And she would be with me.
Not only had fate made it so, but I’d wanted her for so fucking long I couldn’t even begin to count the days.
It’d been two years and some odd months since she’d started cleaning my house, and I’d known for at least a year that she was my mate.
I’d let her be, though, knowing she’d be safer away from me.
As long as I didn’t touch her, we’d be okay.
And then, in a freak meeting, she’d shown up where she shouldn’t have been, and all my training had deserted me.
I’d touched her. Stolen her life from her with one single touch, and she didn’t even know it.
I could have stayed away. Should have. But the moment I saw her up close and personal, I knew fate had intervened.
“I realize that,” I rumbled, squeezing my arm into my side and giving Wink a reassuring squeeze when she started to tremble.
The power in the room had grown exponentially since I’d arrived.
Which was why I never stayed longer than I had to.
The longer Keifer and I were in the same room, the more the tension built until something broke.
Usually, it was me…or something that belonged to me.
But this time, that wouldn’t be happening. This time, I had Wink to protect.
And Keifer saw that I wasn’t going to bend. Not this time, anyway.
So he got on with what he wanted me there to talk about.
“Blythe, will you please tell Derek and Jean Luc to come in here?” Keifer said on a put-upon sigh.
Blythe’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “Where are they?”
“They’re in my office,” Keifer said.
“I’ll go with you. I have to go throw up,” Brooklyn said as she passed the baby she was holding to Keifer then left the room.
Wink’s hand tightened on my arm, and I looked down at her.
“What?” I asked.
“She’s having a boy.” Wink muttered softly. “Why do I know that?”
I smiled.
“You can see their DNA,” I told her. “That’s part of my powers that I share with you now, remember?”
Nikolai’s startled exclamation had both of us looking up before Wink could reply.
“What?” Wink asked. “Did I say something wrong?”
Everyone was staring at us, including Derek and Jean Luc who’d come in through the back door.
“What do you mean, she’s having a boy?” Nikolai asked.
“You never told me what I was having,” Keifer said.
Did I detect a note of hurt in his voice?
Surely not.
“That was because you never asked,” I said distractedly, my head turning slightly. “Why did you tell her to go get Jean Luc and Derek if you could summon them through mind speak? And why did you send her in the wrong direction when you knew that they were outside?”
Keifer’s eyebrows rose.
“I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I’m having a boy. Do you think he’ll be as big as me?” Nikolai asked.
We all stared at him.
“Not when he’s born,” Wink said nicely. “Maybe when he grows up, though.”
Nikolai’s mouth turned up at one side in a grin. “That’s good to know.”
“Can we get on with what we came here for?” I asked, annoyance clear in my voice. “I haven’t had but a few hours of sleep.”
Keifer’s eyes narrowed.
“Why not?” he asked.
“Because I was on duty last night, like you asked me to be. Remember?”
Keifer shrugged.
“And then I had to go talk to a guy about some things,” I said.
“What things?” Keifer asked. “Who?”
Farrow chose that moment to come into the kitchen, and he looked bad.
My mouth kicked up at the corner at seeing the job I’d done on him.
Twice.
He deserved it.
Farrow was the most selfish motherfucker on the planet, and if my opinions held any clout with Keifer, I’d recommend that the little fucker find someplace else to live.
He was going to get us all in trouble.
Had gotten us all in trouble.
A lot.
But the little fucker was royalty, and Keifer’s brother.
So, no matter what I thought, Keifer would never kick Farrow to the curb.
Farrow would likely be on Keifer’s tit for the rest of his life.
“What happened to you?” Keifer asked Farrow.
“Nothing,” Farrow said, his eyes sliding to me once before turning back to the cabinet where he was reaching for a cup.
I turned my eyes back to Keifer, my eyesight offended that I’d chosen to look at Farrow as long as I had.
The motherfucker really got on my nerves, and it chapped my ass every damn day that I ever got into the situation that I needed help from him.
“You’ll tell me later when we’re alone,” Keifer ordered his little brother.
I snorted, causing all attention to come back to me.
Wink squeezed my hand, letting her small fingernails dig into my skin.Chapter 5Book sniffing (verb): breathing in the scent of a book, sometimes in secret.
-Wink’s not-so-secret secret
Wink
I was so goddamned lost it wasn’t even funny.
Everyone kept casting me furtive glances, most of them filled with pity.