Pleased her mate didn’t seem annoyed about it, Raini shrugged one shoulder. “I like to keep you on your toes. As for Euan, well, it turns out he was hiding in the cathedral.” Between sips of her coffee, she relayed the entire story, watching as Maddox’s face became increasingly darker. “To sum up, he needs to die a very terrible but not imminent death.”
“Agreed.” Maddox settled a hand on the coverlet above her knee. “He’ll pay, baby.” There was so much menace in those three words that her scalp prickled.
Returning the cup to the nightstand, she moved to straddle him and interlinked her fingers behind his nape. “Thank you for healing me. I knew you would.”
He curled his arms around her. “I might not have been able to. If either of the bullets had hit a thigh artery, you’d have bled out long before he took you to the battlefield. I wouldn’t have been able to save you.”
She hadn’t thought of that. “But you did save me. And Carmen. How is she?”
“Pleased to be reunited with Hector, even though he rebuked her for stupidly feeling guilty that Euan got his hands on you.”
Raini felt her brow furrow. “That is stupid. It wasn’t her fault.”
“When I realized that Demi’s memories had been edited, both Euan and Marcella became my top suspects. I wouldn’t have left you in the cathedral if I’d thought either of them could get to you. It never occurred to me that either of them wouldn’t be in the monastery.”
“Same here.” Euan had taken them all off-guard, the prick.
“Hector had noticed that Euan was missing during the battle, but he’d thought that maybe Euan had gone to the club. Hector couldn’t telepath him to check because of the forcefield that surrounded the monastery. The entire lair is disappointed that they weren’t able to join the battle.”
“Thank God you had other backup. Your Fallen friends … they were full of surprises.”
“I owe them.”
“But I’ll bet they owed you first—I know how you operate.”
Maddox’s mouth quirked. “That you do.”
“Where’s Euan now?”
“In the cellar beneath the cathedral. And he won’t be getting out of it alive.”
Her entity was all for that plan. “Both me and my demon want some time with him,” she warned.
Maddox hummed. “I figured you would.”
“My dad and Jolene will want to have a share of the fun, too.”
“Actually, Jolene and I came to an agreement.” Snaking his hands up her thighs and under her tee, Maddox explained the conditions of said agreement. “You’re relieved I won’t be disciplining your sister,” he sensed, watching her carefully.
Well, yeah. “Jolene’s harsh, but you’re … ”
“Sadistic?” he offered.
“Your demon is sadistic. You’re brutal. Which isn’t bad. It’s just that she’s my sister. She fucked up. Majorly. And I know, I agree, that she needs to be held accountable. I’m—”
“Far too compassionate for your own good.”
“Not exactly. It’s more that, well, it might not mean much to her that we’re sisters, but it still means something to me—we did have some happy times when we were younger and … Why are you sighing at me like I’m hopeless?”
“Baby, I love you, I do, but you need to get that I won’t give someone a free pass to hurt you merely because they’re a relative of yours. I made an agreement with Jolene, and I’ll honor it. But if Demi does anything else at all to hurt you, I will deal with her.”
Gaping, Raini stared at him. “You love me?”
“Yeah,” he replied with an “obviously” look.
She swallowed, her chest tightening. “Well, do you know that I love you, too?”
The hard set of his mouth softened. “I do now.”
“Good,” she said, her voice low.
He sipped from her mouth, keeping the kiss soft and shallow and lazy. Yet, every nerve ending she had woke right up, and the good ole tingles came back in full force. Because he loved her. She’d thought he might feel that way one day far off in the future. Not so soon.
Feeling in the mood to celebrate it, she nipped his lower lip and asked, “Want to shower with me and play doctor again?”
One corner of his mouth quirked. “Sure.” Palming her ass, he lifted her. “But be warned that there’s a strong chance my demon will take over at some point and brand you again—it’s still wound tight after seeing you injured with a gun pointed at your head.”
“Your entity has shown it has good taste where brands are concerned, so I’m okay with that.”
“Well that’s good, because it wouldn’t have cared if you weren’t.”
She snickered. “Considering how possessive it is, that doesn’t surprise me.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
One month later
“Adorabella?”
“No.”
“Queenie?”
“No.”
“Albert?”
“No.”
“Barney?”
Tanner growled at his mate. “We’re having a baby, not a purple fucking dinosaur.”
Devon crossed her eyes. “God, pooch, you’re so picky.”
“And you’re not drinking enough water.” He pushed a bottle into her hand. “It’s important for you to stay hydrated.”