Since it had still been fairly early in the day, I’d spent the rest of the afternoon working on the adoption case. I’d finally managed to find the original records and contact information of the woman my client was looking for. I’d called her to give her the good news and send her the documents, and she’d been overjoyed to hear from me.
I got up out of my chair and grinned. Even though it could be upsetting to have to deal with liars and cheaters constantly, there were definitely certain kinds of cases that made the job worth it in the end, and this was definitely one of them. She’d started crying as we spoke on the phone, and I’d felt immensely proud that I’d been able to do something good for her.
I went back into my bedroom to change, so I could go meet Jase at our usual bar. After we wrapped everything else up, we’d decided to go out and have a few rounds to celebrate.
I changed out of the stuffy button-down and tie I usually wore when I was working with the SDCT and into a regular shirt and a pair of jeans before heading out. It was cold again tonight, and I took a deep breath of crisp air before climbing into my car.
It was Saturday night, so the bar was packed, and there was no parking available nearby. I wasn’t worried, though. I didn’t mind a stroll along the boardwalk on a night like tonight when it was cool out and I was still riding the high of having solved a big case. I’d always loved the rush of sound and movement that belonged uniquely to Miami.
Everywhere you looked, there were bright lights, and everywhere you went, you could hear the sounds of people as they gambled or partied or just went about their daily lives. It was a never-ending stream of energy that kept the city alive well into the night.
I reached the bar just a few minutes later and looked around for Jase as soon as I came inside. Usually, we sat right at the bar counter, so it surprised me to see him sitting at a table near the back. I was even more surprised to see Chloe and Bette sitting with him.
He looked up at me as I approached and tossed me an apologetic smile.
“Hey… everyone,” I greeted them awkwardly.
Bette glared at me in her typical fashion, though there seemed to be less bite in it than usual. Chloe, on the other hand, lit up like a Christmas tree and beamed up at me.
“Niiick!” she slurred as she thrust her drink up in the air, spilling some of its contents over the table. “What took you so long?”
“I’m only like five minutes late,” I replied as I calculated how long the walk had taken. “How much did you drink in that amount of time?”
“Just two,” Jase chuckled. “Though we have been here for a while. They wanted to make sure we got here early enough to grab a table.”
I looked at Chloe, shocked at how drunk she appeared to be after just two drinks. Though she was pretty skinny, so maybe it wasn’t that unusual after all.
“I see.” I nodded. “And why did you two come?”
Honestly, I was a little disappointed at the turn of events. I’d been in a really great mood after solving the case, so the last person I wanted to see was Bette.
“Oh, don’t be like that, Nick,” Chloe practically yelled. “We just wanted to celebrate with you!”
“Oh, really?” I scoffed as I turned to look pointedly at Bette. She hadn’t said anything since I’d gotten here, and I couldn’t imagine her wanting to do anything with me willingly.
She glared at me for a moment before heaving a belabored sigh.
“I’m sorry I was so rude,” she said robotically, the way a child might do if they were forced to apologize for being mean to a sibling by an adult. She wasn’t looking at me, and she didn’t sound sincere, but it still stunned me to hear those words coming out of her mouth at all.
“What did you just say?” Jase asked. He sounded as shocked as I felt.
“I’m not saying it again,” Bette replied curtly. “We’re here to drink, right? So let’s drink.”
“All right, let’s drink.” I grinned.
Bette rolled her eyes at me and seemed annoyed, but I decided to ignore it. It was a terrible apology, but it was still impressive coming from Bette. I’d just have to take what I could get for now.
“Next round is on Jase,” I announced. “For inviting people without telling me about it.”
“What?” Jase yelped in surprise. He tried to protest, but the two women at the table drowned out his voice as they started to make requests.
It wasn’t the way I’d expected to end the night, but I decided to just roll with it. I had no doubt that I’d be involved in even more cases in the future now that I was no longer planning to avoid going against Alessandro and the rest of the Family, so I might as well get used to being around more of the agents.
Epilogue
The three boys were still staring at me expectantly as I finished the story. Even the girl at the bar, Diane, had come over during her lunch break to listen.
“Wait.” Julian frowned. “But it sounds like Alessandro was always looking out for you and making sure the mafia didn’t try to kill you. Why did you guys end up fighting?”
I smiled sadly at his question.
“That was only the beginning of the deterioration of our relationship as brothers,” I explained. “There was a lot that went into it. Even though we were once best friends, by the end, we were at each other’s throats. Literally.”
“Well, tell us
