“You’re thinking about her again, aren’t ya.”

Smitty sat down on the floor next to Mace. Poor drunk bastard. Of all the things Smitty could do, holding his liquor had never been one of them.

“I’m crazy about her.”

“She’s got big tits. What were those anyway? Triple Ds?”

“I’m sensing that knot on your forehead was not enough of a clue to keep your grubby dog paws off my woman.” And they were definitely triple Ds.

“Don’t get me wrong. She wears those big tits well. But they’re big. Huge!”

Christ, drunk Smitty was annoying. Wolves simply couldn’t hold their liquor.

Mace sighed. The evening started off nice enough. The two friends went to dinner. Discussed their new business plans. Flirted with the waitresses. Well, Smitty flirted. Mace watched and thought about Dez. Walked around Times Square. Started a fistfight. Ended a fistfight. Talked their way out of an arrest. Made their way down to Avenue A. Chatted with some very nice hookers. Talked their way out of an arrest by cops pretending to be nice hookers. Ate some pizza.

They could have kept going, but around two A.M., they found themselves back at Smitty’s hotel room with two bottles of ’shine and a minibar chock full of junk food. Really, the two of them didn’t need much else. An hour and a half later and Smitty was falling-down drunk while Mace found himself longing for a woman who kept staring at him like one of those nutcases she probably faced everyday on her job.

“Bobby Ray Smith, where are you?”

Mace nudged Smitty. “You are so busted.”

The hotel room door flew open and Sissy Mae Smith stormed into Mace’s room. He didn’t even know she had a key. “Dammit, Smitty!”

“What?”

Mace looked up at Sissy Mae, a very pretty girl version of Smitty. Mace learned to love the younger woman as his baby sister. He’d protect her exactly like Smitty would. There were very few people in his life he cared that much about. The fact that several of them were wolves still confused him to no end.

“You have got an entire city waitin’ to be explored and what the hell do I find you doin’? Sittin’ here drinkin’ with Mace!” She smiled at Mace. “Hey, Mace darlin’. How ya doin’?”

“Fine, Sissy. Thanks for asking.”

“How come you’re nice to him?”

“Cause he’s Mace and he already lives here. But you, you idiot…” Smitty drunkenly waved his baby sister away, and Sissy kicked a couch cushion at his head.

She glared at Mace. “Although I don’t appreciate the great lion dragging my big brother down to the very pits of hell.”

“Do you mean Long Island?”

“And what is going on with yourhair?”

Mace ran his hand through the unruly locks on his head that had been sprouting all day. “Mane’s growing back in.”

“Weren’t you damn near bald when we saw you this afternoon?”

“It grows fast.” While on active duty, he had to shave his head every day to keep his C.O. off his back. But letting his mane grow back became his first step toward being a civilian again. Besides, he got the feeling Dez would like putting her hands in his hair. He knew he wanted her to put her hands in his hair. Preferably while he gently sucked her clit into his mouth.

Sissy Mae sniffed. “Lions are freaks.”

Mace saluted Sissy with his Mason jar of ’shine. “Thank you kindly, Sissy Mae.”

Smitty awkwardly pulled himself to his big wolf feet. “Would you like to live here, little sister?”

Sissy Mae turned her glare on her brother. “What are you talkin’ about now, you drunken idiot? And what in the hell happened to your forehead?”

Mace raised his hand. “That was my fault.”

“I’m talkin’ about movin’ the Pack here. At least…part of it.”

Sissy Mae scowled. “Why the hell would we…” Mace watched as she realized the implication of her brother’s words. The Smith Pack of Tennessee had too many Alpha Males among Smitty’s four brothers. One of the reasons he left the Pack and joined the Navy. Mace met Smitty when a high-ranking officer with jaguar blood decided to create a SEAL team made up of shifters only. It worked surprisingly well, and they did a lot of damage over eight years. When the team disbanded, Mace and Smitty decided they were ready to leave the military. Smitty got out six months before Mace, and the infighting between him and the other Smith brothers got pretty ugly.

Mace knew he’d never go back to the Pride, so he made Smitty an offer. It seemed logical the two friends should start a business together. Smitty agreed. Yet he didn’t want to leave his baby sister. Although Mace didn’t think she’d ever let him.

“Bobby Ray Smith, are you saying we should leave Tennessee and move to New York City?”

“Yup. That’s what I’m sayin’, Sissy Mae Smith.”

Sissy threw herself into her brother’s arms. “Yes! I was hoping that’s what you were gonna say! I love this place! It’s so exciting!” She looked at Mace. “Are we going to be working with you?”

“You are not going to be working with Mace. I am going to be working with Mace. You’re going to find something nice and safe to do—like knittin’.”

Sissy Mae laughed. “Yeah, right. So, Mace, are we going to be working with you?”

Smitty stumbled away from his sister.