here to aid our cause!”
“Lottie, he’s down the hall waiting for Mia to recover. Their baby is fine.”
“W-what?”
“Her vitals improved last night. She opened her eyes. Cale brought her here so they’d be better protected until she’s strong enough to leave.”
Evading Mary Kate’s snatch at her sleeve, Cee Cee leapt up, unwilling to believe until she saw for herself.
– – –
Mia Guedrey Terriot rested more comfortably within her natural sleep than her mate cramped in a bedside chair, his head nodding in a battle against fatigue. The rollaway tucked behind him remained unused, too far away to grant him the feel of her warm hand within the curl of his own. Cee Cee got that. She’d had her own share of restless, bone-weary nights.
Awareness of her in the doorway came instinctively to a predator more recently turned prey. Broad shoulders squared, channeling readiness even before he glanced her way. She hadn’t gone inside that hospital room the night before, so the effects of trauma and personal suffering marring his perfect features set her back a step then tore her heart wide open.
“Sorry to disturb you.”
Tension trickled down to crushing fatigue. “S’okay.” Blackened eyes targeted the Styrofoam container she extended.
“From the staff kitchen. Not gourmet but it’s hot. Thought you’d be getting hungry but not enough to leave.”
Unguarded surprise changed dulled green eyes to a sheen of emerald brilliance. “Thanks.”
Once he tasted that first fork-full, Colin devoured the meal with ravenous intensity, frowning at the juice provided in lieu of caffeine but drinking it down. With protein and sugar doing their thing, he regarded her with his usual caution.
“Visiting for personal or professional reasons, Detective?”
“Both. I was at the hospital last night with Max but didn’t want to intrude. I wasn’t expecting this visit to be a happy occasion.”
A world-class closed book of “You don’t need to know”, he hedged, “I have no answer, and sure as hell am not going to demand one. I have them back. That’s all that matters.”
There it was, just for an instant. A tiny spark of uneasiness flickered through Colin’s unblinking stare, just enough to alert her to a lie but not the reason for it. Cee Cee let it pass, filing it away as something to address at a better time and place. She smiled to back down his guarded nature to that of anxious rather than hackled mate.
“I don’t blame you. You don’t poke at Fate when it’s in your favor.” As his posture relaxed, she changed focus. “What do you remember before the—incident?” Impact was her first pick of words but despite his stoic front, she intuited the need for a kinder, gentler approach.
Though ragged, exhausted, and emotionally bruised, the Terriot prince lasered a bullshit-piercing stare. “You asking as a friend or a professional?”
“I’m always a bit of both. Can’t separate them. Just like an anxious mate and a cautious prince. We want the same thing, Colin—to find who did this and see them punished. Whether you do it or I do, it doesn’t matter to me long as it’s done. Are we on the same page here?”
A twitch of lips that could launch a thousand sighs. “Yeah, we are.” He puffed out a breath. “Silas stopped in to see me yesterday.”
Cee Cee listened to the deets, struggling to suppress a sinking dismay as the list of suspects rolled out. Her conclusions mirrored his when narrowed down to that same common denominator neither wanted to recognize or add.
Dammit! Alain Babineau.
A soft mutter from the bed claimed Colin’s attention. He surged up to bend close as lashes fluttered, wanting his to be the first face she saw. His smile spread as dark eyes opened, unfocused at first then clearing.
“I’m here, Mia. It’s Colin. You and the baby are fine.”
Brows furrowed. “Baby . . .? What?”
“It’s okay. We were in an accident.” His deep voice choked then strengthened again. “Everything’s all right now.”
Breaths quickened. “Colin.” She spoke his name, trying out the sound of it. As his smile spread and his eyes began to glisten, she whispered, “I-I don’t know you,” turning her head away as awareness faded.
– – –
Cee Cee sat in quiet support as Colin prowled the confines of Susanna LaRoche’s office. She’d had to drag him there.
“It’s not unusual with a head injury,” the doctor explained. “As the brain heals itself, she may experience lapses of memory, confusion.”
He paused in his restless pacing. “But she’ll remember.” His tone demanded. His gaze begged confirmation.
Refusing to be pushed for a definitive, Susanna smiled