He forced a straight face, but I could tell he was choking back another chuckle. “You’re right. In my defense, though, I thought you’d hear me coming in.”
“Well, you were wrong.” I crossed my arms over my naked breasts and glared at him. He’d pissed me off, so he didn’t get a free view of the goods. “Why didn’t you call or text? I’ve been worried to death, thinking you’d gotten mixed up with all the criminals in Loveska.”
“I’m sorry I left you hanging like that, baby.” He lowered his eyes, appropriately contrite—or at least smart enough to look it. “The talks took longer than expected and it was a much later night than I had originally planned. I didn’t want to wake you.” He studied my face, which I was sure still looked like I’d eaten something sour. “Is it any consolation that I drove straight to your parents’ house once I woke up only to find out that you’d already left?”
No, it wasn’t any consolation whatsoever. I turned around and finished rinsing my hair, pretending he hadn’t just opened the door to chewing me out for leaving before he arrived and breaking my promise.
“Liza, I thought we agreed that you’d stay put until I came back.” There was nothing stern in his voice, but trust was probably going to be a problem next time he asked me to promise.
I sighed. He had a point, but I had one to make, too. “Yeah, that was before you stopped communicating with me and I was about to crawl out of my skin from worrying about you.” I shrugged. “Besides, your security guard followed me home, and I set the alarm. Everything’s fine.”
“Is it fine?” His brow creased. “And how do you know for sure? I don’t like you being home alone for long periods of time.” First, it wasn’t a long period, and wouldn’t be because I had to go to work.
“Then, you have nothing to concern yourself with because I’ve only been home for twenty minutes or so.” I grinned,showing him I wasn’t upset, even though he’d just scared the shit out of me.
He nodded and pulled me into his muscular arms, smooshing my breasts against his ribcage. Every cell in my body immediately relaxed, the tension leaving my shoulders as I wrapped my arms around his rock-hard torso. His half-erect cock brushed against my stomach, and my nipples stood at attention as my core began to tingle.
I closed my eyes and tried to rein in the lust. We’d just fucked each other’s brains out a little over twenty-four hours ago. Surely, I wasn’t so desperate and needy that I couldn’t control myself long enough to get cleaned up and ready for the day.
Ty caught my eye and smirked. “You know you don’t have to suppress all those sexual urges of yours with me. If you need to use me, I’m more than happy to oblige.” The conversation that never should have been came flooding back to my mind.
I swatted at his chest and giggled, though my skin was hot enough to bake cookies, and not from the temperature of the water. “Behave.”
He smirked and bent his head to kiss me softly, but with all the passion of a night spent apart. His tongue barely lapped at my front teeth, and I pulled away as the water turned cooler against my back. “We’d better get clean before we end up taking an ice bath.”
We quickly washed—well, maybe not quickly—then toweled off and got dressed, which gave me time to calm my hormones. As much as I wanted Ty inside me, I was eager to hear about Sylas.
I scrambled some eggs and fried half a package of bacon while Ty made coffee. Before I took a bite of my breakfast, I raised an eyebrow because he hadn’t spoken much since he’d been back. Not about anything important, anyway. “So, are you going to tell me what happened in Loveska?”
Ty shoved a forkful of eggs into his mouth and chewed slowly. I wasn’t certain he was going to answer, but he swallowed and said, “It’s a long story, but I can tell you that Sylas was safe and sound when we left, although he was barely conscious.” He shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal.
“Why?” I asked because it was a big deal.
“Apparently, Sylas has spent some time gambling away every cent he got from Castro. When he ran out of money, he got markers from the pit boss and played the poker tables on credit.” Ty bit off a piece of bacon and chewed again. “Dad almost let it slip that Castro was involved, but I made up some bullshit story about insurance fraud that Hiram seemed to believe.”
“So, he just let you take Sylas? No strings attached or giant payment required? Didn’t have to promise him your firstborn son?” No way had it been that easy.
“Not exactly.” He chuckled and shook his head. “Dad had to pay off Sylas’s debts to the casino, the bookies where he started placing bets on horses, and a small fee to Hiram.” He rolled his eyes. “For his inconvenience.”
I sighed in relief and took a sip of my orange juice. “That’s good news,” I said, relieved that the alpha of Loveska truly had had Sylas in his custody and hadn’t been trying to make some power play with the Keller clan. “I wouldn’t put it past anyone in that town to try and take advantage of your family.”
“Yeah, I know,” Ty replied. He took a sip of his coffee, then added, “But it looks like we have Sylas at our disposal.” He smiled and laid his hand over mine. “Which brings me to my next question. Do you want to be there when we question Sylas?”
I hadn’t thought they would give me such an opportunity, but since they were, I nodded without hesitation. “Yes, of course. I certainly don’t want to hear about Castro’s plans thirdhand.” Sylas would already be giving us secondhand info. “That is, if your dad’s okay with me being there.”
Ty nodded as he downed the rest of his coffee in one big swallow. “Absolutely. We discussed it on the way back from Loveska, and it was his idea to ask if you’d like to be there.”
I tried not to be surprised by Dominic’s willingness to involve me in the investigation. After all, he’d assured me multiple times that he wasn’t the same man he’d been when he ordered my pack eliminated. It didn’t erase the fact that he’d given the order, and had probably helped do the job. I couldn’t forgive him for that, but we had to move forward if we were to coexist. Still, I was always taken aback when he extended kindness in my direction. “I wouldn’t miss it.”
After we cleaned the kitchen, Ty drove us to the jail where Sylas was being held. The guards at the front saw us coming and opened the door for Ty, each greeting him with a slight bow of their head and a nod. “This way, sir.”
We followed them down a long corridor and stopped at a room with a pretty basic metal door that opened into another room. A table stood in the center with several chairs around it and a metal bench against one wall.
Ty stepped into the room first, and I followed. He pointed toward a glass window. “That’s a two-way mirror. Dad and I will be on the other side.”
I stared into the next room where Sylas was brought in and placed in a chair. His hair was disheveled, his clothes wrinkled and crooked, his brow pinched, and his lips pursed. This was a man confused either by his surroundings or what was happening here. He had definitely been on a drinking binge. I couldn’t smell his breath but figured he was still drunk and that was why they hadn’t shackled him to the chair. He wasn’t a physical threat.
“He can’t see you, so don’t worry about that.” Ty gestured to a speaker above the door. “You’ll be able to hear everything.”
