Sissy physically turned away so she was in no danger of even glimpsing Ronnie’s face or body language. She wouldn’t be able to take it.

“What I love is she acts like her shit don’t stink. Like I don’t know who she is and where she came from. But I know ’cause I came from the same place she came from. You know what I’m sayin’?”

Waiting a moment, Sissy realized that yes, Gwen did want an answer.

“Absolutely.”

“I know a lot of these bitches, they forget the men once they’re old enough to go out on their own. But not me and not my Ma. This is Mitch I’m talking about. No one fucks with him.” Again, those dark gold eyes sized Sissy up. “You know, you’re cuter than I thought you’d be. I’m surprised he hasn’t fucked you yet. But he says you guys are friends, although why anyone would have a male as a friend is completely beyond me. But maybe it’s a wolf thing, huh? ’Cause other than for fuckin’ or tunin’ up my car, I don’t see their purpose. But hey, That’s me.”

Mitch walked up to them and handed his sister a glass of champagne. “Everything going okay over here?” And he gave Sissy a warning glance to not mess with his sister.

Not that he had anything to worry about. Personally, Sissy would like to avoid having acid thrown in her face. She was wacky that way.

“Everything is fine,” Gwen assured him. “Stop worrying about me.” She slipped her arm around Mitch’s waist and rested her head against his chest. Considering her stock, Sissy thought Gwen would be considerably bigger. At least taller. But she wasn’t even five-nine. Most Smiths would consider her “tiny.” No wonder she wore those shoes, although how she managed to walk in them, Sissy didn’t know.

“I’m your big brother. I’ll always worry about you.” Suddenly, Mitch’s gaze locked on something at the bar, and he snarled.

“What?”

“He’s checking you out.”

Gwen rolled her eyes, and Sissy didn’t even bother looking to see who he was talking about.

“I’ll handle him.” Mitch pulled away from his sister and walked to the bar.

“Well,” Ronnie, who loved to state the obvious, sighed out, “now you know why you won’t be gettin’ laid this weekend.”

Mitch walked back to his sister, feeling pretty cocky about scaring off that puma.

“Are you done?”

“Yup. Just protecting my little sis.”

“Gee. Thanks.”

Mitch glanced around. “Where did Sissy go?”

“All she said was, ‘Mommas at six o’clock.’ Then she and Ronnie took off running. It was…interesting.”

“You and Ma get along. You don’t know how people who don’tget along with their mothers suffer.”

“I like Ma. And she’s worried about you.”

“Nice how you slipped that in.”

“Just warning you she’s going to be bugging you tonight.”

A waiter arrived with two bottles of Guinness.

“You saint,” Mitch sighed happily, grabbing his bottle. After a healthy drink, he said to his sister, “You know what’s funny about you and Ma being here?”

“What?”

“Neither of you were actually invited.”

Gwen rolled her shoulders. “You know Ma. Not a chance in hell she was going to miss out on seeing her only son in a tux. Besides, this is considered the party of the century. She wasn’t about to miss it.”

“Yeah, but you had a table and everything.”

“Brendon took care of that for us.” Gwen grinned. “He always said if we need anything to go ahead and call him, so Ma did.”

“He meant that. You ever need anything, go to Bren. He’ll always watch out for you guys.”

“Uh…okay.”

“Why are you staring at me?”

“You look tired. And thin. Too thin.”

“I’m fine. Just a lot going on.”

“Any of that going on with Sissy?”

“You’re gonna start this now?”

“I hadn’t met her before. Now that I have…not sure what you’re waiting for. She’s hot. And sturdy. Uncle Joey always says O’Neill males need sturdy women.”

“You start quoting Uncle Joey, I’m walking away.”

“I just don’t know what the problem is.”

“There is no problem. And I’d like to keep it that way.”

“Fine, ya big pussy.”

“You have to know that’s not an insult to me, right?”

Sissy tapped her foot and watched her friend. “Dez, you have to make a choice here.”

Dez was probably the only full-human Sissy could say in all honesty that she trusted. A tough cop, an amazing mother, and a great friend, Dez was not to be trifled with. She was a deadly predator like the rest of them. When she’d asked Sissy to be her son’s godmother, she’d specifically stated, “’Cause I know you’ll kill anybody who tries to hurt him.” Truer words had never been spoken, but the fact that Dez realized it and acted accordingly was what set her apart from her weaker full-human counterparts.

But when it came to chocolate, Dez could be as big a pain in the ass as Jessie Ann.

“I can’t. You do understand that, right?” She started at one end of the U-shaped table. “Here we have the candy. Chocolate with nuts. With caramel. With fruits.”