Tucker pulled her back into his arms, ignoring Jenner. “I love you. I have since the moment you walked, soaking wet, into our kitchen. I tried to get over it. Tried to fight it. But Magian or human, whatever you are, you are the only one I’ll ever want.”
“I would say ditto, but when you first arrived I thought all girls should be turned into fro
gs. But out of every girl I knew, I wanted to pull your hair the most, so I guess that counts.” Callie and Tucker laughed, turning to a smiling Tyghe. He sobered. “I do love you. More than I thought I could, sweet Callie.”
Suddenly it hit her. Everything she’d ever wanted was hers for the taking. Tucker. Tyghe. She was Magian. The men who had stolen her heart loved her in return.
“Does this mean I’m forgiven? If so I’ll be home waiting for you with some hot tea and your favorite snack.” Jenner wiped the tears from her eyes, beamed at Callie for one speaking moment, and popped out of sight.
Tyghe shuddered. “I think the family housekeeper has been holding out on us. Big time. Get ready, Callie. You know she’s making plates of cucumber sandwiches as we speak.”
Tucker smiled into Callie’s eyes. “Will you be with us? Let us be the matches of your heart?”
Callie looked at the two men. She’d known them all her life. They’d driven her crazy, but they’d always been like family. She didn’t know anything else. Where she was going, what her mother had been like, or how she would be a Magian when she’d thought she was human for all of her adult life. All she knew was that wherever direction her path took her in, she wanted to walk it with them.
“Yes. I will. I do. I love you.”
They both took turns kissing her, and her body grew warm with the memory of their earlier lovemaking. Tyghe groaned when he pulled away from her. “I think we should go back to our room upstairs. To celebrate.”
“Sounds good, but shouldn’t we find Harrison? I bet she’s dying of curiosity.”
Tucker chuckled. “Or boredom. You know she’s going to be mad that she missed all the excitement.”
Callie nodded. “Livid.” She tilted her head playfully. “Maybe she could wait a little while longer.”
“Harrison’s gone?”
Tucker shrugged. “That’s what the bouncer said. Said she ran out in a hurry as soon as she saw the enforcers walking Margaret out through the crowd. Said she looked angry, but not hurt.”
Callie watched him walk closer to where she was lying, bound on the bed. Her body was buzzing from the anticipation, as well as the plug Tyghe had inserted inside her before casually heading for the shower, sticking his fingers in his ears in case she decided to use her ability to bring him back.
She should have, but she couldn’t believe he would leave her here for so long. Now she was on fire, and as Tucker got his first good look at her face, she knew he could see her need.
“So what did your superior say?”
She bit her lip and he tilted his head, a curious expression on his beautiful face. “Sure you want to talk about this now?”
“I need to know. Maybe it will distract me until Tyghe gets back and I can make him dance around the room in a pink tutu.”
Tucker tried to hide his smile, sitting down beside her and placing his hand on her upper thigh. Callie flinched. She was so sensitive, even the air was arousing her.
“Okay, but I think the Proxenos would have reconsidered his quick acceptance of our Triune if he’d known you had such a vengeful streak.” His smile faded. “My boss checked the cold file. Euterpe Fairbanks did have a child, and a Triune match with Harrison and Lawrence Godwin.” He met her gaze, both acknowledging the significance of the names. “She’d also sent several complaints to Magian law enforcement about Margaret’s brothers. But they didn’t believe she was actually in any danger. In fact, Euterpe was under suspicion for the murder of not only our perp’s siblings, but her own Triune matches as well.”
“How horrible.” Callie’s stomach clenched. It was hard to think of the Fairbanks woman as her mother, but what she’d gone through just to be with the men she loved, to protect her child, broke her heart.
He sighed. “After she died there were no leads. Even her childhood governess had disappeared without a trace.”
Callie bit her lip. “Jenner?”
“Jenner,” he caught Callie’s gaze, his own troubled with the past. “I remember when she came to us. I found her and my mother crying in the kitchen. Mom was ready to deliver Harrison at any minute, and I remember being worried that something was wrong. Jenner moved in that night and never left. I don’t know what we ever did without her.”
“Why does that make you so sad?” Callie could see the tortured glimmer in his eyes.
“She should have been with you. Taking care of you. You should never have had to spend all those years alone thinking you had no one. That you were abandoned.”
Her heart melted. This was why she loved him. Why she’d always loved him. “She was protecting me, Tucker. The same way you’ve taken care of me since I’ve met you. How can I regret my life, when it’s always had your family in it? And you.”
She felt the ropes that bound her arms loosening, and she glanced at the bed post to watch the knots there unravel by themselves. “Tucker? What are you doing?”