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“Good man,” I say, referring to Ardy Walsh, the Pooka police officer in Pine Ridge, the one paranormal member of the tiny force. He usually helps cover up supernatural disasters and crimes, but now he can be our mole. “What’s the news?”

“Estrada’s closest associates are worried that Delgado will talk to save his own skin. The problem is that Delgado’s under twenty-four-hour surveillance now that he’s in custody, and it seems Estrada doesn’t have an in at the facility... yet. If he gets one, it won’t surprise me if Matteo becomes verysuicidalovernight.”

“Hell.”

“Precisely.”

I don’t say anything for a moment. This means they’ll be looking for another way to get to Delgado or to keep him from turning state’s evidence. My stomach squirms. I’m sure there’s some leverage somewhere. Delgado’s mother. A sister.

A wife.

An ex-wife, I correct myself silently.

“You there?”

“Thinking. Therese might not want to go through with this now that they’ve got Delgado’s files. But... Say we wanted to relocate.”

“We?”

“She. But I’d help her. You still have friends in Anchorage?”

“One—and he still owes me a few favors.”

Just like Minegold. Too much of a gentleman to call in his marker, but he’d help me.

Suddenly, even though I’d fly to the ends of the earth with Teri, my heart balks at leaving Pine Ridge, the closest thing I have to home and family. The place where I learned to love, where I met my love, where I received my soul, and my soulmate. “Well, uh... Good to know. I’ll keep you posted.”

I wish I could just take Therese and run, grab her, and bundle her into a waiting plane with or without her permission. But then,I’dbe the villain. I don’t want to be the bad guy. She’s had enough of that. I want to be the man she trulyfallsin love with, the man who catches her when she lets herself go, lets herself love and trust again. I want that more than anything, even if it takes a long time. Is that love?

Or just selfishness?

The agent who played the minister at our “wedding” said something about love being patient, love being kind, and love bearing all things. He sounded pretty on point.

I’m still not used to it. I rest my head on my hands, wishing I could fast forward a few weeks and see how all of this turns out.

My insides are unsettled. I have the urge to hide away again, to escape the world that I don’t belong in, to disappear into myself, retreat where nothing can hurt me, back into the impenetrable fortress I was made to be. But for the first time, I have the urge to bring someone with me.

Chapter Fourteen

ASunday night storm breaks the humidity apart, and I open the curtains on Monday to a cool blue sky and a white-yellow sun shining down on Pine Ridge. There’s still no word from Powell, so Reggie suggests he keep his half of the cover story and work on the house. He shows me his tool kit, which is basically a cross between James Bond’s luggage and my dad’s old workbench stuffed into an army duffle bag that must be seventy years old.

I jump a little when I see guns and knives, even though I know he is my bodyguard. That must equal some sort of weaponry, right?

Reggie takes my hand firmly. It’s the first time we’ve touched since last night. “The sight upsets you, of course, after what you saw with Matteo. You never have to fear these as long as I’m holding them. They have only ever been used to defend the defenseless.” I notice that most of them look like older models, although they all appear well cared for. He picks up one shiny pistol, which probably used to be black and is now a mottled silvery gray. “An old Enfield. This was the British Army’s standard service pistol... You know, I believe this was Artie’s at one point. He passed it on to one of the older boys we rescued, a boy almost old enough to fight in the war himself, but... But I am happy to think we got him to New York with his little sisters.”

“He gave up his service pistol?”

“It made that young man feel like he would have a way to save his little sisters if we were discovered. And your grandfathernever needed a gun as long as he had me around to watch over him.”

That shouldn’t be sexy, but it is. The selflessness of this man—He’s not a man. He’s clay and magic.

Felt like a man last night. Talks and acts with more honor and self-sacrifice than most men I’ve ever known.

Reggie mistakes my silent staring for unease. “It’s not a bad thing to have some kind of protection in these situations. If you don’t know how to defend yourself, it’s a good time to start learning.”

I can picture Reggie standing behind me, body pressed close to mine, helping me aim, his thick chest muscles hugging my back and his thick cock brushing my—

You will get nothing done, Teri. Nothing but bending over and grabbing your ankles like it’s shower time sex round two. You let yourself fall back in bed with this man one more time, and you’ll fall in love—and there is no way you’ll ever climb out.