Page 26 of A Cursed Heart

Ryan

Fear, a cold, heavy feeling, settled in my gut. “What?”

Mal stood with his hands on the door, his eyes closed.

“Magic was used against my protections. They are holding steady, but I would like to use more magic to shore them up. I do not believe this was a serious attempt, only an exploratory one. They likely don’t know you have a way of knowing what happened. ”

“By they, you mean Scythe, right?”

He opened his eyes to study me. They were glowing green like they did when he let his demon form out. “Yes. It could only have been him. He likely knew when to strike because he had people watching you.”

“Us. They’ve been tracking you taking Freya to school.”

His smile was forced. “I’ll be more careful of my surroundings.”

“No,” I said, reaching for him. “That wasn’t a criticism of you. I know you’d be ready in an instant to defend her if you need to.”

“She is precious to me.” He came into my arms easily, wrapping his around me in return. It felt good to have him there, where I felt like he belonged.

I laughed. “Yeah, I know, and the feeling is mutual.”

Mal and Freya getting along was non-negotiable in our relationship.

It put too much strain on things when my kid didn’t like or wasn’t liked by whoever I was with.

Thankfully, the pair of them adored each other.

Mal wasn’t just a handy babysitter, though.

He got me. He knew me. All the things I’d tried to hide, the sides of my character others wouldn’t accept, he did without question.

The thing was, the feeling was mutual. Mal had told me a lot of what he had done, and still I cared about him.

Even if he showed me his darker side, I’d still be there for him.

As long as he didn’t hurt me, Freya, or Lydia, then I didn’t care what it was.

Okay, maybe not animals. I couldn’t be with someone who hurt animals for kicks.

“What d’you want to do about the magic?” I asked him. We still hadn’t moved away from each other. We probably looked ridiculous to other people.

“I’ll pour more magic into it when we get inside.”

“Do you have enough?”

He raised his head to grin at me. His eyes were back to the usual brown he had in this form. They sparkled with mischief. “Thanks to you, I do.”

I felt my face grow hot even as I dipped my head to kiss him softly. “I could always top it up later,” I whispered against his lips.

“Hmm, I like that idea.”

“Maybe…” I hesitated, “You could top this time.”

His eyes widened. “You want to try it? There’s no need to push yourself, Ryan.”

“I… Yeah, I do.” Everything. I wanted to try absolutely everything, as long as he was there with me.

Mrs. Roberts’ door opened, prompting us to break apart. “Hello! Oh, don’t you two look nice! Were you somewhere special?”

Mal, being far more social than me, took a few steps closer to her. “Yes, Ryan took me on a date.”

“Oh, that’s so lovely! I’m so glad Ryan has a nice man like you, Malcolm.” I wondered what she would think if she knew he could do magic.

“Do you need any help, Mrs. Roberts?”

“Oh, no, thank you. My doctor suggested I take more walks, so I’m meeting a friend from my bookclub downstairs. We’re going to take a walk around the park and then go for coffee.”

“Sounds like a wonderful afternoon.”

Once Mal was sure she was safely in the elevator, he laid his hands on the door again. “I can do some of the work from here, but we’ll need to repeat this morning’s work to ensure it’s as strong as it can be.”

“Okay, let’s get this done. I need to check the files and work on some stuff.”

There was little for me to do after I’d ensured all the files I’d copied from Salvatore Holdings were clear of anything damaging to me, aside from proof I had hacked them plus the other companies Salvatore had asked me to.

I’d planted a fake reason for his extortion, which wasn’t all that fake.

Jasmine had amassed a lot of debt, and my services were my method of payment without the added blackmail over my involvement in her death.

My plan was to completely torch their systems from the inside, making it look like a counterattack from the people I’d hacked. Sure, they were innocent of this, but I had no qualms about taking them down at the same time as the bastard who’d blackmailed me and controlled the city.

After Mal loaded the virus, it would be set on a timer, going off in the middle of the night.

My email to Conrad was written and ready to be sent just before, leaving no time for them to get access to their data centers before they imploded.

Another part of the plan was to overwrite Salvatore’s files with my copies, ensuring that if the FBI’s talented techs could recover data, it would be mine they would find.

Was it perfect? Far from it, but I hoped they wouldn’t question it too closely. It helped that Conrad knew shit was getting dicey there. He might just assume someone got lax in their rush.

Everyone was on watch, just waiting for me to deliver. I just had to send that email, and it would be done. Finally, we could put this chapter to bed and live our lives.

Except even once Salvatore was behind bars, we had another prison to worry about: Mal’s.

I couldn’t stand the thought of his having to return to the gem, or his being forced into a bond with me.

The thought of me growing old while he stayed frozen and waiting for his next owner scared me.

If there were a way to make me and Freya demons, I’d take it.

I knew then that Malacoda was endgame for me.

He was my happily ever after, like in the stories.

Okay, it looked different from what I’d imagined.

In my head, a pretty woman came along who loved Freya as much as I did.

Instead, I got a demon with some questionable morals, with magic, and a tragic past.

Yet he loved Freya like she were his own.

He made me feel like I was the best person in the world.

Me, the one who had accidentally killed my ex, which made me a shitty person.

He didn’t see me like that, though. To Mal, I was a defender.

I’d done what I’d needed to do to protect my kid, to give her a better life. To him, the end justified the means.

Mal was the defender in our relationship. His world was me and Freya. It was impossible not to feel loved. Not a single moment of it was fake or out of duty.

Work done, I pushed away from the computer. “Want to order in dinner?”

“That sounds good. I am reluctant to leave the apartment in case another attempt is made.”

“Yeah, me too. Freya will be home in an hour or so anyway.”

We picked out what we wanted to eat, and I put the order in. Then I found a blanket, some candles and set up a picnic in the living room by pushing the coffee table to the side.

“What are you doing?” Mal asked from the sofa. His hair was splayed over the arm while his bare feet were on the other side. He was back to just wearing those damn shorts. At least they were clean once more. He’d cleaned the floor with his magic.

“We’re having another date, just an inside one.”

His smile was bright. “Two dates in one day. What have I done to deserve this?”

I went onto my knees to kiss him, just a quick peck. “Just being you. I need to make up for lost time.”

Mal pulled me against him. “There’s nothing to make up for.”

We were red faced, lips swollen, when the doorbell rang with our food delivery.

The food wasn’t as good as the restaurant, but maybe that was the vibe.

I’d liked showing Mal off. He didn’t seem to notice people looking at him while we were out.

The server had flirted with him and he’d ignored it, totally focused on me.

I didn’t get what he saw in me when he could have anyone.

Totally wasn’t about to question my luck.

Halfway through our food, Freya and Lydia joined us. After she had kissed me, Freya settled into Mal’s lap to tell him all about her adventures with Lydia.

“Hope you don’t mind that I got her nails and hair done,” Lydia said, taking a seat on the floor next to me. She stole a spring roll off my plate.

“As long as she’s happy, I don’t mind. Her hair needed to be cut anyway.”

“The stylist didn’t take much off the length. Apparently she wants to grow hers as long as Mal’s.”

My laugh startled Freya, who stopped mid-sentence to stare at me. Happy I was okay, she started telling him something again. His gaze was fixed on me, though. The look was enough to make me blush, especially when I remembered what I offered to do before we got home.

“Of course she did.”

“Was everything okay when we were gone?”

There was no way I was telling her someone tried to get into my apartment. “Yeah, we went out for lunch.”

We sat listening to Freya for a bit until it was clear she was beyond exhausted. “Let me put the princess to bed,” Mal said, rising with Freya in his arms. She was so tired, she didn’t even fight him over it.

He was gone for a good ten minutes. Lydia sat with me in silence, waiting for him to return. What I liked about my sister was her ability just to be without pushing.

“We had sex,” I finally said.

“Knew it. Was it good?”

“Best I’ve ever had.”

“Damn, no wonder you look so happy!” She picked at the remainder of my plate of food. My nerves had shut my appetite down halfway through dinner. “Hot guy with magic and he’s great in bed? You’ve scored.”

“Hell, yeah.”

“I’m glad you were willing to admit to yourself that you liked him.”

“I more than like him, Liddy. Pretty sure I love him.”

“So Freya’s dream of a wedding and a demon for a dad isn’t all that far off then?”

“Maybe not.”

Marrying Mal would be amazing, but we could only do it once everything was calm. Only once we knew he couldn’t be taken from me and was free of the heart ruby.

When Mal returned, he asked Lydia, “Could we go to your place? I would like to try it just in case it becomes necessary.”

Lydia frowned. “What do you mean, like drive you there?”