I guess.”
“Ain’t getting rid of me yet,” Jandro said.
“You’re hard to kill, man,” Bray teased, leaning over and squeezing his good shoulder. “But thank fuck you were there.” He turned to smile goodnaturedly at me and Shadow. “And it’s a damn good thing you guys taught her how to defend herself. It’s important, even though there’s four of you.”
“We should keep her trained.” I nudged Shadow with my elbow. “She can learn some assassin tricks from you too.”
The big guy nodded in agreement while Jandro groaned from the bed. “Don’t give her too many ideas. She’ll kill us in our sleep when we’re being dickwads.”
“By the time I’m done with her,” Shadow crossed his arms, a smile quirking on his lips. “She’ll kill us on a busy street in broad daylight.”
“I already know how to kill you in your sleep,” Mari snickered. “And how to make it look like an accident.”
“While I’m glad to see you’re all in high spirits in spite of what happened—” Finn began.
“Not all of us.” Reaper mumbled. That was par for the course for him. He wasn’t satisfied with the two riders’ deaths. His old wounds with Tash—the first attempt on our lives, Dallas’s death, and being driven out of our home—it all had to have been sitting on his shoulders like a massive boulder right then.
Finn walked over and placed a hand on his son’s shoulder, sympathy etched in his face. “I didn’t just come by to say hello. The attack has floated all the way up to the governor and he wants to meet as soon as possible. Right now, if you can. He’s ready for action.”
Reaper nodded. “Finally. Mari.” He beckoned our wife forward. “You’re coming, too.”
Her eyes shifted from him to his father. “Are you sure that’ll be okay? I should probably stay with Jandro.”
“I’m not letting you out of my sight again,” the president growled. “Fuck it if the governor doesn’t like it.”
“I don’t see it being a problem,” I mused, looking at Finn who answered with a shrug. “Vance gets that we don’t leave you out of our business. I don’t think he’ll say no.”
Shadow approached Mari, drifting a hand along her lower back. “I’ll stay with him. You go to the meeting.”
She looked straight up to meet his eyes. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.” He returned her gaze, warmth and adoration in his eyes. “They can brief me later.”
They parted with a kiss and a slow untangling of limbs, eyes only for each other until the last moment, when she came to walk between me and Reaper.
“You guys are fucking cute,” I teased her as we followed Finn down the hallway to the elevator.
“Yeah, well, so are we.” Her fingers slid through mine and then Reaper’s on the other side of her as we stepped inside.
Reaper pressed the button for the lobby while I brought the back of Mari’s palm to my lips and kissed her there with a grin. “But does he measure up in the bedroom?”
The cut on Mari’s cheek deepened to a dark red as her skin flushed. “We haven’t made it to that point yet.”
“What?!” I looked over her head at Reaper, bewildered.
He shrugged, bringing both of his hands up. “Don’t look at me. They wanted to take it slow.”
“But…why?”
“Because we just do, Gunner. It feels right for us.”
“You sure about that?” I teased a hand along the back of her neck. “You seem a little frustrated, baby girl.”
She just glared at me as the elevator dinged and the door slid open. Finn, who had stayed politely silent during our whole exchange, stepped out first, holding the door open with his arm for us.
“What do you make of this, General?” I asked him. “Did your wife take it slow with one of her men?”
“She did with Nolan,” he confirmed with a small smile. “The ah, physical chemistry she had with me and Carter was instant, explosive—”
“Fuck, really?” Reaper released Mari’s hand to slap his palms over his ears.
“Lis and Nolan were a slower burn, physically speaking,” Finn continued. “Their connection was more emotional, almost platonic at first, like they were best friends. They’d spend hours just staying up late and talking. It might’ve been weeks before they even kissed.”
“That’s really sweet,” Mari said. “I’m sorry you all lost him.”
“Thank you.” Finn smiled at his daughter-in-law. “It’s been over fifteen years now, so it’s not as sharp. But it still hits Lis and I sometimes.”
We all piled into the black SUV waiting for us outside. A thread