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“Ranscreaming, to be exact,” I amended. “I thought I should go get help.” I stopped and stared at him for a moment. “Are you going to repeat everything I say and make it into a question?”

“Maybe?” He stared at me as if afraid to know where the story might go next. I figured it was better to just tell him everything at once.

“The funny thing is, Oscar may or may not know it was me who clocked him with the branch. I’m leaning toward may not, and I’m fine keeping it that way for now. Anyway, as I was running away, he shouted and told me to stop, and that he was fine. I cautiously returned, and other than some apparent stings on his neck and hands, he was alive…although bleeding behind the ear. It’s a miracle he only got stung a few times. He was completely swarmed with bees. They were on his face, head, arms. Everywhere.” I shuddered just remembering it. “I thought he was going to die right in front of me.”

“He’s an experienced apiarist.” Slash sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “You should have told him the truth—that you’re terrified of bees, spiders, and a wide variety of insects.”

I felt worse than ever. “I know. This whole in-law thing is way more complicated than I expected, even though I studied really hard and prepared a spreadsheet. Now I’ve ruined everything.”

He walked over to the bed and sat down, putting an arm around me. “You haven’t ruined anything. This is my fault, too. I should have mentioned Oscar tended a small apiary. It completely slipped my mind. But you’re overthinking this. My family loves you because I love you. You make me happy, and in turn, that makesthemhappy. You don’t have to say or do anything to be part of our family,cara. You already belong just by being you.”

He took my hand, running his thumb over the scar on my wrist, identical to the one he had on his. “We’re in this together for the rest of our lives, remember? Just be yourself, have fun, and relax a bit around my family, okay? Trust me, they will love you for who you are, not for who you think they want you to be.”

I sighed again, leaning against him. “You make it sound so easy.”

“It’s not. Exhibit A—your dad’s and my relationship. But it doesn’t mean we stop working on it.” He reached up to touch my hair, then stood, heading for the balcony. He opened one of the balcony doors, letting the cool air in and causing the curtains to billow.

I pulled the blanket tighter around my shoulders. “Why did you open the door? It’s windy out there and I’m mostly naked, remember?”

“Oh, I assure you, I remember you’re mostly naked.”

“Then what are you doing? We have to get ready for the next challenge.”

“I know, but I had to set the bee free first.”

“Bee?” I leaped to my feet in alarm. “What bee?”

“The one that was tangled in your hair.” Slash closed the balcony door and turned to grin at me. “But no worries, he’s safe and you’re all clear now. No more bees. But Iwashoping you’d join me for a little search among the sheets for that missing scorpion. After all, we do have a bit of time before the next challenge, and we need to release some tension. Plus, we wouldn’t want that poor scorpion waiting all that time for us.”

I tilted my head at him, narrowing my eyes. “You just made that up about the scorpion, right?”

He gave me an innocent look. Sitting on the bed, he patted the spot beside him. “Why don’t we take a closer look beneath the sheets and find out?”

I studied him. “You have a serious bad boy vibe going on right now.”

“I’mastonishedyou know what a bad boy vibe is.”

“Says the man who dressed in black and bypassed my apartment alarm to sneak in and watch me sleep the first time we met. Oh, Iknowwhat a bad boy vibe is.”

His mouth curved into a grin. “So, this bad boy vibe…are you insinuating I’d disable my firewall for you?”

“Would you?”

“For you, I would. Now, come over here and kiss the bad boy who’s willing to lower his firewall for favors from his wife.”

I dropped the blanket and crawled toward him on the bed. My hair brushed against his chest, the muscles tensing under my fingertips as I splayed them against his skin. “Okay, but if a scorpion stings my butt, you’ll owe me the newest, most expensive insular gaming headset on the market.”

“Fair enough,” he said, knotting a hand in my hair and pulling my mouth toward his. “But in the spirit of full disclosure, I’m absolutely getting the better deal.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

Slash

Lexi and I were the last to arrive in the dining room for the challenge. One glance at Mama’s face confirmed she knew exactly why we were late. But her eyes danced with delight when she looked my way, making me smile. More than anyone, she knew my heart and how happy I’d become since I’d met Lexi.

Brando stood chatting with Lorenzo near the fireplace. Once he spotted us, he clapped his hands to get everyone’s attention. “Welcome back. We’re fortunate to have you continue with the games. Both teams had an excellent showing for the first round, so congratulations. Are you ready for the next set of challenges?”

“Challenges, as in plural?” Dad asked. “Will we be splitting into teams again?”