pounced on her. Pulled back in a ponytail, Aida’s black hair bounced against her shoulders as she followed Cassidy down to the laundry room and waited as she bought some detergent, removed the stakes from her coat, and tossed it in. She added more detergent than was suggested, but it was going to take a lot to get the smell of the fire out of it.
“What, were you in a fire?” Aida asked as she hopped onto a washing machine and swung her legs back and forth.
“Yes.”
Aida stopped swinging her legs to gawk at her. “Seriously?”
“Yeah, and it sucked.”
“Everything okay?”
“Yes.”
“Want to talk about it?”
“Not really, but I’m sure my brothers will be looking for some info, so why don’t we discuss it then?”
“Fair enough. Wasn’t that the same guy who was in the bar a couple of weeks ago and last night?” Aida asked.
Was that really only last night? Cassidy dragged a hand through her hair as exhaustion nearly overwhelmed her. She turned and leaned against the washing machine as she folded her arms over her chest. “It is.”
Aida’s eyebrows shot up. “You’ve been holding out on me.”
“No, I haven’t. When he came into the bar again last night I… well, I… kinda invited myself into his life.”
“I have a feeling he probably didn’t put up too much of a fight about it.”
“He wasn’t thrilled in the beginning. You know that whole ‘must keep me safe’ thing and all.”
Aida rolled her eyes. “Oh, I know. So, what did you do? Where did you go? What happened?”
“You’re as bad as my brothers.”
“I can guarantee your brothers don’t want the details I do.”
Cassidy laughed and then cringed at the idea of discussing sex with her brothers. “We went to a bar… and I’ll fill you in more on that with Julian and Kyle. Then we went to his place, and now I’m here.”
“That can’t be it.”
“I hate to disappoint you, but there aren’t many juicy details to reveal. Come on, I’m exhausted.”
Aida jumped off the machine; she walked beside her as they left the basement and trudged up the stairs toward their apartment.
“I saw that kiss; there is definitely more to reveal,” Aida said.
“That’s all we did.”
“Uh-huh.”
“If there were more to reveal, I would tell you.” Cassidy linked her arm through her sister-in-law’s. “How bad are my brothers?”
“They’ve been unbearable asses all night. When they saw you walking down the street with him, I thought they were going to tear him apart. I chased them down the stairs to stop Julian from acting like an ass, but once they saw you kissing him, they decided not to become complete, barbaric morons. I think they suspect he might be important to you.”
Cassidy glanced down to find Aida’s eyes twinkling mischievously as she grinned.
“I may or may not suspect the same thing myself,” Aida said.
“You’re so subtle.”
“Always. So, spill! Do we suspect he’s something more?”
Cassidy considered everything that transpired between her and Dante and the way he made her feel. There was no denying he was completely different from any other guy she’d ever known, but…
“I don’t know him well,” she said. “He’s a good man.”
Of that, she was certain. No one spent their lives tracking down missing loved ones for people and relentlessly tried to pump life back into someone they didn’t know if they didn’t have a good heart.
“As long as he’s good enough to deserve you,” Aida said.
“He is.”
Aida squeezed her arm and rested her head against Cassidy’s arm. “Good, because you deserve the best.”
Cassidy dropped her head on top of Aida’s and smiled. Not for the first time, she found herself extremely grateful Aida had turned out to be Julian’s mate. Now, not only was her best friend also her sister-in-law, but they had many years to spend together.
Cassidy sighed when they arrived at the top of the stairs and she saw the door to their apartment was open. She felt like she was walking to the guillotine as she and Aida approached the doorway.
She wanted them to like Dante. Her family was her life, and their opinions mattered to her, but she wasn’t sure how they were going to react after they learned what happened tonight. And she couldn’t keep it from them or lie to them about it.
Julian was sitting on the couch when they entered, but Kyle stood in the kitchen with his hands clasped behind his back while he stared out the window. Last year, before Julian moved in with them, the couch and TV were