Just like I’d worried.
“There’s nothing between us,” I defended on a shaky breath. “I’m only here until we get this thing sorted with my brother.”
Whatever the hell that was.
“Mmhmm…well, you might as well take a littlegoodwhile you’re here.” It was pure suggestion out of the mouth of Silas’s grandmother.
I choked over a disoriented laugh. Was she actually suggesting what I thought she was?
But I didn’t have a grandmother or an anyone to give me crap, and I’d be a liar if I denied that I loved it just a little bit.
And that was the whole problem.
I was pretty sure I could love far too easily when it came to them.
Reckless girl, just begging to get her heart bashed in a little more.
I lifted my chin and tried to shove all the emotion down, playing it light, an attempt at a joke as I forced out the rebuttal. “I think I’ll have to pass on that certain kind of indulgence, thank you very much. I’m usually a safe road kind of girl.”
And I wasn’t about to allow myself to be a doormat anymore.
I forced a giant grin. “But I will take a little something of whatever you’re getting ready to bake over there.”
Meems chuckled as she started to waddle back toward the kitchen area. “We’ll see about that. But at least you’re taking a little of the good that I have to offer.”
Then she paused and looked back. “It doesn’t matter where it comes from, Brinley. The good. The joy. Don’t be afraid of it. Don’t shun it. Live it.”
I stood there dazed for a moment before I was being jolted back in surprise when chubby hands were suddenly reaching for me.
Kai basically jumped out of Elena’s hold and into mine. Giggling and wiggling as he wrapped his little arms around my neck.
His weight so perfect and right, and my heart was getting filled to capacity again. If I wasn’t careful, it would burst from the pressure.
Then he edged back so he could see my face, his tiny palm patting his chest. “MyBwinwey?”
More of that insecurity. More of his fear that he was going to be forgotten or left behind. But in spite of it, he was still brave enough to ask for what his little soul needed.
One of my hands curled up to cup the back of his head as I held him close, and I pressed a kiss to his temple, fighting the words that broke loose in a jagged whisper. “Yeah, baby, your Brinley.”
TWENTY-THREE
SILAS
I plantedmy palms on the rugged table inside of Church. It was the middle of the day, but darkness still reigned in the windowless, cavernous room, the shadows barely broken by the faint glow of the chandelier that dangled from the ceiling.
Phoenix and Trevan were on either side of me as I angled toward the five Crows who had gathered on the opposite side.
Everyone remained standing.
Still itching and twitching with the violence that charged through their veins.
“Give me the details,” I demanded, voice hoarse.
Regan, lead of last night’s detachment, canted his head. Red hair wild and untamed by the wind.
A big, burly motherfucker who was as vicious as they came.
“Mission accomplished. As if you expected anything less.”
