallout that often kept me awake in the hours between midnight and dawn, though. It was him. Well...who he'd once been to me-who I'd thought he was. For a long time, Sam had been the buffer between me and a world often too loud, bright, big. He knew how to read my silences, how to speak in rooms I preferred not to. It wasn't until he was gone I'd realized how much of a crutch he'd been for me. I'd let it happen because it had been easier for him to carry the weight I didn't want. And through it all, Bea had been my rock. She'd quietly shown up for me, over and over. Noticing when my shoulders were tight, coaxing me into taking breaks I wouldn't give myself, curling up next to me in bed while I stayed up all night reviewing code or rewriting infrastructure after a team lead had left. She hadn't tried to fix things for me. Hadn't told me to look on the bright side. She was simply there. Unfailingly. Some nights, she sat with me in my home office, watching movies on her tablet just to keep me company. Other days, she'd stop in at Nox to deliver me lunch and ask me to stop working for five minutes to make out with her. That was my personal favorite form of support. I'd briefly worried I was now using her as my crutch, but once I'd mentally sorted the differences between my relationships with Sam and Bea, I immediately concluded there was no comparison. Bea was my partner. She didn't speak for me-she made me want to speak for myself. "Uncle Sally," Lacey piped up, regaining my attention, "are you thinking about boring stuff again?" I smiled softly. "No. Not boring. Important." She raised a skeptical brow. "You look like you're being CEO-y in your brain." I laughed. "Well, I'm done being CEO-y for today. It's time to pick up our girl." Lacey clapped her hands. "Yes! Let's go see Bea's dress!" Bea was on her porch, waiting for us when we crossed the street. She laughed when she saw picking her up had turned into a group project. "All the Gallos are here," she called. "To what do I owe this honor?" "We're here to pick you up," Lacey sang out. "We aren't," Talon argued. "Only Uncle Sally's picking her up." "She knows, Tal," Scarlet said, putting her arm around her brother's shoulders. "Lacey's just being silly." Lacey tugged at my hand, pulling me through Bea's gate. Bea met us at the bottom of her porch steps, her eyes dancing over everyone before landing on me. Then they lit up like a full moon, big and bright. "Hello, handsome." I stopped moving, the smoke of her voice fogging my brain. My father had no such trouble. He went straight up to her, brushed a kiss over her cheek, and crooned, "Marilyn in orange. What a sight." Then he turned and beckoned me over. "The two of you are a dapper pair. Stand side by side so I can snap a picture." Scarlet gave my back a shove, finally getting me moving. The second I was within Bea's vicinity, her warm vanilla scent drew me in. I slid my arm around her waist, the raw silk material of her dress bumpy along my palms. "Hello, beautiful blue," I murmured. "Sorry for the delay. You stunned me." She pressed her hands to my lapels and smiled. "You're here now. That's all that matters." "Oh my goodness!" Lacey stood to our side, her hands clutched beneath her chin. "You're a princess, Bea. An orange blossom princess. I love it so much." Bea reached out, pulling her into our embrace. "Thank you, darling. I'm going to tell everyone I run into tonight I'm an orange blossom princess." Lacey crinkled her nose the way Bea always did. "Are you kidding me? They're gonna look at you and know it!" "Where's Benjamin?" Talon asked. My father patted his shoulder. "How about giving the lady a compliment?" Talon managed to tear his eyes from Bea's front door, giving her a brief once-over. "She always looks nice, Grandpa." "True," he agreed. "But that's why you gotta be consistent with your compliments. I've never known a lady who gets tired of hearing how nice she looks." Talon squinted at Bea. "Your hair is very swirly. I like that a lot." "Thanks so much, Tally." Bea patted her hair, which was, indeed, swirly. "I appreciate you noticing. It took me a long time to get it right. And Benji-bear's inside. You're welcome to go see-" Talon was at the door before Bea finished, going to see his dog. I kissed her temple. "I like your swirls too. And everything else about you." She tipped her face back, her moon-lit eyes sweeping over me. "I like everything about you too." Then she whispered, "I can't wait to spend the evening with you." My father clapped his hands. "Not so fast. I said I wanted pictures, and I mean it. Lace, you gotta scoot. I want pics of the lovebirds." Lacey groaned, peeling herself away from Bea with a dramatic sigh. "I want some with me in them too, Grandpa." "You'll get your turn," he promised, already lifting his phone. "All right, you two. Smile like you like each other." Bea leaned into me, her smile warm against my cheek. I let myself relax, wrapping my arm fully around her waist, hand splayed across the silk at her hip. "Now, one where you look at each other," Tony coached. "Tender. Like you're in a black-and-white flick." Bea's eyes twinkled. "Are you a director now, Tony?" "Damn straight I am," he said. "It's a grandpa's right." I looked at Bea, and just like that, the rest of the world blurred. My father might have taken a thousand pictures, but all I saw was her. "Ohhh, that one's cute," Scarlet said. "Send that to me. I'm posting it." "You will not," I said instinctively. "Too late. It's already in my camera roll," she quipped. "I don't mind," Bea replied. "Just tag me in it." "Let's get one with everyone," my dad ordered. Lacey scurried to Bea's other side. "All the Gallos and the orange blossom princess!" "Wait for me and Benjamin," Talon called. Benjamin barked once then happily squirmed into the group as everyone bunched around us. My father stood in front, holding his phone out so we all fit into the shot. "Three...two...one-say 'wedding cake'!" "Wedding cake!" we all shouted. "Perfect," Tony said. "Now, off with you two. You've got a party to get to, and we've got a movie night to start." Scarlet nudged Talon. "Tell them to have fun." He blinked. "Why do I need to tell them? They're going to a party. Parties are fun. If they don't have fun, that's their problem." Bea laughed and slipped her arm through mine. "Tally has a very valid point." We headed for my car as my father called after us, "Don't forget to dance, Sal!" I looked at Bea as I opened the passenger door for her. "Are we going to dance, Beatrice?" She slid inside with a teasing smile. "Only if you promise to hold me close." My chest tightened in that good, magic and shiny way she had a habit of causing, and I closed the door carefully behind her. "There's no other way I want to hold you, beautiful." Oh yes. Tonight, I'd hold her close. Tomorrow too. Always. Discover our latest featured short drama reel. Watch now and enjoy the story!