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Grayson nodded. “Yup.”
Cooper raised his beer bottle. “To Nan, the biggest, baddest bitch in town.”
“To Nan,” the others echoed, clinking their bottles together before drinking.
“Question,” Grayson said. “Are all celebrity personal assistants batshit crazy? Because this is twice now that we’ve had one try to kill us or our mate.”
“Maybe it’s a requirement of the job,” Wes said.
The others laughed, but Boone couldn’t muster more than a chuckle. He didn’t think he’d ever find anything even remotely amusing about how close Camilla had come to killing Hedra.
Grayson nudged him. “Sorry, man, I shouldn’t be making light of this.”
“It’s fine,” Boone said. “It’s just, you know… Hedra is my everything, and I almost lost her because of my stupidity.”
“Bullshit,” Cooper said. “It’s not your fault that Camilla is how she is.”
“Do we know that for sure?” Boone said. “Because maybe the way I treated her did this to her, and if that’s the case, then this is absolutely my fault.”
“Yeah, about that, I had Lusa do some digging into Camilla’s past,” Cooper said. “You aren’t the first man she’s obsessed over.”
“Are you shitting me right now?” Boone asked.
“Nope,” Cooper said. “Before the two of you got together, she lived in Mexico.”
“Yeah, I know. She told me she’d lived there for a few years,” Boone said.
“What she didn’t tell you was that when she lived in Mexico, she went under the name Alicia Vanden. She was in a relationship with a lion shifter, and when he broke it off with her, she stalked him for weeks. He had a restraining order filed against her, and when she violated it by breaking into his house and they issued an arrest warrant, she fled Mexico and came here under her new name - Camilla Crane.”
“Holy fuck,” Boone breathed.
“Yeah,” Cooper said. “Your grief over Derek’s loss driving Camilla away was a blessing in disguise.”
“Yeah.” Boone rubbed a hand through his hair.
“Is she out of the ICU yet?” Grayson asked.
Boone nodded. “Yes, she’s been transferred to the infirmary at the Glassett Correctional Center for Women while she waits for her arraignment. The prosecutor is charging her with criminal harassment and,” he swallowed hard, “attempted murder in the first degree.”
“Good,” Wes said.
“The prosecutor believes she’ll plead guilty by reason of insanity,” Boone said. He took another drink of beer, ignoring the loud laughter of the lynx shifters gathered at a table near theirs.
“If the shoe fits,” Chase said.
“As long as she’s locked up for good, I don’t care if it’s a mental health facility or a prison,” Boone said. “I just don’t want her free to hurt my mate again.”
Grayson squeezed his shoulder. “She won’t be. Have you spoken to Abena Nkosi yet?”
Boone nodded. “Yeah, I went to see her a couple of days after. She was in a lot of shock over it and kept apologizing to me like it was her fault or something. I told her repeatedly it wasn’t, but I’m not sure I did a great job reassuring her. But Hedra and I are having dinner with her tomorrow night, and I think Hedra will do a better job of it.”
“Speaking of your mate,” Wes said with the soft grin reserved for his mate Eleanor.
Boone twisted in his seat, his tiger purring and trilling when he saw Hedra, Ryan, Daisy, and Eleanor pushing through the crowded pub. He stood, pressing a kiss against Hedra’s mouth. “Hello, my mate.”
“Hi, honey.” She smiled at him as he pulled out the empty chair beside him. She sat down as the others did the same. She grabbed his beer and took a long drink. “How was work?”
“Fine. How did your interview go?” he asked.
