Page 94 of My Solemn Vow

“I can’t believe you live here,” Leticia whispers to Antonella, looking around the house. “I’m pretty sure there are gargoyles on the roof.”

“No gargoyles,” Antonella whispers back. “But there is a tortoise.”

“On the roof?” Leticia unzips her boots and leaves them on the rug, her coat already hung on the rack by the door.

“Solarium,” Antonella says before looking over her shoulder to me as she leads Leticia, arm in arm, to the kitchen. “Okay, will you tell me how you planned this?”

“That was all me.” Leticia giggles. She draws a big, deep breath. “You see, it wasn’t enough texting you every day, so I called up the Clark Enterprise office and pretended to be a vendor, started reading a bunch of technical jargon off the internet, and asked for answers or the person who would be in charge of this sort of top-secret project. The receptionist, after like, thirty minutes, transferred me to Royal, who was surprisingly nice and informal, and with a little flirting, I got him to put Valor on the line.”

“Ha.” I laugh before I can stop myself.

“What of that wasn’t true?” Leticia looks me up and down. “Because your receptionist, Margret, is very nice and, I say, deserves a raise if she regularly puts up with that bullshit.”

“No, it’s just that Royal was positive you weren’t flirting with him,” I explain while taking out a bottle of wine, offering the label out to Antonella.

She shakes her head and opens the fridge before pulling out three beers.

“You’re going to make it so hard to go home if you spoil me like this.” Leticia eyes the beer before making grabby-hand motions, like Kerrianne does when she really wants something.

“Beer goes better with the pork I’m making,” Antonella explains, and I use the church key to open the bottles, handing Leticia hers first.

“Thank you.” She beams and looks around the house. “This is nice. A lot brighter than I was expecting, not that I would know because you’re like the single-word answer queen. I’m not lying when Valor told me he had no problem with me coming to dinner tonight. I thought he was full of shit, and you’d be gone or something. Maybe chained up in the basement.”

“I should have made it clearer that you were supposed to talk with your cousin.” I take the heat for Antonella.

The truth is, she probably didn’t think it was a good idea to text Leticia. But without previous message history to see how much they spoke before... It hadn’t raised any sort of alarm that she wasn’t texting regularly.

They look at me like I’m growing a third head. “Should I maybe give you two some space?”

“No.” They answer at the same time, tones sharp and accusatory.

“Well, Leticia, you’re welcome here anytime, and, Antonella, anytime you’d like to see Leticia, you two can meet up in publicif you’d prefer. I don’t trust Gregorio or Berto and don’t want you at their home without me, but I have no problem with you two speaking and getting together.” I shrug and take a sip of my beer, trying to catch my breath.

“It’s so weird.” Leticia’s words are singsongy, delivered through clenched teeth and with a melody. “He’s almost normal. Toni, are you sure he’s a Cavanagh? Did you look at his driver’s license? Did you marry the wrong rich guy?”

Antonella rolls her eyes and answers at regular volume. “Oh, I’m pretty sure he’s the right rich guy. The Irish do things differently.”

“Clearly,” Leticia murmurs.

“Daaaad!” Kerrianne calls from upstairs.

“Yes, Kerrianne?” I echo back.

“Can I wear pants?” she shouts down the stairs.

“I told her one time that she had to wear a dress when company came over, and now we go through this every time she meets someone new,” I explain before answering back at a louder volume. “Yeah, pup. Pants are fine.”

“Pup?” Leticia squints at me.

And it’s then I know I fucked up. The hair on the back of my neck rises.

“Term of endearment. Kerrianne is kinda unique. You’ll like her.” Antonella is quick to explain it away.

“Nope.” Leticia shakes her head. “Bullshit meter is off the charts. He stiffened, and you’re about as subtle as a freight train. You’re not actually offering an explanation. I wanna know.”

How is she so perceptive?My wolf homes in on her. Leticia is most certainly human.

My wolf momentarily flashes in my eyes, despite my best efforts. He’s tight against the surface, and Leticia gasps.