Then she repeated, but in a question, “They’re just going to have to deal?”

“Yep,” I replied nonchalantly.

“Ally, honey, you have met your father, haven’t you?” she asked.

I waved my hand between us. “Indy, it’ll be cool.”

She ignored me.

“And Hank.”

“Hank wants me happy,” I reminded her.

“He does. With a cop, a firefighter or marine.”

This was true, too.

“Well, he isn’t getting any of those,” I pointed out.

“So what you’re saying is, you’re telling them you’re getting in the family business at the same time hooking your star to a man who’s already in the family business, but his family business is family business, and you think it’ll all be cool?”

“Not immediately,” I conceded. “Eventually.”

“I’m thinking you might need to add nuances to your plan,” she suggested.

“And I’m thinking I’m me. They all know me and have my whole life. They know I do what I want and find a way to get what I want. I want Ren. They love me, they’ll deal. They give me shit, I’ll deal… for a while. It continues, they make a choice. But I’ve already made mine.”

“Lee was broody last night, and in his many levels of broody, it was beyond the my-sister’s-apartment-exploded broody, which is at the top of the scale. I think you get that’s a little scary,” she shared, and she would know his many levels of broody. She’d lived through them all, repeatedly.

But I understood what she was saying.

Ren and I had made it official. This meant it wasn’t a fling those around us could pretend wasn’t happening and wait for it to be over.

It meant it was something they had to deal with.

I was a little sister to two alpha male brothers. Me finding a man was going to be something they would not dig dealing with normally.

Ren being a Zano didn’t make matters better.

“Not to be a bitch or anything, but that’s not my problem. It’s Lee’s,” I replied.

“It’s his and what’s his is mine,” she returned.

I was hitting another conversational danger zone. I could feel it.

So I moved to avoid it.

“Indy, babe, I told Ren I was worried that you were mad at me. He called me just before you showed to check in. He was concerned about me and didn’t hesitate showing it. That’s sweet. That’s also Ren. He does that kind of thing all the time, even when I considered us fuck buddies. I’ll admit he and I have things to discuss. I’ve been closed down for a year so we haven’t done much of that. We’ll also do it. And with the families, I get this road is going to be rocky. What I’m saying is, when they see the way he is with me,” I leaned in, “I promise you, they’ll deal.” I leaned back and finished, “It’d help if you had my back on that, too.”

“Last time I saw you with Ren, you aimed a punch at him,” she reminded me.

Shit.

“So,” she went on, “I think I need to delay my answer to that until I see him with you.”

I could give her that.

Totally.

“Deal,” I agreed.

She shook her head but muttered, “Deal.”

I sucked back some coffee and asked, “How much shit am I facing with the Rock Chicks?”

“They’ve had a whole night to rip it to shreds so they’ve mostly burned it out. They’ll get over it,” she answered. “Tex is beside himself, though. He’s going stir crazy without anything exploding or anyone getting kidnapped. He likes to be a sidekick and he’s got grenades and tear gas that are going unused. He doesn’t need to use them, but he prefers living a life where that might be a possibility.”

She was not wrong.

She kept going.

“Duke’s being quiet so, heads up on that. I think he’s hurt. And Smithie’s pissed because he knows no way he’s ever gonna get you to dance for him if you’ve hooked up with a Zano. And you were his last hope.”

There was no way Smithie was ever going to get me to dance for him anyway, even though he asked—frequently—so that last was a relief.

I summed up. “So, not bad. Except Duke.”

“You need to find your time to connect with him,” she advised.

I could do that. Duke had been so much of a fixture in my life, I didn’t remember a time when he wasn’t in it. He also cared about me a lot, showed it, and I returned the favor (in my way).

I nodded then declared, “Brother’s also let me go so we gotta get to Fortnum’s. The tip jar just became my livelihood.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “You were fired?”

“How I lasted this long was a miracle.”

She didn’t agree verbally, but her smile did it for her.

Then it faded and she asked, “You gonna be okay?”

“Right now, all my belongings would fit in a carryall and I’d have room to spare. Still, I’ve got everything a girl needs. So yeah, I’ll be okay.”

“Yeah, you will,” she said softly.

She was one of the reasons I’d be okay, so she should know.

“That doesn’t mean I don’t need to hit Fortnum’s, but before, we gotta dash through the mall. I have two changes of clothes. I need to stock up and then we gotta bounce.”