She scratches the little orange cat’s head. “Yep. Cats choose their humans, and Granger just chose you.”
“A wife and a kitten in the space of a few hours.” Grant shakes his head from his spot in bed. “Seems familiar.”
“We took a little longer.” She returns to him and kisses his cheek. “Not by much, though.”
Granger reaches for my shoulder, and I let him climb up. He perches there like a fluffy orange gargoyle.
“We need to focus. Wedding stuff. Amelia, can you talk to her about dresses? Or something like that? I need a priest. And what else?” I turn back to Grant. “You. You’ll be my best man.”
He smiles. “I never thought I’d see the day, but here we are.”
“I’m just as surprised as you are.”
“We also need to deal with Vic. But I suppose that’s more of your call now. You’re taking his territory and marrying his daughter, so unless Amelia objects, I’m letting you decide his fate.”
She shivers. “I don’t like the man at all, but I think Grant’s right. You and Mariana should decide. Together.”
“That’s going to be a sticky conversation.” I scrub a hand down my face. Her father tried to hurt Grant and Amelia, and he sold his own daughter into marriage like a piece of cattle. I want him dead, but I can’t make that call alone. Amelia’s right. I need to discuss it with Mariana.
“You two will figure it out.” Grant shifts in bed.
“Stop fidgeting. You just survived a bullet wound,” Amelia scolds.
“Get your fine ass back in bed with me. I’ll feel all better then.” He pats the mattress, then turns back to me. “Once Vic is handled, then we move forward. Two kings, two queens.”
“Fuck, I like the sound of that.” I know Grant’s not my brother by blood, but in this moment, he’s my brother in all the ways that matter.
Amelia bounces on her feet. “I knew. The second I saw the two of you together, I justknew.”
“Is that so?” Grant reaches for her, and she finally relents and gets back into bed. “Did you know the second you saw me?”
She giggles. “You were a bit more difficult to figure out.”
He kisses her neck.
I don’t need to see this, not when I have Mariana waiting for me back in our room. God, the things I’m going to do to that woman.
“Where you headed?” Grant calls.
“Downstairs.”
“Yell if you need me,” he calls. He doesn’t follow me. I don’t blame him. He needs rest, not that I think he’s getting any with Amelia in his bed. But hey, now I know what it feels like to be with the woman you love. Leaving her is the hardest thing to do.
I descend the creaky staircase and take a sharp left. The basement is relatively neat. Rows of various household items are stacked on shelving. A little light filters in through the high, short windows until I move deeper under the house. Back here, it’s dark enough to do dirty work, and deep enough that no one will ever hear the screams.
Flipping on the light, I find Vic Alderone tied to a metal chair just where I left him.
“Still breathing?” I smirk as I lean against the wall across from him.
He sputters awake and stares at me. Ghostly pale, he’s in bad shape. The stab wound I put in his chest is wrapped up, thanks to Grant’s personal doctor, but it will likely prove fatal. One of his lungs is collapsed, the other barely hanging on.
“I should’ve stabbed a little farther to the left.” I shrug. “Miscalculation on my part.”
“Release me.” He struggles to get the words out.
“Not happening.” I glare at him. “I would kill you right now, but I can’t. Not until I talk to Mariana.”
He lifts his head at that. “That traitorous whore is here?”