As Hudson promised, we were greeted by two veterans who’d worked with us on past jobs.

I nodded my greeting, and they offered to assist with our bags.

Hudson was waiting behind the wheel of the middle SUV. I opened the back door for Juliette and Colin to enter before rounding the Suburban to sit in the front passenger seat.

I circled my finger in the air, signaling for us to move, remembering how my son had made that gesture only minutes ago. “Hudson,” I started once we were on the move, “meet Juliette. You already know your nephew.”

“Hudson has skills like Dad,” Colin remarked before Hudson could speak up. “He fought alongside Dad at the rave.”

I’d never grow tired of hearing him call me Dad, that was for damn sure. The way my heart jumped every time he said it made me wonder if I needed Juliette to go nurse mode on me and check my vitals.

Before Juliette had a chance to say anything, Colin piped up again. “Guess you’re Uncle Hudson to me, huh? You married my aunt. When was the wedding?”

“Last month,” he answered. “At the Costas’ family home in the Hamptons. Beach wedding. We would’ve invited you if, well, you know . . .”

“I bet the wedding was dope,” Colin carried on. “Who’d you have perform? Someone famous, right? Rich-people shit.”

Hudson laughed. “I’m not part of the ‘rich-people shit’ club.”

“Sure, sure. Your dad is the governor, and you own a bar. You’re certainly not hurting in the money department.”

“Looks like you already did your research on me,” Hudson said in a semi-amused tone. “And we had a normal band. Normal rich-people shit,” he added with a laugh, which garnered one from Colin.

“Okay, okay, but still, now that I’m in Aunt Izzy’s life, it’s my duty to know if you’re good for her.”

“He’s your kid all right.” Hudson shook his head, smirking. “And if you determine I’m not good enough, what then? Pistols at dawn?”

“Sure, if you’d like to teach me to shoot first.”

Surprised Easton hadn’t taught him how to handle a gun.

“Hudson’s your father’s best friend. I think that’s qualifying enough.” Juliette with the save on Hudson’s behalf.

“Best friend? Ha. Hardly qualifying. That should be a hard do-not-pass-go situation.” Colin scoffed, and from the sounds of it, so did Hudson. “Uncle Easton would’ve never let you near one of his guy friends.”

I twisted around to look at him. “I owe your uncle a thank-you for that.”

The only reason I knew God didn’t totally hate me was that Easton hadn’t set Juliette up with Carter before Carter met his now-wife. The idea of Juliette marrying Carter and Colin becoming his stepson did more than make my stomach turn. It made me want to commit murder.