He watched as something formed between Lyla and Max’s friend Gage. They had a barely there connection with super-charged sexual tension. Lyla actively ignored it, and Gage seemed to purposely retreat from her.

Having known Gage as long as he had known Max, Danny knew Gage was a good, honest man with a penchant for fast cars, fast women, and few words. He owned the local racetrack and the best garage in three towns, and since women found the giant of a man irresistible, there wasn’t much Gage wanted that he couldn’t have. Except for Lyla.

Danny wasn’t sure why the two hadn’t hooked up, but in a way, he was relieved. Something about those two together felt different, special, and Danny didn’t want them to find each other before they were ready.

“Knock knock.”

“Max.” Danny smiled. With Max a partner but no longer a bartender, Danny didn’t see him every day. “Come on in, son. Why are you standing in the hall?”

“I may not work here anymore, Dan, but I know damn well what goes on in this office.” Max chuckled. “Why do you think we all voted to have a second office added during the rebuild?”

Danny threw his head back and laughed from deep in his gut.

“Hey, Max. What’s so funny?” Julie asked from behind him, a bag of takeout tucked under her arm.

Danny eyed his wife, forty-seven years old and absolutely fucking gorgeous. “Max here says that he and the others believe you and I do things in this office other than work.”

Julie’s gray eyes widened while a pale blush rose in her cheeks. Twenty-eight years and the woman still blushes. Always been a lucky son of a bitch.

“Hmm, can’t imagine what would give them that impression.” Her humor-filled answer had both men chuckling as she shimmied past Max and placed the food on her desk. Danny noticed she was careful not to let her rosy cheeks show until the color was back to its natural hue.

“You know what? Whatever you guys are doing is clearly the secret to success, because while my parents are still married, and I believe happily so, I’ve never seen them look at each other the way you two do on a daily basis,” Max said.

“I like to think we’re pretty damn amazing. So thank you for noticing. But I’m guessing you didn’t come down here just to talk about how Julie and I make our marriage work. What’s going on, son? Take a seat and fill us in.”

***

MAX STRADDLED A chair and looked from Danny to Julie. “I’m going to ask Janie to marry me.”

Julie gasped. Her heart actually sighed.

“No…I’m going to tell her she has no choice but to marry me because I can’t imagine being without her,” Max said. “I want to start a family with that woman, have children… a forever. Christ, I’ve lived and loved long enough to know that every minute we aren’t married is a minute wasted.”

His impassioned speech left his emerald eyes sparkling and Julie’s heart beating a fierce tattoo. family. She wanted that for him, for them. Oh, how she wanted that.

“Max, sweetie, that’s wonderful.” Julie lunged forward and wrapped her arms around his wavy form. Her tears made it hard to see clearly.

“Good man,” Danny rasped. “Although I’d definitely give her a choice. Women don’t take too kindly to that kind of pressure.”

Chapter Twenty-Nine

The Perfect Day For A Party

IT WAS THE perfect day for a party. A bright azure sky promised lovely, warm spring weather, the caterer was in route, the band that Ryan had secured was doing their sound check, and Cate and Elliot were working their asses off to make everything look easy. Julie had refused to let desserts be brought in by caterers, so she had been baking for three days. She created hundreds of cookies, pastries, and a huge cake, all made with her hands and waiting to be enjoyed.

It was also the night Max was going to propose to Janie. After Julie and Danny approved, he’d spoken with Lyla, Kyle, Ryan, Ashley, and Elliot about sharing the spotlight, and everyone loved the idea. Ryan and Max had coordinated with the band leader, and the proposal was set to go.

Julie knew it was coming. Knew when it was happening. Had seen the ring. But when she watched Max go down on bended knee and saw Janie’s eyes widen first with surprise, then acceptance, Julie’s knees buckled. Thank God for Danny. As always, he was there, holding her tight to his chest. The steady beat of his heart calmed the erratic thud of hers.

“That was…something else,” he muttered into her ear, his breath sending chills up her neck.

“Yeah.” Something in her gut felt off. She couldn’t have been happier for the couple—for all of the couples. But inside, she felt smaller, as if she’d been shrinking for the past few weeks, and she wasn’t sure why.

Inhaling deeply, her gaze landed on Janie and Max, dancing in each other’s arms as an aura of happiness glowed around them like a bubble. Releasing her breath, Julie also let go of the niggling unease that had been growing in her gut since Max had visited them in the office those weeks ago…at least, she tried to.

***

CHEST PUFFED AND proud, Danny watched from the sidelines as Max and Janie were bombarded with well wishes and congratulations. But when his chance came to hug and kiss the bride- and groom-to-be, he gushed like any father would. The night was successful on all fronts, both business and personal, and he had his wife to thank. Where’d she go?

He stalked to the back bar to find Ashley tending instead of the new bartender, Ando. “Where the hell is Ando?” A cursory glance showed that Kyle wasn’t around either. Hmm, maybe smoking in the alley?

“Dan, have you seen Lyla?” The concerned look on Gage’s face sent ice through Danny’s veins.

“Let’s find her.”

“Not me!” Kyle’s scream echoed through the metal door that led to the alley. “Ando, help Lyla. Now…”

Adrenaline surged through Danny’s body, pulling him toward the furious, fear-filled voice.

CRASH! The metal door slammed into the cinderblock wall, and a roar—Danny later learned that came from Gage—filled the air.

Danny looked from the man in Kyle’s grip to a semi-conscious, bleeding Lyla on the dirty ground, and the situation clicked together. The punk had put his filthy hands on Lyla. He’d abused her, touched her who knew where, and tossed her down like garbage. He wanted to kill the bastard in Kyle’s hands, but he knew by the way Gage’s fists were clenched and his body coiled that Gage would actually do it. Gage’s nostrils flared as his booted foot took its first step.

“Sebastian, stop!” Danny couldn’t let a man who cared that deeply for Lyla do something that would take him away from her. “Think,” Danny whispered, “this how you want this to go down? Physically she’s gonna be okay, son. Don’t you want to be here to get her through the rest? You see what I see when you look at her, I know you do. Let us take care of that motherfucker, and you worry about her. Yeah?”

A nod. That was it. Then Gage knelt by Lyla’s side, and those hands that had been ready to kill gently tended to the broken woman on the ground.

***

FOR DAYS FOLLOWING Lyla’s attack, Julie and Danny did their best to care for her. For the first twenty-four hours, Julie stayed at Lyla’s house under the threat that if Lyla didn’t allow it, they would call Janie and inform her of the incident. Lyla didn’t want her friends bothered on their engagement night, so Julie stayed and Lyla moped.

After the initial twenty-four, the family did what it always did—swooped in and took over, leaving love and kindness in its wake.

For Janie’s sake, Lyla smiled brightly, turned on the charm, and laughed her way through days and weeks. But as they always said about Lyla Dalton, the woman couldn’t lie for shit. Even as her face was delighted, her eyes stayed dim. Unlike when Kyle was going through his rough patch and acting out, Lyla did the opposite. She kept everything in. There was no behavior to correct, no issues to discuss; she was just flat and gray behind the happy mask.