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Chapter 536
Chapter 536:
Easton stepped inside and set the flower box on the marble kitchen island. His dark eyes settled on June’s face — on the genuine, relaxed smile sitting there — and something in his chest pulled tight with quiet affection.
The three of them moved to the living room and settled onto the wide Italian leather sofa. Sloane popped the cork on the first bottle with practiced ease and poured the golden, bubbling liquid into three crystal flutes.
June picked up her glass and turned to Easton.
“Thank you,” she said, and she meant it. “For finding this place so quickly, and for handling all the paperwork with my old landlord p>
оr𝘨𝗮𝘯іz𝗲 𝗒𝗈𝘂𝗿 𝗹i𝖻rаr𝗒 oո.с𝗼𝘮
Easton touched his glass gently to hers.
“It is a lawyer’s duty to protect his client’s peace of mind,” he replied smoothly.
His tone was professional. The emotion buried at the bottom of his eyes was anything but.
After two glasses of champagne, Sloane decided the celebration needed raising. She disappeared to the wet bar, mixed a shaker of very strong, very dry martinis, and returned to set the glasses on the coffee table.
June was in a genuinely good mood — lighter than she had felt in years, the long shadow of Cole finally lifted from her shoulders. Her scientific mind registered the risk of mixing drinks, the way alcohol had a way of amplifying what one least wanted amplified. But she was surrounded by friends, in a place that finally felt safe, and so she permitted herself the rare luxury of letting go. She lifted the martini glass and took a small, careful sip.
The sharp burn of the gin was a stark contrast to the sweetness of the champagne. It didn’t send her spiraling, but it loosened something in her shoulders — a single tightly wound knot releasing all at once. A faint warmth spread across her cheeks. Her usually sharp, guarded eyes grew soft and slightly unfocused. She leaned back into the cushions and exhaled slowly, looking, for the first time in years, completely at ease.
Sloane noticed. A mischievous light kindled in her eyes. She slid closer to June and nudged her arm.
“Hey, June,” she said, drawing out the syllables with theatrical warmth. “Look at my cousin. He’s handsome, he’s wealthy, he’s a legal shark, and he cooks. He is the definition of husband material p>
June let out a soft, bubbly laugh and waved her hand through the air.
“Easton is fantastic,” she said, her voice still steady despite the haze, her newfound independence surfacing even through the alcohol. “But my life is an absolute warzone right now. I don’t have the emotional capacity for romance, and it wouldn’t be fair to drag anyone into my mess p>
Easton’s hand tightened around his crystal glass. His knuckles went white. A sharp stab of frustration hit him somewhere deep — he hated this, hated the way Cole’s damage made June shrink away from anything good.
Sloane frowned at her.
“Stop that,” she said firmly. “You are a genius scientist. You are too good for ten Eastons combined p>
She leaned in close and dropped her voice to a conspiratorial murmur, half-teasing and half-entirely serious.