his arm because, sadly, Maestro was probably right about her.
“We’re actually trying to figure this out,” Player chimed in.
“That’s what you’re all doing in the kitchen,” Lana guessed. “I wondered. They’re serious about this question, Blythe. So am I. They asked me, and I didn’t know what to say.”
“Talking is worthless,” Savage said. “Teach a fuckin’ hard lesson once and she isn’t likely to forget it.” He turned and stalked out.
There was silence after he left. Blythe looked at her husband. “What does he mean by that? By a ‘hard’ lesson?”
Czar shrugged. “Savage isn’t in a relationship, baby. He doesn’t put himself in places where he’d find a woman to be in one with him.”
“I plan on finding a woman,” Maestro said. “And Savage makes sense to me.”
“What does he mean then?” Blythe asked.
Maestro flashed her a grin. “He means we need to communicate the importance of her obedience in a way she can understand and not forget.” He made a grab at the chip bowl, missed and hurried out before he could be asked any more questions.
The others followed, leaving Breezy alone with the women. Blythe, Anya and Breezy looked to Lana and Alena. When they continued mixing the bowls of potato salad in silence, Blythe cleared her throat.
Lana glanced at her. “You won’t like it or agree, Blythe.”
“Maybe not, but one thing I’ve learned over the years, Lana, is not to judge others. Especially any member of Torpedo Ink. I don’t know all their stories and I shouldn’t. That’s private between all of you and the one you want to share with.”
“Savage would probably retaliate physically.”
At Blythe’s gasp, Lana shook her head. “Not like any of you are thinking. He wouldn’t beat her, but he’d definitely react in a physical way. He’s a very physical man.”
“So is Reaper, but he doesn’t beat me,” Anya said.
“If Savage or Maestro was in a relationship,” Alena said, reaching for the enormous pasta bowls, “the relationship would include some kind of dominant, submissive crap. At least with Maestro. With Savage it would include more than that.”
Blythe shrugged. “As long as it was consensual, then it would be all right with me.”
Lana nudged Alena. “Ice is always talking about kidnapping his woman and knocking her up. He’s the one you need to talk about the meaning of the word consensual.”
The two of them laughed. Blythe, Breezy and Anya couldn’t help laughing with them.
“One of these days, Ice is going to fall hard,” Blythe said.
“Yes, he is,” Alena admitted, sobering. “He’s got this capacity to love beyond measure. Totally. If any woman ever hurts him …” She trailed off.
“Give her a chance,” Blythe advised. “If he finds someone, you have to step back for a while and let them work it out. If you threaten her, she may run.”
Anya nodded. “I wanted to run when you and Lana had a little talk with me.”
“That was me,” Lana said. She leaned over and hugged Anya. “I still feel awful about that. You’re so good for Reaper.”
“You notice he isn’t back with the groceries,” Anya pointed out and burst out laughing. “There’s no taming that man, not that I want to.”
“I want to know how Breezy’s doing in that house of hers,” Blythe said. “Do you get lost in it?”
“Yes. I think Steele wants to fill it up with children. He also doesn’t like me lifting a finger to clean it. I’ve insisted on cleaning the kitchen and our bedroom myself. Even with that, he wants the service to do deep cleaning in the kitchen once a week. I love the house, though. Who wouldn’t? Right now, Maestro and Keys are staying there with us.”
“You okay with that?” Lana asked.
Breezy nodded, suddenly realizing she was more than okay with it, even more so since Steele had told her about his past and Demyan. She definitely was looking at Absinthe with far more sympathy. “Actually, it’s great having them there. It makes Steele feel better having two more pairs of eyes on Zane, especially after what happened, the kidnapping and all.” She ducked her head, concentrating on cutting up cucumbers. “I sometimes can’t breathe when I think about what happened, so having extra eyes on him makes me just as happy as Steele.”
“I can imagine,” Blythe said.
“That was so awful,” Anya said. “Reaper was very torn. He wanted to watch over Czar, Blythe and the children as well as me, but also go with the others to help out.”
“We were good. Everyone was so amazing. Maestro and