WITH SAM AT HIS HEEL, ADAM CAME INTO THE OFFICE while Sylvia and her family were still in the garage, waiting for Zee to get the Buick out.
From Adam's face I could tell he'd heard every word Sylvia and I had said.
He put a hand on my shoulder and kissed my forehead.
"Don't be nice to me," I told him.
"I screwed up." "Not your fault that overeager boy out there came in with guns blazing," Adam said.
"Someone sold him a whole pack of lies.
Tony and he are trying to get in touch with his producer, but she's not answering her phone.
I suppose she wanted a big fight on TV.
Man versus werewolf." "Maybe," I said.
"Maybe he wasn't my fault.
But if it hadn't been Kelly Heart, it could just as easily have been a vampire or a fae.
Neither of which would hesitate to kill Gabriel or one of the girls if they thought they were in the way." The hand on my shoulder slipped down and pulled me into a hug.
I leaned into it, knowing I was receiving it under false pretenses--I could tell from the way he was acting that he hadn't realized the full extent of my transgressions yet.
Doubtless he'd been too busy to take a good look at Sam-- and Sam, miraculously, hadn't done anything to attract anyone's attention.
Yet.
The day was still young.
I breathed in Adam's scent and took comfort I wasn't entitled to.
Sylvia was right.
I was feeling far too sorry for myself, and I wasn't entitled to that either.
I pulled away and hopped up to sit on the counter next to the gun before I enlightened him--I couldn't bear it if he were touching me when he decided he didn't want anything more to do with me.
As Sylvia just had.
The sticky black stuff left from where someone in the Dark Ages had taped a piece of paper to the edge of the counter was gone, and I ran my finger over the newly clean spot.
She'd left the cookies.
"Mercy?" I'd betrayed him.
For all the good reasons in the world, but I was his mate--and I'd chosen Samuel.
I suppose I could have hoped he wouldn't notice, but that seemed wrong in light of this morning.
What if Heart hadn't come here first? What if he'd run into Adam and shot him? What if he'd gone to Adam's work or had a photo of him .
.
.
Come to think of it, wasn't that odd? Adam was out to the public, and his face photographed very well.