Page 136 of The Crowned Garza

Saint eyes me, then shakes his head. “She’ll merely eavesdrop. Or pest me afterward.”

Torin gives me a hard look. To intimidate me into hiding—this is how he is. Bullies people into submission without having to utter a word.

But if Saint is fine with me staying, I’m staying. Instead of skittering off as he expects, I move closer to Saint until our fingers touch.

Saint curves an arm around my shoulders and kisses my temple, a warm glint in his eyes.

“You’re gonna marry her?” Torin asks him.

“Yes.”

My head whips up to Saint. We haven’t even discussed marriage, and yet there’s not a moment’s hesitation in that answer. Not a stutter, not a second thought. Just a solid, firm, immediateyes.

My heart grows wings, wanting out of my chest and into his.

“Good, then.” Torin plants his hands on the countertop and leans in. “The boys know about you two and are planning something.”

Saint shrugs. “I’m fine with it. They want their pound of flesh. Let them have it.”

Torin looks at him like he’s daft. “Let me remind you that you’re a member of The O now. You’re undertheirprotection. And I don’t know if you’ve noticed, butIdon’t even have the level of protection you have. JB’s either obsessed with you or doesn’t fully trust you. Don’t think I haven’t heard she offered you your own power and you rejected it. While I appreciate the loyalty, no one says no to JB without consequences. No one. You were the talk of The O—the man who rejected JB and still lives. But look, I don’t know what the game with you and her is, and I don’t give a shit.

“What Idocare about is my brothersnotgetting hurt. I’ve called in that favor Tripp owes me, told him to back off and get the others on board, but I’ve got zero confidence he’ll keep his word. You know what he’s like. They’re planning something and they’re gonna get fucked.Youwant them to have their pound of flesh, but you’re currently a favorite of the most powerful woman in the world, so ‘let them have it’ won’t fucking cut it.”

“Okay…” Saint scrapes his teeth over his top lip.So damn sexy. “I don’t—whatcanwe do to stop them?”

Torin rubs a hand across his stubbled jaw. “Nothing’s gonna stop them at this point. Even if we were allowed to tell them how dangerous it’ll be, they won’t care. They’re fucking commandos. The best option right now is for you to get a meet with JB and make a deal with her that’ll allow them to get their pound of flesh without being killed.”

Saint snorts. “You’ve known her longer. You’re a kingmaker.Youmeet with her. She won’t listen to me.”

“Exactly, I’ve known her longer. That’s why I suggest making a deal with her. She likes trading favors. She likes being owed. And no, I’m not pushing my luck with her again so soon after Tripp’s thing.”

“Yeah, I’m not sure I want to owe that woman a favor.”

Torin shifts his hazel-green gaze pointedly at me and replies, “For love, sometimes we gotta do things we don’t wanna do.” He straightens away from the counter. “Sort it, Guy. ’Cause if any of my brothers get hurt, I’m rescinding my blessing on this.”

With that, he leaves.

After several beats of tense silence, I ask, “So that secret society thing I’ve heard my brothers whispering about Tor being a part of is actuallyreal? Not just a theory?”

Saint nods, distracted. “Mhm…”

Wow. I’ve always discarded their quiet gossiping as wild conjectures because Torin is extremely secretive, but holy hell, it’s arealthing.“And nowyou’rea part of it?”

Still distracted, he nods.

I cross my arms. “And who’s this woman who’s supposedly obsessed with you?”

Saint blinks, looks at me, then turns to give me his undivided attention by cupping my face and kissing me.

“I promise I’ll fill you in some other time,” he says after breaking the kiss. “You shouldn’t have heard any of that anyway. I’ll need to get some clarification on what Icanshare with you. For now, can we just enjoy what little time we have left? Please? We haven’t been able to do this in over a week.”

“What’s the point of even hiding anymore?”

“You wanted to wait. Now if we come out in the open, they’re going to take it as a bigger slap in the face. We have to leave the ball in their court right now.”

He’s right.

“Saint, promise me you’ll tell me whatever you can later on,” I press. “I don’t want any more secrets between us. Please. Trust that I can handle it. I want to knowallof you, so I can love and acceptallof you, forexactlywho you are.”