Her body went limp against me. I'd never realized the intimacy of holding someone as they slept. That complete and utter trust to slide into oblivion. It was a treasure I hoped never to grow tired of. To take for granted. The candles' flickering glow provided soft light in the room that I now considered ours' instead of just mine. Her words flickered through my mind again. It's only been three weeks. Are we moving too fast?'Snickering at the thought, I curled around her tighter, shivered as the heat finally fled from my overly warm skin. It would be stupidly fast if it were anyone but Willow. Most of my flings lasted barely this long, but I'd never cared. Was usually looking for the next one. I wasn't rabidly guarding the woman. Hell, I was more likely to be ushering her out the door with a nice piece of jewelry or shopping trip to thank her for her time and attention to detail. The idea of even contemplating that reality with Willow had my belly twisting in knives and jealo
That night"Momma, you don't have to cook when you come here, you know. You can just sit down and enjoy your family," I said as I stirred the sauce. We were going full Italian tonight. Simple, filling, and easy: Spaghetti and meatballs with enough garlic bread to kill a vampire coven. With side salads in fresh vinaigrette, it was going to be easy enough to concentrate on the bigger picture tonight without worrying about the food. She waved me away. "Go help your brothers bring your table in. Your sister and your man should be bringing chairs." She shooed me out of my own kitchen...that was at least par for my particular course. I headed off towards the freight elevator. It apparently opened on the other side of the elevator from Ryker's public entrance. I got to be a literal door stop to keep the doors from sliding closed every thirty seconds. Ah, the lives of the rich and famous. Well, at least my guy was rich. I had a trust fund, but hated using it since it came from my
"Nik has found proof of their involvement not only with de Silva, but also with supplying Errington with at least ten of his victims. Direct proof.""Twenty-two. The collective finished. I just got the update," Nik added. Ryker nodded. "Twenty-two." I watched Willow for signs of upset or illness. When she did some deep breathing exercises, I felt pride well deep inside me. "Here's my thought. According to the love of my life, Winslow and Beverly always make a huge deal out of the people they've helped with their foundation. A huge slideshow of self-congratulations and humble bragging."Tali smiled. "You want to put the victims up there. Force them to see their faces again."I nodded. "I want to not only put their faces up there, I want one of the women gathered here to read their names. Their birthdate, their death date. I want Jessa-if you're up to it-to read aloud the cause of death. I want to shove it down these people's throats that we see them for the monsters they are. T
I rinsed out my mouth, put my toothbrush away. The steamy outline of Ryker in the shower made the humidity in the room feel ten times hotter. That man would make Adonis look flabby. I shivered and went back out to the bedroom. I wasn't going to peep on my man, make a crappy situation even worse with my loitering. I clenched my teeth as I replayed Momma grabbing him tonight. I could have slapped her silly. We were going to have a long talk. A heart to heart. Ryker wasn't like her other sons. She couldn't just touch him as if he were. He was special. Different. I heard the water shut off as I slid between the covers of Ryker's ginormous bed. I swear, it could eat my king size and still have room for dessert. It was honestly the most comfortable thing I'd ever slept in. My man came out of the bathroom. The towel tucked low against his hips. I licked my lips imagining the taste of his skin right there in the V line that pointed the way to my personal heaven. Yum. He flung hi
My phone's incessant buzzing brought me awake way before my alarm was set to go off. I slapped at the night stand. Grabbed up the device. Unlocking it on autopilot, I had it to my ear before I thought to check the caller ID. "You have three seconds before I hang up," I mumbled. Beside me, Willow snuffled and turned to her other side. I didn't blame her. I did blame the person breathing down the line at me. "You've ruined me. You and that stupid whore you've locked yourself to," a froggy voice said. "You both die."Adrenaline poured through my system like I'd just mainlined coffee in an artery. "Cavendish?" Reaching out, I grabbed Willow's shoulder. Felt my heart resume a normal rhythm. She sat up beside me. A faint click and her bedside light turned on. She grabbed up her phone. She did something to the screen before she held it up to me. I saw her recorder function was running. I pulled my phone from my face. "Cavendish?" I asked again as I hit the speaker button on my o
Turo had a brow raised as we left the bathroom. "A stick up my ass?" he asked softly. I winced as heat rushed to my cheeks. "You weren't supposed to hear that."He eased forward. He braceleted my wrist with one of his hands. "She believes it though, doesn't she?"Over his shoulder, I could see Nik studying us. I could almost hear the questions rolling through her mind. I just hoped she didn't think he wanted me. I shuddered mentally. Eww.I pulled my hand away. "Yes," I said softly. "And if you break her heart, I'll break your dick off." I brushed by him and cuddled against Ryker. Turo turned, a huge smile on his face. "I doubt that. Momma wants me to have many babies."I winced. That probably made everything worse. "Well, since they won't be with me, I guess it won't matter if they're adopted or not, huh? Momma and Papa will love any babies. Even adopted ones."Turo's face screwed up in disgust as he jerked back. "Of course not with you." He gave a full body shiver. He
I winced. Damn it. I skimmed over the whole sordid affair in quick efficient terms. She didn't need the nitty gritty especially since Willow and I were in perfect form. She studied me for long moments before she nodded. "I'm glad you're safe. And unharmed." She turned to Willow. Added her. "It also probably explains Willow's clothing choices for this morning. Although, I wish I could make men's sleep pants look that good."I looked at Willow, gave her a smirk. She rolled her eyes at me. "Thank you for saying so.""Why do you guys have a picture of Taylor Pankowski on your computer?" Corrie asked. I spun around. Nik was going through her presentation with Nico. Confirming data on a list with Turo. I winced. Shit. This morning wasn't going anything how I'd imagined it falling asleep with Willow in my arms last night. Nik looked at Corrie. "You know Taylor?"Corrie nodded. "Yeah, she was in my therapy group for a while. Dr. Waste of Space made her attend or he wouldn't p
The next morning"And I keep telling you, as long as it has a good kitchen, I don't care if it has a mancave or whatever the hell that even means. As long as you're not watching porn or bringing over ladies, I don't care what you do in there." I wanted to wring his neck. If people thought women were fussy, they hadn't met Ryker Penn. The man was finicky, bordering on neurotic, with his specifications and demands in a single home. He needed at least five bedrooms-for what, I had no idea. Two offices-again, I had no idea why. I sketched on an iPad while watching action movies. Sometimes I would use an office chair and a drafting table, but with the ease of keeping all the files electronic, I rarely did that anymore. The rest of the list that he had to have was almost embarrassing. I guess it was a good thing he was obscenely rich. And honestly, this was the first time I think I'd ever seen it. Like had it shoved right in my face how rich he really was. He was so chill and down to