what had just happened but not stopping to go back and break it up. They were both big boys; they could sort their own shit out. Besides, for the most part and despite their differences, I was getting the impression they actually liked one another.
Cass was on the living room sofa, looking kicked back and relaxed with a movie on the big-screen TV. When I walked toward him, his eyes followed me in that darkly sexual way that never failed to raise my pulse rate.
"You okay?" I asked, propping my hands on my hips. "Lucas said you needed painkillers."
Cass arched one brow. "Huh?"
I smiled and shook my head. "That's what I thought." Lucas hadn't even spoken to Cass; he was just getting Zed back for interrupting us in the kitchen. Fucking men and their jealousy... equal parts amusing and infuriating. Then again, I supposed that was something I needed to get used to, given that I had zero intention of choosing between my current lovers.
Ugh. I hated that word. Lovers. Made me feel like a damsel with a French-speaking, long-haired pirate sweeping me off my feet. But it fit a hell of a lot better than fuck buddies, so that's where we were at.
Cass reached out his hand to me, coaxing me closer, then pulled me into his lap when I tried to sit beside him. "Hey," he murmured, wrapping his arm around my waist as I cuddled into him without bumping his shoulder. "We've got this, Red."
I released a long breath, consciously forcing myself to let go of some tension that I seemed to carry with me day and night. "I know," I replied. "But it's still scaring the crap out of me. When I realized we were actually going through with that plan... when I had to shoot you..." A lump formed in my throat, and I swallowed hard.
Cass pressed a kiss to my forehead. "I had total faith in you. You knew what you were doing, and it worked."
I grimaced. "As far as we know. Chase was at Club 22 after your funeral, just being a fucking nuisance."
Cass grunted. "Good. Shows he thinks he won that round; he couldn't resist rubbing it in a bit."
He was right, but I was still anxious as hell. What if he wasn't fooled. I'd gambled—and won—on the idea he would be so smug about his "victory" that he wouldn't stay and check Cass for signs of life. He hadn't, but those few minutes waiting for him to leave so I could call for discreet medical assistance were etched onto my memory in harsh, vivid detail.
"Don't ever ask me to shoot you again, Saint," I told him in a quiet voice, not even trying to hide the pain I was still feeling over that moment.
He didn't offer me empty promises, just nudged my face to his and kissed me long and slow. His kiss washed away the anxiety and fear and filled me with the warm glow of confidence once more. Filled me with love. And that made me feel damn near invincible. I wasn't fighting this war with Chase alone. I never had been, with Zed at my back. But this time I also had Cass and Lucas, and goddamn if we weren't a force to be fucking reckoned with.
"I'll have to leave in a couple of days," Cass murmured when our kisses slowed. "All the details are almost worked out."
Sadness stabbed through me. "I changed my mind; I don't want you to go."
The corners of his lips curled up, and he combed his fingers through my hair. "Cute."
I frowned. "I'm not saying that to be cute. I'm serious. We can think of something else that doesn't involve you leaving me."
His fingers tangled in the back of my hair, and he slammed his lips against mine, this time kissing me hard and aggressively, stealing the protests from my lips along with the breath from my lungs.
"I will never leave you, Red," he told me in a harsh whisper when he was done kissing me stupid. "Nothing on this entire fucking planet can make me leave you."
I swallowed heavily but nodded. I knew what he was saying because I felt exactly the same way. But still, I couldn't shake the steadily building sense of dread every time I thought about what was to come, about what we all needed to do to deal with Chase once and for all.
7
I fell asleep wrapped up in Cass's embrace after he spent half the night