Chapter 716

"How did you know that?" Luca asks, frowning at Tony as we stand together in the middle of the road and I melt in my mortification. Poor Junie - and why the hell didn't mom scold me for it when she was just here!? I can't believe I forgot her eighteenth birthday!

God, I'm just the worst sister in the world.

"Some of us read the tabloids," Tony says, giving a casual shrug and smirking at Luca like he knows all of his secrets. Which, honestly, I'm not putting past him at this point.

"Whatever," Luca murmurs, looking at Tony like he's a little bit insane and nodding down the road. "Come on, it's this way."noveldrama

I stick close to Tony's side as we move swiftly towards a large beige tent. "Thanks for the tip on Blythe," I say, glancing up at him, still wanting more information but acknowledging this as a start. "And for keeping tabs on my family calendar."

"Anytime," Tony murmurs, smirking at me as he reaches for the tent flap and lifts it, bowing dramatically.

I follow Luca, ducking inside with Tony coming in after, my mind turning about how to get a minute alone with Rafe and Jesse to fill them in. I'm starting to get a very, very bad feeling about whatever is happening with Redman Blythe and my sister – and I'm deeply regretting that I've put off making this a priority until now.

"Hi!" Luca says to the woman behind the table at the front of the tent. I glance up at him, sufficiently distracted from my worries when I see that he's putting on his best mega-wat smile. I laugh a little, looking at the woman and seeing that she is a little bit dazed, staring at him - either star-struck or immediately crushing on my pretty-boy mate.

"Um, what is it that you need?" the woman asks, looking anxiously between the three of us, even though her eyes move eagerly back to Luca's face. Luca leans forward and clearly explains our problem, gesturing towards me and my comparatively tiny frame. I laugh a little when I see the woman's dazed expression as Luca speaks, his dimples flaring, and I wonder passively if she's processing any of this or if she's just lost in Luca's rather maic pull.

Tony, at my side, just rolls his eyes, making me laugh.

"Jealous," I murmur, elbowing him in the side.

“Completely,” he acknowledges.

"You're pretty too, Tones!" I say, laughing, meaning it. Honestly, Tony isn't as pretty as Luca or as stunning as Jackson, but as far as boys go? There's something quite nice about his lanky frame, his easy smite, his sharp grey eyes.

"Can't make 'em fall at my feet like he can, though, can I?" Tony murmurs, nodding over at Luca. I shrug like it's not that big of a deat because Tony has his own great traits. If I were him, I wouldn't be trading them in for anything Luca has.

"Um," the woman says, turning her eyes to consider me with a grimace when Luca finishes outlining the problem. "I'm honestly not sure we have anything...at all that smalki mean, we were told to

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expect... Alphas."

"He's a mini Alpha," Tony says, grinning and resting his arm on my shoulder as I scowl. "Pocket-sized for quick deployment."

"Um, I can look?" she says, grimacing and turning towards the back.

Luca nods, again giving her that devastating smile as she turns towards the back of the tent, seeing what she can do.

"I need Daphne," I sigh. "She'd fix me up good."

"You're developing quite the entourage, Clark," Luca says, grinning at me and ensorcelling me a bit in turn with his bright brown eyes. "Seriously, you can't go anywhere without your personal seamstress?”

"Oh, I'm not that spoiled," I say, laughing and reaching out to swat him on the arm.

A muffled crash comes from the back of the tent as well as a little yell of surprise and then a curse from the woman. We all turn towards it, mildly concerned.

"Sounds like she dropped some stuff," Luca murmurs. "I'll go help her out."

I nod to him, turning back to Tony as Luca swiftly moves around the table and towards the back of the tent.

“So, what are you going to send your poor forgotten sister for her birthday?” Tony asks, grinning at me, clearly not letting me off the hook.