Page 145 of Handsome Devil

I pressed my lips together, nodding. “Let’s do it.”

“I’ll get to work right away.” Lina approached Mum.

I watched helplessly, my breath bunched together like a ball deep inside my throat.

Tate clasped my shoulders. “You need a break. Let’s go to the cafeteria. Alix and Sadie can monitor Lina.”

“We’ll be here the entire time,” Alix reassured me. “Go.”

“Hold on a minute. How did you know their names?” I frowned at Tate.

Alix winced, exchanging glances with a deeply red Sadie.

“Tell her,” Sadie whispered.

“No, you tell her.” Sadie elbowed Alix.

I swear, if one of them had sex with Tate before we hooked up, I would have to attend more than one funeral this week.

“Well?” I narrowed my eyes between the three of them.

“So you know our ‘girls only’ weekend we do once a year?” Alix scratched her neck.

My face relaxed. “Yes. Shall we do Cancun this year? Or perhaps Key West? I will need some relaxa—”

“And remember how Alix always pays for it because her dad is loaded?” Sadie cleared her throat.

“Yes?”

“My dad is, in fact, loaded,” Alix rushed to say. “But he never paid for our vacations. Tate did.”

I swung my gaze to my husband. He paid for my holidays before we were even together. Why?

He erected a warning finger between us, scowling. “You were wound too tight. Always complaining about how overwhelmed you were. Sending you off once a year was a pleasure. I didn’t have to suffer through your huffing and three hundred Post-it notes.”

“It’s okay, sweetie.” I patted his shoulder, a teasing smile on my face. “I would secretly love me too if I were you.”

He ushered me out of the room and left Lina and Mum with my friends. Our walk to the cafeteria was silent. I bought a cup of coffee and a sandwich I had no intention of eating. The scent of impending death made food unappealing altogether. We settled in the corner of the busy room.

“How are things going with Tiernan?” I dropped my voice to a whisper, since the place was swarming with families and patients.

Tate immediately started tapping his side. His pupils moved in a way that let me know he was solving equations in his head to calm himself down. “He blew up my Ferrari the other day.”

I gasped. “Jesus.”

“I know. Getting another one customized is going to takemonths. He couldn’t blow up the standard Rover?Prick.”

I gave him a chiding look.

“Also.” He cracked his neck and knuckles. “I had a bit of an episode and might’ve scribbled all over the bedroom a few days ago.”

I hadn’t even noticed.

“Negotiate peace with him,” I demanded.

“Fine.”

“Really?” I arched an eyebrow.