Bond (Klein Brothers 1)

Just as I leaned down to pick Nemi up and carry her with us, he yelled over the clapping, “Allow me to introduce Mr. and Mrs. Klein.”

That was a massive moment for me, but walking with my new family, holding Nemi on my hip as she waved at people and giggled when they threw rice and sprinkly shit that Heidi had been assured was biodegradable for some reason, it felt like my heart would burst. I’d heard the expression before and never truly understood it until that moment.

We’d decided not to go on a honeymoon right now because it was coming up to Halloween, and both of our businesses were busy, but Nemi was going away to the beach with both of our parents next weekend, meaning we had the house to ourselves. And early next year, we’d take a vacation, just the three of us, as a belated honeymoon.

I didn’t need it to celebrate the wedding. I just needed both of them, and that was it.

The woman who came to the gym with me and used the rowing machine while she listened to a book as I worked out. The one who dragged me to the salon with her each time, but I suspected she did it because I always ended up having a nap.

And the little girl who still painted my nails—and my brothers’—whenever she wanted to, who fell asleep with her head on my chest as we watched The Pirates Of The Caribbean. The one who peppered me with questions and wanted stories about the real Port Royal. And the one who never failed to make me smile just with one smile from her.

This was my world, and it was the proudest and happiest day of my life—even with a bad case of blue balls going on.

Chapter Twenty

Heidi

The preschool had been shut down due to burst water pipes until next week, so I was running around, trying to fulfill all of the orders with Nemi beside me.

My current one wasn’t a hassle or an issue, though, because it meant I got to see my husband.

“What’s this made out of?” Canon asked, pointing at the rice paper fan on the top of this month’s special cake.

It was a lemon sponge, with a lemon and cardamom curd between the layers and buttercream. The outside was decorated in white and gold chocolate shards, with dried blue apple slices interspersed around it. The blue was the signature shade of Kleins restaurant and bar. I hadn’t been sure when it’d work when I’d drawn it up last week, but seeing it together was outstanding.

On the top of it, I had the Kleins logo printed on rice paper that had a cloudy bright blue mottled over it to make the logo stand out. So that it suited the look of the cake, though, I’d folded it into a fan and had then stood it on the top, giving the cake that something extra.

“It’s a thick rice paper, and the ink is edible. My supplier made me a batch of ten, to begin with, and I think folding it so that it sits on top like that makes it look more striking.”

“It definitely does,” he agreed, walking around to see the back of it. “You know, I thought those dried, thin slices of fruit would taste like crap, but I tried one last week, and they’re pretty good.”

If he said so. I wasn’t fond of eating them usually, but they looked so pretty.

Glancing over at Bond, I saw he was staring at the cake intently. “You don’t like it?”

“Like it?” he asked, looking back at me. “I love it. I just don’t know how you come up with this stuff.”

“Mommy’s a genius,” Nemi muttered, playing a game on Bond’s phone. “The guy we dropped the cake off to said so.”

Bond nodded and looked thoughtful for a moment. “Remind me what flavor it is?”

I could do better than that. Reaching into the bag with the empty containers the shards had been in before I’d placed them on the cake, I pulled out one with two muffin sized versions of the cake in it. Here’s the thing, when you create flavors of cakes that people aren’t used to, you get used to making small ones to convince the recipient it’s not going to be gross.

Passing them over to Bond and Canon, I waited nervously while they bit into them. Initially, they stared blankly down at the half-eaten cake in their hands while they chewed what was in their mouths, almost like they were trying to make their minds up. But then the different flavors meshed together for them, and they both groaned at the same time. It was eerie when they did things like that, what with looking so similar to each other.

“Oh, my God, this is good,” Canon moaned, taking another huge bite. “What the hell is that?”