Talon clenched his teeth at the truth, even though he wasn't surprised by it. He hadn't realized until then that he had started to see a future for him and Sunshine.
That in the back of his mind there really had been hope.
But it was futile.
"There's no way to keep Sunshine."
He hadn't realized he'd spoken aloud until Eros said, "If you love her, then I'm sure she'll pay for it."
Talon braced himself for what he had to do. Even though it tore his heart out and made him want to cry. He knew he had to do this.
It was the only way to protect her.
"Fine, then. I have one last request."
Eros gave him an understanding look. "You want me to shoot you guys with the lead arrow to kill your love."
He nodded.
Eros pulled his bow necklace from around his neck and made it larger.
Talon grabbed his hand as he aimed it at him. "Not yet. Okay? I just want a little more time with her. Can you wait until midnight?"
Shrinking the bow back to necklace size, Eros nodded and patted Talon on the shoulder. "Love bites, man. Believe me, I know."
Talon thought about Psyche and he felt a twinge of jealousy. "Yeah, but you got to keep your love."
"True. I'm damn lucky in that department." Eros shifted as if something had made him uncomfortable. "Where do you want me to shoot you?"
"Someplace that won't hurt."
Eros rolled his eyes.
Talon answered seriously. "The club Runningwolf's. I'll have her there at midnight."
Nodding, Eros took two steps away. "I'll see you at midnight."
"Thanks, Eros. I owe you."
"Yes, you do."
Talon inclined his head in mutual understanding. Now he was indebted to Vane and Eros. At the rate he was going, he was likely to lose a whole lot more than his soul before all was said and done.
He just prayed that in the end, Sunshine didn't lose her life.
But he wouldn't think about that now. All he had was a few more hours to spend with the woman he loved.
He wanted to enjoy what little time they had before she learned to hate him.
Talon left the room and stopped as he caught sight of Sunshine downstairs playing pool with Psyche.
She was so beautiful there. The stage lights played off her midnight-black hair. And her lush, sweet body... It was perfection.
Sunshine was everything to him.
Talon's thoughts scattered when he realized that a thin man of average height was talking to Sunshine and she didn't look happy about it.
Suddenly, their conversation escalated into a verbal fight. Sunshine was animated as she poked the man with her finger and pushed him back.
Psyche put her cue down and stepped between them.
Talon saw red.
Without thinking about the patrons or anything other than Sunshine, he placed his hand on the banister and swung his legs over and dropped to the floor below.
The people downstairs gasped and scattered.
Pain shot up his leg and worsened as he took a step. Talon didn't care. The only thing he saw was Sunshine's distressed face. The only sound he heard was her angry voice.
"How could you do this, Jerry, you snake!"
"I told you before, Sunny, everything's fair in business."
"But he was my client. I sat out there all day today waiting on him to show."
"Yeah, well, you snooze, you lose."
"Here's another saying," Talon said, grabbing the guy and turning him to face him. "No one messes with my girl."
Sunshine froze at the look on Talon's face. It was truly scary. He stared at Jerry as if he were one inch away from making Jerry fillet.
"It's all right, Talon," she said, not wanting him to get into trouble or, worse, arrested for beating the slug.
She could tell by Jerry's expression that he was dying to say something snide, but the sheer size and ferocity of Talon kept his lips sealed.
She took Talon's arm. "C'mon, babe, let's go."
Talon really wanted to tear the guy apart. How dare he steal Sunshine's client from her? He knew how much it meant to her.
His anger snapped and hissed, straining against the control he was using to keep it leashed.
"Who is this dick?" Talon asked Sunshine.
"I used to be her husband, what about you?"
Talon's eyes flared. "Ditto."
Jerry couldn't have looked more shocked had Talon actually hit him.
Talon looked at Sunshine. A part of him felt extremely betrayed that she had dared marry someone else. It didn't matter that she'd had no idea about their past life together.
It still hurt.
Her eyes apologized to him. "I was going to tell you."
"When, Sunshine?"
She turned and glanced at Jerry. "You're such a jerk. I can't believe I was ever stupid enough to marry you."
She started through the now silent crowd.
"Hey, Sunny," Jerry called after her. "Make sure you go to Fallini's sometime and admire my work. Remember when you look at it that the best artist won."
Talon saw the tears in her eyes.
His temper exploded.
Rotating his shoulders, he turned and slugged Jerry so hard that he was knocked off his feet. He landed with a solid thump on the pool table, sending billiard balls rolling and bouncing.
Several members of the bear clan cursed as cameras flashed.
"Way to keep a low profile, Celt," Justin said snidely from beside him.
Talon ignored the panther. He took Sunshine's hand and led her through the crowd.
Nick met him and Sunshine at the door. "Man, Ash is going to flip when he finds out about this. I can't believe you pulled something like this with a Mardi Gras crowd to witness it. You're worse than Zarek."
"Just make sure you clean it up."
"Clean it up, hell. Do you know how many cameras just caught your stunt-jump from upstairs? My mom now thinks you're on the drugs she suspects Kyrian sells. We're screwed. My life is toast. I'm about to get lectured about working for drug dealers... again. My mom, bless her heart, is so goofy, she doesn't even realize she works for bears. I'm so screwed."
"Don't worry about it," Dev said as he joined them. "We have your back, Celt. Cleaning up indiscretions is our specialty. No human here will remember it tomorrow and we'll make sure none of the electronics show anything either. Everyone will be ticked off that all they got for a picture was a big black blob."
"What about me?" Nick asked. "I don't want any of your mind-meld stuff."
"I said humans, Nicky."
Nick looked extremely offended.
"Thanks," Talon said to Dev.
"Any time. I'll see you tomorrow for Mardi Gras."
Talon inclined his head to the bear and led Sunshine outside even though his entire leg felt as if it had been broken by the jump.
Once they were on the street, he confronted her. "You were married?"
"It was seven years ago, Talon. I was young and stupid."
"You were married," he repeated. "To him."
Sunshine took a deep breath and sighed. "Yes."
"I can't believe this."
"Oh, c'mon, Talon, give me a break. Don't hold something against me when I had no idea you even existed. If anyone has a right to be mad, I think it should be me."
"Excuse me?"
"Selena told me about you and your rep, bud. How you've pretty much laid every woman in New Orleans. You want to tell me about that?"
"That was different."
"Why? Because I'm a woman? You knew I wasn't a virgin, Talon. What did you expect?"
Talon didn't know. But then, it didn't really matter.