Page 382 of Romeo

I looked at him. “Where?”

“Home.”

Just that. No discussion about whether we could go back. No careful warning that we had to wait for King. No maybe.

Home.

My chest tightened. Jasper glanced down at me and caught whatever was on my face. His thumb brushed across my knuckles, but he didn’t ask.

Gator started issuing instructions to the men around him, and the cabin came alive again. Braveheart disappeared outside. Worm stepped around Mac without looking down and began checking the windows. Thore followed Gator toward the porch while Juju headed for the back of the cabin.

Angel stayed where he was. So did I.

For a moment, Jasper seemed caught between following Gator and refusing to move more than three inches away from me. I saved him the trouble. “Go.”

His head turned sharply. “Not happenin’.”

“Jasper—”

“No.”

“I’m standing in a cabin surrounded by Bourbon Kings and”—my gaze slipped toward Angel before I could stop myself—“him.”

Angel’s mouth twitched. Barely.

I looked back at Jasper. “I think I’m safe for two minutes.”

His eyes moved from me to Angel. Whatever passed between them made me wonder how much history two men could fit into one look.

Angel was the one who spoke. “She’s safe.”

Jasper’s expression hardened. “I know.”

The words should have sounded insulting. They didn’t. If anything, Angel seemed to understand exactly what Jasper meant. He wasn’t agreeing that Angel could protect me. Jasper was telling him he already knew I was safe because Jasper was still here.

Gator called something from outside that sounded suspiciously like an insult involving Jasper’s intelligence. Jasper closed his eyes. “I’m gonna kill him.”

“You’d have to get in line.”

That earned me a look. Better.

He bent and kissed my forehead before pointing toward the far side of the room. “Don’t go outside.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Cute.”

“You married me.”

“Best decision I ever made,” he said before kissing my forehead again.

I watched him walk toward the porch, favoring one side just enough that I knew his ribs hurt no matter how many times he told me he was fine.

Then I realized Angel and I were alone. Well, not actually alone. There were people everywhere. I could hear men outside and someone moving behind the cabin. It felt like we were.

Angel had put his gun away. I noticed that first. Maybe because five minutes earlier I hadn’t known how to hold one. Maybe because a gun in his hand had been part of the first real image I ever had of him. He stood with both hands loose at his sides now, leaving several feet between us.

“I wasn’t supposed to meet you like this,” he said.