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“Okay, well, while I’ve got you here, I did want to show you some things.”

She was pulling stuff out of her closet, and I had a feeling she was going to keep me locked up with her until she was sure I was okay. That wasn’t going to be possible.

Chapter Twelve

I woke to Tiber’s voice outside, somewhere below the bedroom window.

“I think you’re pushing her too hard,” he said. “Luisca is about to lose her mind if you don’t lay off.”

“I’m pushing as hard as I need to. She’s stronger than you think,” Kaden replied.

I was fairly sure I was the only one they could be talking about, unless there was some other poor sap around here Kaden was abusing after I went to sleep.

“You say that, but we saw her at dinner last night. She didn’t look good.”

I didn’t? I’d thought I’d held it together pretty well, considering it had been my second day of almost killing someone. He should try knocking out thugs every day, waiting to see if you killed them, and then skipping away like all was good. It wasn’t easy.

“She looked fine,” Kaden said.

He was still an ass, but at least someone acknowledged I’d held it together.

“Are you trying to punish her?” Tiber said. “I don’t know what happened with the mating situation. I know it wasn’t planned.”

“I’m notpunishingher. I’m trying to save her life. Save everyone’s life. You haven’t felt the power pulsing through her, but once Herrick really knows how strong she is, he’s not going to stop until she’s dead.”

There was a long pause. I wanted to peek out the window and see what was going on but couldn’t risk them hearing me.

“Is she that strong?” Tiber asked, his voice holding a bit of awe.

“Yes. She’s got it balled up inside of her right now, afraid to let it out, but she’s strong,” Kaden replied.

There was another pause, and I heard someone sigh. “Can’t you have her practice on you? Or some of the nicer guys?” Tiber said. “I have to admit that I don’t like the stories I’m hearing.”

“You don’t think I already tried that? You think she’s going to be able to do it to Walter or Charlie? No. I chose them for a reason. And if you think those men are bad, wait until it’s Herrick standing in front of her. She can’t figure this out for the first time when she’s face to face with him. She has to figure it outnow.”

“Okay. You’ve got a point. I’ll try to explain it to Luisca.”

“Tiber, I know this is your home, your community, but I’m going to handle this the way I see fit.”

“I’m not trying to step on your toes. I know you’re smart, and you’ve kept everything together while everyone else either ran or hid or—”

“I don’t blame you for leaving. You had to.”

“That’s debatable, but my point is, whether or not I agree with you, my wife is going to lose her mind—and when Luisca gets really upset, it’s hard to ignore.”

“Then tell her the same thing I’m telling you. If I don’t do this, Billie is going to die. I’d rather she hate me and be alive. She’s tougher than you think. She can handle this.”

“Okay, ultimately it’s going to be your…”

I couldn’t hear the rest, as their voices faded away as they moved farther from the house.

I got up, getting ready for the day and making my way downstairs. The entire time I was trying to decide if that conversation I’d overheard made me want to punch Kaden a little less or not. In principle, it probably should’ve bought him a little forgiveness. In reality, it didn’t do a thing. I still wanted to knock him out, the way I had the other men. Unfortunately, nothing seemed to kick in when I hit him. I was shooting blanks.

There was the sound of a little girl’s laughter and chatter spilling out from the kitchen, along with the smell of biscuits. It was starting to take on the feel of what morning here was.

Along with the way the sun came in from the window and gave the kitchen a cheery glow.

“Billie, I have such a nice day planned for us,” Luisca said. “We’re packing a basket and all sorts of goodies. The weather couldn’t be better for it.”