Rusty’s wife swooped in to take my empty place.
Magick crackled in the air around us, and I sensed a shield descending over Zethan and me. Privacy. A rare commodity these days with four men and a daughter crammed into Slade’s four-bedroom home.
“Everything okay?” I stroked the light stubble on Zethan’s jaw, warmed all over by the prickle of it beneath my fingers.
He took my hand and kissed each knuckle, sending sparks to every corner of my body. “Just wanted discretion.”
I hummed my agreement and kissed along his jaw.
“In a minute, baby.” Not in a snuggly, kissing mood, he pulled me back, forcing me to look at him. “I want your advice first.”
Tightness in my chest conveyed the strain of his burden. “What about?”
He brushed hair from my face. The roll of bond indicated his internal debate to confide this in me when he didn’t open up easily and held a lot of grief in his chest. Prodding him to open up the lines of communication before he was ready taught me to let him do things in his own time.
“It’s okay.” I linked our fingers. “Tell me when you’re ready.”
The surge on his bond said he needed to offload. “Demotion from the club shocked me into a frozen state and I retreated, unable to deal with it.”
No wonder he wanted seclusion for this conversation.
Isis’ healing gift kicked in, and I straddled my hand over his heart, gritting my teeth at the ache swelling in intensity and pain. “It’s how you handle grief?”
“Yeah.” Demons, not the curse, prompted his gritting of teeth.
Zethan told me a little of his past… his mother leaving his abusive father to escape domestic violence. Children exposed to environments like that often struggled to cope with conflict, retreating to where it was safe.
The glide of his palm along my back elicited both pleasure and pain but I wasn’t moving, not when he needed me. “I’ve had some time to process everything these last few months. I fucked up with the club. Brought heat on my brothers. Put them in a dangerous situation. Risked their jobs and the future of the club.”
Joy danced in my chest at him coming to this realization when he previously shut me out. The last time I initiated an open dialogue between him and Slade, I was met with opposition, so I left it up to Zethan to take the next step when he was ready.
I tangled my fingers through his shoulder-length, dusty-blond hair. “You’re a good man to admit that.”
“I want to atone for my mistake.” Pain shuddered through him as it did me. “I’m going to find Raine and kill him. Alleviate any threat to the club.”
Fear drowned out any cramping in my muscles. Noble goals but risky to his safety. Madness to also go up against Colton Raine alone.
I gripped the collar of Zethan’s new shirt—a Christmas gift—which hugged his arms and chest in all the right places. “I don’t want you going out there alone like some damn superhero righting his wrongs. We do this together. Or I’ll kill you and send you to the Underworld.”
He took one of my hands, kissing it again, reassuring me. “There’s no need to do that, Hellhound Bitch. I’m not that stupid. And I don’t want you to have to resurrect me because Slade killed me for denying my president the honor of dispensing justice.”
A laugh bubbled up my throat. “I’m glad to hear that.”
I was also glad he ran this past me as my mate and best friend.
“Will you tell Slade?”
“When I get the chance.”
“Good.” I smooth Zethan’s collar, pleased my two men would work out their differences, secretly hoping everything could go back the way it was.
Zethan released the privacy cone, signaling our return to our previous conversation—moving into the new house.
Pain returned, and I sucked in a long gulp of air to ride it through.
Zethan turned cuddly to make our interaction look legit and not raise eyebrows with my other men. He returned right back to our earlier conversation about the new house. “We’ll go shopping for new furniture.”
“Wait a second. It’s too much.” I pushed off him, walking around the table, shaking away the stabbing pain in my body. When it settled, I returned, dropping onto his lap to start it all over again. Worth it to be with my man.
