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Personally, she couldn’t envision having such an issue with Luka. He was no slave to his emotions, her song appeared to have no real sway over him, and he didn’t strike her as a naturally jealous person. Still, her demon would be leery for the moment.

“Has it branded him?” asked Tobe.

“No. My demon never brands anyone. You know that.”

“So it’s not possessive of him?”

Naomi hesitated. “Well . . .”

Again Tobe’s expression creased—this time with exasperation rather than dread. “Ah, shit.”

“It’s a little possessive. I don’t even know exactly how or when that came to be.” It had sort of crept up on the entity. “You don’t need to get . . . Are you sulking?” Because it looked like it.

“I liked being the only guy your demon felt territorial toward—go sue me.”

Naomi inwardly sighed, and her entity let out a long breath. It would be easy to dub Tobe’s feelings as immature and petty, but jealousy often came into play with psi-mates. It was part and parcel of it.

She crossed to him and hugged him tight. “No one could ever be to me who you are. No one.” An anchor bond was a special, singular connection. “Not even a person I took as a mate.” That would be a whole different but equally strong type of connection.

“And I’m your favorite person ever,” he pressed, placing a palm on her back while his other hand caught her hip.

Crossing her eyes, she echoed, “And you’re my favorite person ever.”

“And you’ll always love me most of all.”

“Feeling needy, are we?”

“ And you’ll always love me most of all .”

She drew back, exhaling heavily. “I can’t possibly promise I’ll love you more than I’ll love my own mate. You know that. Stop being childish.”

His lips hitched up. “But you’re so cute when you get all irritated like this.”

Squinting, Naomi flipped him off. “Are we going to talk about the PI now or what?”

“Sure.” Tobe sank into her armchair. “Though I would have preferred to hear about it last night, not this morning. You should have telepathed me while you were at the restaurant.”

“I had a strong suspicion that he hoped I would so that he’d have a chance to talk with you.” Naomi took a seat on the sofa. “He’s probably having a fuck of a time following and tracking you—you’re a slippery little shit.”

Tobe grinned. “Thanks.”

Only an imp would be so proud of that. “I don’t think I’ll see or hear from him again.

It seems he’s terrified of Luka. I wouldn’t be surprised if he drops this case altogether, since he’s having no luck getting answers.

I’m just not sure how easily Stefan will let this go and focus on getting himself a new ghost artist.”

Tobe tipped his head to the side. “How much did you tell Belinsky about all this?”

“I didn’t add anything to what Phillips told him, which was simply that he has a client who wants the identities of your ghost artists. He didn’t specifically name Stefan as his client, but I can’t imagine it being anyone else, all things considered.”

Her psi-mate nodded his agreement. “I did contact Stefan and tell him to call off the PI. He denied hiring him, but it was obvious that he was lying. Anyway, back to what I meant to ask before. Have you told Belinsky what your main source of income happens to be?”

“Nope. He won’t guess that I’m one of the artists.

I’ve never shown him my workroom or even told him about my love for art.

Not that I think he’d blab about it, I just prefer to keep it on the down-low.

And considering he has no interest in getting to know me because he wants to keep things light, I don’t see any way he’ll find out. ”

Again Tobe dipped his chin. “You’re good at keeping secrets. On another note, has Belinsky released Iain yet?”

“No. Iain persists in insisting he loves me, according to Luka.” She blew out a tired breath. “My song really swept him under. He won’t consider he’s mistaken even under the pressure of actual torture. He’s determined to prove us all wrong.”

“Some guys in his situation can get seriously wrapped up in their delusions. It’s the reason why sirens were known for singing people into throwing themselves off cliffs once upon a time.

They didn’t do it for fun, they did it because those men became too dangerous to themselves and to the siren they’d become obsessed with. ”

She nodded, having heard all the stories. “Being kept away from me should eventually snap him out of it, though, right? Even this caught up in my song, he’s not a hopeless case.”

“He’ll snap out of it. I’m just not sure what mental state he’ll be in when he does. He’ll carry a lot of shame. Maybe even some resentment toward you.”

“Yup.” She sighed. “Hopefully he won’t make himself an issue. I’m pretty sure Luka will see to it that he doesn’t.”

“He’d better.”

She squinted at Tobe. “Promise me you won’t threaten Luka.”

Tobe’s eyes went wide. “Why would I threaten him?”

“Because you’re in full-on protective mode, and it makes you do inadvisable stuff. Now, promise me .”

He huffed. “Fine. I promise you that I won’t threaten him.”

Knuckles rapped loudly and rhythmically on the front door.

Tobe cocked his head. “I know that knock.”

So did Naomi.

“I’ll let her in.” He was off the sofa before Naomi could move to leave the room.

She heard the front door open, and then . . . “Boy, do I have a story to tell,” announced Khloe.