I knew he was being serious. Klaus and Cole had fought before. I didn’t want a round two.
Klaus ran his hand along my bare thigh until he was beneath my dress.
“Lace. I really fucking like this,” he murmured against my lips.
“Mm, Ryder picked them out. He said you’d like them.”
Klaus pulled away and stared at me. “He did?”
I nodded.
Klaus looked over my shoulder. “Romano.”
Ryder looked up from his phone. “Yeah?”
“Did you pick out my woman’s underwear?”
“Yeah.” He shifted awkwardly in his seat.
“Why the fuck were you in her underwear drawer? Is there something you’d like to share with us?”
Ryder scowled at him. “No, Klaus, there isn’t. I was only trying to be helpful. She’s hurting and stressed. Figured she didn’t want to rifle through her underwear drawer on top of it all.”
Klaus grunted and eyed him for another moment before kissing me again.
“Mommy! Look what Unkie Ash got Mr. Rufus!” Ellis rushed into the room, holding her bear.
I looked at him in his clown outfit.
“Oh wow. That’s super cute! I love it!”
“Me too.” She giggled and clutched the bear to her chest. “Unkie Dunkie said that he had another one, but it was on fire by accident on account of Unkie Ash playing with matches. Unkie Kai said he’s not supposed to do that.”
“He’s definitely not,” I said.
“It’s OK. He said he won’t do it again, and he owes me one more outfit for Mr. Rufus!”
“I am sure Unkie Ash will get it for you, too,” I said, smiling as she danced around the room in her cute blue dress. She went to Ryder, crawled onto his lap, and showed him her bear. He smiled and asked questions.
“He’s good with her,” I murmured, watching him smile and laugh with her.
“He loves her,” Klaus said. “He’s a good man. He’d make a good partner to someone someday.”
I nodded. He really would.
Of course, the idea of him with anyone made my stomach flip uncomfortably. I pushed the feeling away as Anson and Evan came back into the room.
“What’s going on?” I demanded as they settled on the couch and looked at me.
“That was Enzo,” Anson started. “He said Cole hasn’t come home yet, but he asked if we could stay behind for a few days while he works on getting a message to him.”
“We can’t,” I said, frowning. “You guys all have meetings and life things.”
“We told him that,” Anson said. “He, uh, had a solution.”
Klaus shifted me on his lap. “What’s the solution?”
“He wants Rosalie to come stay at his place,” Evan said, his voice low.
