Page 101 of Three

“He had more than one place where he crashed. Ask Gabe and Lori to check as well,” Ramiel tells them.

“We’ll use Serena’s help. Keep in touch!” Michael says before the door closes.

“What I don’t understand is, why now? Why did Jasper order the hits now?” Uri wonders. “Years after you got out.”

“Let’s find out,” I growl, turning to my jacket to get my phone.

“What are you doing?” Ramiel asks as I start typing a message.

“Ending this.” I send it. “I texted him to meet me at St. Joseph’s in four hours.”

“It’s one a.m.,” Uri states the obvious. But one thing I remember about Jasper is that he suffers from insomnia.

“We need a foolproof plan!” Ramiel announces. “And I’m coming with you.”

Panic tightens around my chest, pushing the next words out of my mouth. “Stay out of it, Red! You owe me. Remember our deal. This is it, what I want. Stay the fuck out of it.” I grit my teeth, trying to find some measure of calm, but it eludes me.

I’m not an emotionally overreactive person. Generally, I have a good grip on my emotions; hiding them is a skill I had to learn fast in prison. I’ve always been steady as a rock in times of danger or trouble. But add Ramiel in the mix and the possibility of losing him, and all my calmness goes out the window.

“No!” Of course, my feisty boyfriend fights back. Any other time, his battling disposition would start a fire in my loins, and he’d be under me, screaming my fucking name. But this is too risky, and he needs to back off.

“I’m yours as much as you are mine, Grizzly, and if you think I’ll let you go alone to the place you still have nightmares about, you are insane!”

How the fuck does he know that? Did he hear me screaming in my sleep?

I snarl. He answers with a growl.

“Red, I can’t let anything happen to you.” My hands fall on his hips, gripping him, bruising his fair skin as I pull him closer to my chest. “You’ve been in danger because of me so many fucking times already. You got shot.”

“Just a scratch.” He cups my face, forcing my eyes on his. “This is what I do. You have to trust me, Hunter Bear. Can you?”

I want to. So much. I know he needs it, all of me. And I need to give myself to him if I want to have a shot at us. The panic is still riding me, screaming that I lock Ramiel in my roomuntil I’ve dealt with Jasper. But I can’t do that. I need to trust him.

I let a long sigh out and nod at him. His triple-dimple smile assuages my fears…a little.

“You seem to forget we are not alone.” He waves at his brother. Uri just stares at me with his empty gaze.

But is this what it means to have people who have your back no matter what?

“We need coffee.” Uri stands up and walks to my coffee machine.

“Do you know how to use it?” I ask him.

“He owns a fuck ton of restaurants. He knows,” Rague lets me know.

“We need to go. Be careful! And let us know if you need us.” Ollie yawns and Rague grunts before they hang up.

“Serena, show me the blueprints of St. Joseph’s Church please.” Ramiel moves to the wall again.

The glass door opens, and Ash suddenly walks into the living room rubbing his eyes, gray sweats low on his hips, blond hair sticking out on one side. “What the fuck is going on? Lori woke me the fuck up!”

“Go back to sleep.” I look at him. Dare and Ren pop into my head as well. They’re my family now. And Ramiel. I need them to be safe.

“Who the hell is that?” Ignoring my order, he points at Uri. Damn, will he ever learn good manners?

“Ramiel’s brother.” Uri surprises me with his unfazed reply.

“You can tell by the obvious resemblance, Ash,” Ramiel teases him. Ash looks unamused while studying Uri’s dreads and multiple piercings and tattoos on his hand. “Nice ink,” he tells him before muttering, “it’s like an infestation of locusts.”