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Cadence’s snowflake-sprinkled brows drew together. “I thought you two were finally getting along. We’ve had some lovely family dinners.”

“They were ok…”

“But?”

“But General Silverstar is, well, General Silverstar,” Damiel concluded.

“How very observant of you,” Cadence said flatly.

“I just meant, your father is so serious.”

“And I suppose that’s why you try to provoke him at every opportunity? To try to get a reaction out of him?”

Damiel shrugged. “Do you have a better idea of how to get him to chill out and enjoy life?”

“I’m fairly certain he doesn’t enjoy being provoked, Damiel.”

“Then we’ll just have to try something else.” Damiel’s eyes took on a calculating gleam. “We need to find him a girlfriend.”

Cadence froze mid-step. “Excuse me?”

“A girlfriend,” Damiel repeated. “Maybe if your father got some action, that would make him lighten up.”

Cadence opened her mouth to speak, but choked on whatever words she tried to say.

“I bet Leda knows tons of fun ladies.” Damiel’s gaze snapped to me, like he was acquiring a new target. “So, what do you say, Leda? Do you know anyone who would be interested in a boring archangel with absolutely no sense of humor?”

“My dad has a sense of humor!” Cadence protested.

“Oh, really?” Damiel replied with a slow, single eyebrow-arch. “The last time I told General Silverstar a joke, he complained it wasn’t a regulation joke.”

Nero snorted.

Cadence’s attention snapped to him. “Don’t disrespect your grandfather, Nero.”

“What is a regulation joke?” I asked. I just couldn’t help it. I had to know.

“No idea,” Damiel replied breezily. “Probably something General Silverstar made up because he was bored and had run out of shoelaces to iron.”

This time, I was the one who snorted.

Cadence shook her head. “You should all try to show a bit more respect toward my father. He is the longest-serving archangel in the Legion of Angels, you know.”

“Oh, we all respect General Silverstar, Cadence. He’s a total badass,” I told her, and Nero nodded along. “Also, he’s pretty sexy.”

Nero stopped nodding. The smile wilted from his lips.

“Well, he is,” I told my husband. “Just not as sexy as you, honey.” I blew him a kiss.

Nero’s expression didn’t soften. If anything, it grew harder. “But you still think he’s sexy?”

“Not in a I-want-to-sleep-with-him kind of way. More like in a looking-at-him-doesn’t-make-me-want-to-scratch-out-my-eyes kind of way. You are the only one who can make me melt and catch on fire at the same time, Nero.”

He nodded crisply. “Good.”

“Ok, I’m just going to stop you there.” Cadence dragged her hands through her hair, which knocked the hood off her head. “Let’s steer this conversation away from a ‘sexiness’ comparison between my son and my father.”

“It is totally inappropriate,” Damiel agreed.