my gut is never wrong. He recruited Logan out of Chicago. He’s well-connected there. Logan wants to meet tonight, so he must be here, not in Chicago. I don’t know why I didn’t think of my father in the first place. And my God, how could you even consider falling in love with a woman whose father is trying to destroy you?”
He cups my head and presses his forehead to mine. “You are not your father.” His hand settles on my face and he tilts my gaze to his. “And this Chicago thing is going nowhere. They have no evidence. I was never in Illinois. I know that. I stepped away from the kitchen just to take a moment to reason with myself. This is how this went. Deleon told whoever is behind this to use my brother against me because he knew it would rattle me. And it almost worked, but even if I had to defend myself over my brother—”
“Stop,” I order swiftly. “Stop before you say something you can’t take back.”
“You need to hear this,” he insists. “I’ve never killed anyone that wasn’t in self-defense, Pri. No one. That’s not who I am. I don’t know how the fuck I even forgot that fact. That’s why I didn’t kill Waters. And that’s why, even when I could have claimed self-defense, I didn’t kill Deleon.”
“I know all of that,” I say. “So does Blake. I’m just glad to hear that you’re giving yourself that credit.”
“Look, sweetheart, I know Waters. What he’s good at is manipulation. He hits you where you’re weak. That means, he’ll come at me over my brother and you.”
“Because I make you weak?”
“Because normal humans, which he is not, have emotional bonds. Those bonds make us stronger in most ways. However, it makes us vulnerable to monsters. That means he’ll come at you through your family and me.”
“And?” I ask. “Where are you going with this?”
“And we have to flip the switch and come at him.”
“How?”
“I don’t know yet. I need to think a bit. I need to talk to Blake.” He strokes my hair. “Take a minute. Cool off. What you don’t want to do is react to any connection you find to your family in anger. That’s what he wants. And, sweetheart, you don’t know how he might be manipulating those you love.”
I inhale and let out a breath. “Right. That makes sense.”
“Blake knows where your father is already. We’ll go back upstairs, and we’ll dig into a real plan.”
I glance at my phone. “It’s already two. How is it two? I need to call the judge and follow up with Ed. And damn it.” My eyes go wide. “We just had sex, and I never took my pill. Please tell me it made it here.” I dart for the bathroom and start digging through the bags Walker brought me, sighing in relief when I find my pill package. I pop today’s dose out and down it, cupping my hand under the water to get it down.
I glance in the mirror at my smudged lipstick and quickly gloss my mouth. When I turn, Adrian’s standing in the doorway, and I swear every time I look at him, he gets a little hotter.
“Everything okay?” he asks.
I close the space between us and press my hand to his chest, comfortable touching him now. That happened so fast. “The pills were here. I’m late taking it, but I’m sure we’re fine. That’s the last thing we need now. Me pregnant while we run for our lives.”
He studies me, his lashes half-veiled, expression unreadable. “Do you want kids, Pri?”
I blanch with the unexpected question. “I don’t know. I have a dysfunctional family and I don’t exactly have the safest life. And I think I’m a bit jaded about the world I’d bring a child into, you know? I guess, maybe, probably, right now, I feel like I’m a no. What about you?”
“The same,” he agrees. “It’s been a long time since I thought about family in any way but the past.”
There’s something about the way he says those words, that has me asking, “And now?” and holding my breath while I wait for a reply, though I’m not sure why.
“And now,” he says, “there’s Walker. And you, Pri.” He cups my face and leans in closer, his breath warm on my lips as he says. “I don’t know where any of this takes us, but you are—”
There’s a knock on the bedroom door and we both groan