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He smiled. “Maybe one day.”
She softly snorted. “Liar. You’ll tell me shit, just like always.”
He chuckled and turned for the door.
Larkin gave Ella a nod. “See you around.” She then followed Teague out of the store.
The Black Saints instantly looked their way. The president tipped his chin at them, his mouth bowing up. “Teague, I was gonna find you at some point today. You and I should talk.”
Larkin narrowed her eyes. There was no veiled threat in the guy’s voice, no trace of hostility or dislike. And yet, her protective instincts rose. “Is there a problem?”
Viper looked at her, seeming surprised by her question. “No problem. I just need a few minutes of his time.”
“I’ve got a race coming up shortly,” Teague told him. “Come find me afterwards.”
“Will do.”
As Larkin turned to leave, she noticed Viper cast a look at Ella through the window. Her instincts stirred. Something about his eyes at that moment, about the way he looked at the incantor . . . It wasn’t the way a man would look at a stranger.
Huh. Weird. She made a mental note to revisit the topic of Viper with Ella at a later date. Right now, Larkin had a few things to do. More specifically . . . “I’m going to pop into Urban Ink to check on the girls. I’ll make my way to the stadium afterward.”
“You want to show them the brand,” Teague guessed.
She lifted one shoulder. “Maybe.”
Amusement gleamed in his eyes. “You like the thought of your brothers finding out second hand, because it’ll get them all riled up,” he correctly surmised. “I really am a super bad influence on you.”
She rolled her eyes at the delight in his voice. “I’ll see you soon. Good luck with your race.” With that, they parted ways.
Roughly ten minutes later, she was strolling into Urban Ink . . . just in time to watch Anaïs karate-chop Levi in the throat with a baby book, hard. The reaper sucked in a breath, rearing back. He coughed like a chain-smoker, shoving her into Tanner’s arms.
While the hellhound admonished his daughter as he strived to pry the book from her hands, Piper patted the back of a still-coughing Levi. She was also doing her best not to laugh. Harper, Khloë, and Raini were making no such effort. Even Knox was smiling.
Flushing, a sheepish Devon offered Levi a smile of apology. “Anaïs didn’t mean to hurt you, she doesn’t know her own strength yet, she was just playing—”
“Save it,” Levi bit out. “Don’t you dare laugh, Piper, it isn’t funny.” He coughed again, which only made his mate turn away, her shoulders shaking with a silent chuckle.
Grinning, Larkin crossed to the group. “That was one hell of a karate-chop.”
Harper knuckled away a tear. “I know, she hit him like a pro.”
“She didn’t do it on purpose,” Devon insisted, but everyone just cast the hellcat a disbelieving look.
Larkin swept her gaze over the males as she said, “I didn’t expect to see you all here.”
“We decided to stop by on our way to the rodeo show,” said Tanner.
Devon rounded on him. “You’re taking our daughter to a rodeo show? You want her to watch people get flung around by wild bulls? Seriously?”
He lifted his shoulders. “It always lulls her straight to sleep.”
The hellcat’s jaw dropped. “You’ve taken her before? How many times?”
Tanner cleared his throat. “Once. Maybe twice. Okay, six or seven times. But it’s hard to make her fall asleep. My opinion? Whatever works.” He turned to the rest of the group. “Am I right? We do what we must when . . . Is that what I think it is?” He leaned toward Larkin, trying to get a closer look at the parts of the brand that her tee failed to hide.
“Is what, what?” asked Harper, sliding closer to her.
“If you think it’s a brand, yes,” Larkin told Tanner.
Devon’s eyes went wide as she fairly shoved her friends aside to get a better look. “Oh my God, oh my God!”
Khloë came out from behind the desk and skirted the two males who’d been blocking her view. “I want to see, I want to see.” The imp’s brows shot up when Larkin pulled aside her collar a little to expose more of the brand. “Is that a hoof print?”
“Yup,” replied Larkin.
Raini hummed. “Well, now.”
Piper nodded. “Teague’s demon likes to make a statement.”
“Mine is no better, so . . . ” Larkin looked at Knox, Tanner, and Levi, finding them both staring at what little they could see of the brand. All three looked surprised, but not in a bad way. That was a relief, because if they had started to complain or anything she’d have been pissed.
Knox’s gaze lifted to hers. “As his demon branded you and you’re seemingly fine with it, I take it that your fake relationship somehow became real.”
