I stood in the kitchen helping Emma arrange plates while Mia carried drinks toward the main room.
Children ran between the tables, although they had been warned repeatedly to stay out of the adults' way, and Diesel followed me around the room as if he had appointed himself head of security for the entire evening.
“You know he thinks he is in charge.” Emma said, watching Diesel settle beside my chair.
“He has always thought that.” I said.
“He probably is.” She said and I laughed.
Across the room, Jace was talking with Derek and Mason, while Sarah stood nearby speaking with another officer who had stopped by briefly after the raid.
For the first time in what felt like weeks, people were smiling without forcing it.
I watched Jace for a moment, and when he looked across the room and cau
