Since I woke up this morning I’ve been on the move with my bridal shower. My mom made a giant deal out of. She invited everyone from here to the moon. There were people there I’d never seen in my life. And when it wasn’t my mother rushing me around, Roman’s mom was hovering close, shooting my mother death glares and asking me a million questions about myself. And, oh yeah, when am I going to give her grandbabies?

I’m not sure these families are going to like each other, but I did notice Roman’s mom only gave my mom death glares when my mom snapped at me or barked an order. Then, to top it all off, we found out midafternoon the wedding would be tomorrow. That sent everyone running to get things done. It was already almost midnight and I’d barely gotten changed into my pajamas, and knew I couldn’t stay in my room tonight. I had to talk to my sister.

I get to her door and grab the knob. I go to turn it, but it doesn’t work. It’s locked. We never lock our doors. There’s no reason to, and oftentimes we end up in each other’s beds. I hear a giggle from her room and press my ear against the door. Then I hear a moan.

Oh my God.

I knock on the door lightly and wait.

“Coming,” I hear her say in a high-pitched voice. Then she starts whispering. “Get in the closet. Oh God, you’ll never fit in the closet. What do they feed you? I bet that—” I knock again, knowing my sister just got off topic and would never come to the door.

“It’s me,” I whisper in a voice that’s way louder than it should be. I look up and down the hall to make sure no one is coming.

The door swings open, and my sister is standing there in a shirt that’s clearly not hers. Her hair is a wild mess, and her make-up looks like she slept in it. But we haven’t gone to bed yet. We only parted from my mother thirty minutes ago.

“What is going on?” I half-yell. She grabs me by the arm, pulls me into her room, and shuts the door behind us.

“Shh,” she snaps.

“Don’t shh me,” I snap back, pointing my finger at her and narrowing my eyes. I want to know what’s going on. She smiles at me, and I want to roll my eyes.

“Surprise?” She makes her smile even bigger, showing her perfect teeth. “I got you a stripper? You know, bachelorette party…” She shrugs like she has no idea where she’s going with this lie.

I look around her and see Vlad, Roman’s bodyguard, buttoning up his pants, and my eyes almost pop out of my head. I see the shade of lipstick that’s smeared on her face matches the shade smeared all over his mouth.

“Wait. I take it back!” She jumps in my line of sight of him. “Don’t look at him. Vlad, put a shirt on!”

“Babe, you’re wearing my shirt,” I hear him say, laughter in his voice.

“Oh.” She looks down at the shirt.

“You had sex,” I gasp, really putting everything together.

She nods and mouths, “It was amazing.” I snort.

Suddenly Tabby’s door flies open, making us both jump. Roman fills the doorway, and he swiftly steps into the room and shuts the door behind him. He’s in a dark suit, but he somehow still looks like he’s ready to go into battle.

“You found me.” I stomp my foot. I was going to hide out in my sister’s room tonight, knowing he’d likely come. Well, I thought I was. She clearly had other plans. Still, I was going to hide. I wanted a little payback for how he thinks he can pop up anywhere and do whatever he likes to me. Even if I kinda like the things he does. Okay, maybe kinda is putting it lightly.

“Took me an extra two seconds, but it wasn’t hard. Should I have a tracker put on you?”

“She not a dog,” my sister hisses at him.

“Yeah, what she said,” I add, because I’ve got nothing else to use as a comeback.

A half-smirk plays on Roman’s lips, but I glare at him. I’m sure my sister is doing the same.

“Wait,” Tabby says. She leans into me a little. “Do we like him or not? I can’t remember.”

I hear a chuckle come from both of the men and nudge her to hush it.

“Doesn’t matter. I don’t need a tracker. Come tomorrow, I can keep you at my side for the rest of my life.”

“Well, then I’ll see you tomorrow. Goodbye,” I say tartly, trying to dismiss him. I know it won’t work, but a girl’s gotta try.

“My princess, you know what I came for, and I’m going to get my taste before I leave.”

His words make anger boil up in my stomach. That’s all he cares about—sex…or whatever it is we’ve been doing. Yeah, it feels good, but for some reason it hurts that it’s the only reason he seeks me out.

“You shut your face and get out of my room right this second.” My sister steps in front of me, standing in between us and ready to go to battle.

“Babe, get your sweet ass over here,” Vlad commands. All our eyes go to him. He’s leaning up against the wall, still shirtless, with a smile on his face like he doesn’t have a care in the world.

“Not now. I’m doing something,” she tells him.

“Eyes,” Roman orders, making me jump. I turn to look at him. “Vlad, cover yourself in front of my wife.”

“She’s not your wife yet,” Tabby fires back. I nod, agreeing with her.

“Is this how it’s always going to be? Maybe it isn’t so wise I let your sister come and stay with us.”