Page 115 of Lethal Vengeance

“What I want—we want—from you isn’t going to be easy. It’s going to be damn complicated and hard. Are you absolutely sure this is what you want?” he says, his keenly observant eyes watching for the slightest nuance of uncertainty.

“A hundred percent. I even asked Sterling if he would adopt Gabriel,” I assure him.

He bends down and takes possession of my lips. Every stroke reminds me of him. Demanding and confident. Possessive. Sexy.

When the kiss ends, my doubts are gone.

“What’s this about breakfast?” he grumbles.

I wrinkle my nose. “Sterling dictated the prize. I highly recommend getting your own breakfast or having Zane cook you something.”

He glances at me in surprise. “You can’t cook?”

“Not a lick,” I reply.

When we enter the house, Zane is placing a plate in front of Gabriel. He scowls when he sees me. “Sterling said you were cooking breakfast?”

“For him, yes,” I return, walking into the kitchen. “Do you have a toaster?”

Raider enters the room and slaps Cruz on the back. “Welcome home.” He looks around at everyone’s face. “What’s going on?”

Sterling sits down at the island beside Gabriel. “We raced back to the house. I won, which means Quinn has to fix me breakfast. I’d like some eggs and bacon with toast, please. And juice.”

Zane puts the toaster on the counter and crosses his muscular arms.

I wink at him, and his mouth twitches.

“Skillet?”

He points to the bottom cabinet nearest to him.

I squat down and grab a skillet. My other hand glides up his leg as I stand.

His head tilts, and a spark of interest flares.

I set the skillet on the stove and brush past Zane to get the butter and eggs. My whole body slides against his. “Excuse me.”

“Playing with fire this morning, aren’t we?”

“Little bit,” I murmur, darting a look at him.

Cracking an egg into a bowl, I add a little butter and use the fork to whisk it. I set it aside. Turning the gas on, I debate whether to add anything to the skillet and decide a little olive oil couldn’t hurt.

There’s a glass container of it by the stove. I grab it and swirl it into the pan. Then, I throw the bacon in and turn it on.

While that’s going, I turn to Zane. “Bread?”

His large hand is covering his mouth, so all that comes out is ‘pantry.’

I look around, and he points to a door to the right of the kitchen. When I open it, I find shelves full of various foods and drinks. I grab the loaf of bread and close the door.

I put two slices of bread in the toaster. And turn back to the bacon. It’s popping loudly now. I grab two forks and flip each piece over. They still look a little fatty, so I turn the heat up.

The bread pops up, and I put it on the plate with a slice of butter. The bacon is starting to look sort of done, so I punch in thirty seconds on the microwave. The timer goes off. I take the bowl of eggs out, but they still look runny, so I put them back in for another thirty seconds.

The bacon is dark, so I turn off the stove and add the bacon to the plate. The microwave dings. The eggs look done. I add those to the plate and put it in front of Sterling.

The entire kitchen is silent. I look around and find Cruz silently communicating with both Zane and Raider. Sterling’s looking at his plate with trepidation.