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Liam sipped from his cup—his neck rippling with the swallow and reminding me of the tangy, sweet smell of him. “Yes.”
“You will?”
He inclined his head. “You were almost killed in that blast too, Mackenzie.”
I wasn’t sure when he decided he would call me by my full name instead of my nickname. The way it rolled around on his tongue in that deep voice shed the common tinge of Mackenzie and made it feel like another secret between us.
“You have a right to know by who,” he finished. “You could even join me.”
I blinked, not having heard that right. “Excuse me? Did you say join you?”
“I did. Sunny’s going to stick you among his pigeons, see who is first to fly away scared when you reveal you’re a cat. If you want a demonstration of how a Merchant handles an interrogation, I’m happy to provide.”
My mouth opened and closed—the implication of what he implied sinking in. “As in, I should see a legitimate businessman in action.”
A glint lit in his jeweled eyes, not dimming even as he moved through the blinds’ rippling shadows to get to me. “Precisely.”
Pulse picking up speed, I stopped trying to talk.
I agreed to this. Sunny was almost killed. Elizabeth screamed in my arms after nearly facing her death. Sienna, Liam, and I were meant to face ours that night as well. I wanted to see this man stopped. Bringing him to justice was what nature demanded, and no one would shed a tear for an attempted child-murderer.
I agreed to this.
But I also made a promise to my daughter that I’d win custody of her again, and soon. What judge would grant her to me if I stood in front of them with that look in my eyes. If I fully embraced the acts and ways of legitimate businesspeople.
“Not today,” I rasped. “I’m sure I’ll learn on the job, and develop my own methods of questioning.”
“Whatever you say.” Liam was his usual unfettered smoothness. “As promised, I’ll give you an update afterward.” Walking around me, he held open the door for me to leave. Now I really was dismissed.
Downstairs, Sienna waited with my cold breakfast, slurping down chamomile tea and messing around on a phone. “Here you go.” Sienna slid the new Samsung phone across the terrace table, still wrapped in its box. “Mr. Thatcher picked these up for us this morning.”
“He didn’t have to do that. We can share that one—which you also should’ve refused,” I said, arching a brow.
“I did, but he insisted, and considering we signed up to put targets on our backs, I wasn’t fighting too hard at having a way to call for help if things start blowing up and people get thrown off buildings.”
“We didn’t sign up for a target on our backs, I did.”
She mirrored my raised brow. “If you’re doing this, I am too. We’re together, Kenzie. Always. In everything. Don’t bother to argue with me,” she said when I readied to do just that. “As the resident psychic, I can tell you there is no future where you win that fight.”
I shook my head, sighing. “Course not, because you always use your abilities to win. Isn’t that cheating?”
“If it is, you won’t tell on me.”
Sunny came out to join us midway through my omelet. It floored me—as in if I wasn’t sitting, my wobbly knees would’ve given out and dropped me—how sinfully handsome Sunny was poured into a pair of trunks. He strode over bare-chested and barefoot, leaning over me to pluck a strawberry off my plate. Pulling back, his chin brushed against my forehead—leaving another in the invisible marks the Merchant brothers were leaving on my skin.
“Shouldn’t you be resting?” I asked. I was proud of myself for drifting down to the V poking out of his trunks and moving no lower.
“That’s exactly what I’m about to do. There’s a saltwater hot tub a floor above us. A little soak is just what the doctor ordered. Join me when you come back from shopping.”
“That sounds nice, actually. I’ll pick up a swimsuit while I’m out.”
“Oooh, about that.” Sunny pulled a face. “There’s a limit on the credit card, so if you’re tapped out and can’t afford the swimsuit, your birthday suit will work just fine.”
I flashed out. Sunny whipped away fast but not fast enough. I kicked him square on the right butt cheek. Yelping, he scurried inside, shouting, “Pineapple! Pineapple!”
Snickering, I shifted to Sienna and the knowing expression on her face. “What?”
“Nothing. It’s just... I love the energy of you two together. It’s like you’ve known each other for years and your souls have already begun to mesh as they do with the people we’re meant to walk this life with. Plus, he makes you laugh so easily. I missed you laughing, Kenzie.”
The whole of her speech was too much for me to handle, except for one part. “I missed laughing too.”
