Page 86 of Romancing His Heart

Seth paces the room like a caged lion.

“I can get you to Luca, but I can’t guarantee they won’t interrogate you. Whatever Luca needs Loki for, they’re keeping it close to their chest.”

“No,” Seth barks. “Not happening. Loki will never forgive me, Ash. Get Luca to come to us, or we’ll figure this shit out on our own.”

“That’s not really how these things work, Seth, and you know it,” Ryan scolds.

“But, it’s worth a shot,” I say. “Let’s see how desperate they are to talk to Loki. Can you do that?”

“I can,” he sighs. “I’m glad this is my last fucking job, though, because this may burn some bridges you’re going to have to work to repair when you take over.”

“I’ll cross that bridge when I get there.”

Seth glances up, and we have an entire conversation without saying a word. Neither of us trusts Luca as far as we can throw him, but with no other leads, we’ll see this one through. Loki has put his entire life on hold for us. It’s time we do something to clear his path for the future, even if that means working with his enemy. I only pray he’ll see we had no other choice.

Chapter 28

Loki

I’m going insane. It’s been two weeks since I recalled the conversation with Luca, and still nothing. Ashton is evasive about him whenever I call, and that’s making me fucking nuts.What am I missing?

Red stirs beside me. Waking with her every morning has become second nature. And she hasn’t woken in a panic since our first few days here. If I’m honest with myself, I’m more relaxed than I have been in years. I don’t remember ever feeling this way as an adult. She brings a childlike innocence to my life that’s been missing since I was a teenager.

She burrows into my side, attempting to block out the morning light. She knows what’s coming, yet she fights it every time. Our first couple of weeks were … rough. She’s a night owl, and I’m up with the sun. Slowly, without even realizing it, we’ve adapted to each other’s lifestyles as if we’ve always been together.

Instead of rising with the sun, we get up at eight and get in some form of exercise. We’ve tried snowshoeing, HIIT classes, and our own version of Cross Fit, but she hates it all. She complains every day, but she never misses a workout with me.

At night, we’ve fallen into a routine, too. After dinner, Sloane writes until eleven or twelve while I read, then we go to bed together every night. I’ve never had so much sex in my life. And it’s not just sex. It’s fucking mind-blowing, life-altering sex, nearly every day—we cannot get enough of each other. I’m tempted to ask the guys if it stays like this or if we’re in some weird safe-house fairyland right now, but don’t dare. The second I open that can of worms, Dex will start making wedding plans.

Peering down at a naked Sloane, I allow myself that fantasy for the briefest of moments.What would life be like with you forever, Red?

Brushing the hair away from her face, I start the process of waking her up. With the snow beginning to melt, we’re going to try a road run today. Then, we have a full day of research ahead of us. She needs to learn all about the town she’s writing, and I need to do some dark web surfing for Luca.

“Come on, sweetheart, time to get up.”

“No,” she groans and tries to roll away, but I snatch her around the waist before she gets far.

“It’ll be over before you know it,” I whisper.

“We both know that’s not true. I can still feelitfrom last night.” She smirks while I hover over her.

“So freaking naughty, Sloane.” I nip her neck, and she screeches. “I like marking you as mine,” I say, playfully waggling my eyebrows at her.

“Such a caveman.” She yawns before stretching her arms.

The sheet pools under her cleavage, and it’s all I can do not to lean down and lick a nipple until she writhes beneath me.

“Ah, ah,” she says. “No way. I know that look. I need at least twelve hours to recover before you come anywhere near me with that monster cock again.”

I groan as she climbs out of bed. We gave up on the lingerie weeks ago, and while she claims to have never slept naked before, I’ve made it my mission to make sure she keeps up the habit.

While she’s in the bathroom getting ready, I put on the coffee and check messages. I’m not sure what I expect, but every morning I look for an update. A sign that we’re moving in the right direction—anything—but it hasn’t come yet.

Loki: Update.

Ashton: …

Seth: We’re working on it.