Page 148 of Our Deceptive Heat

The world gets all fuzzy for a whole minute until Envy grabs my face, tilts my head, and seals his lips to mine.

He pulls back slowly.

“We’re not going to let anything happen to you. Your father won’t be able to touch you now. Not with who you are now related to. Are you listening?”

“I’m listening.”

“What are you?”

I smile up at Envy. “Safe.”

“What was that?” Envy teases.

“I’m safe!” I shout, flinging my arms around him. “And I’m free!”

“You’re mine.”

“Ours,” Digs snaps. “How many times do I have to correct you, Envy? Now come on, let’s go eat.”

We sit around a table, eating, laughing, and having a good time for an hour or two. No one is in a rush to leave. It turns out that Falcon Treyfield, Grayson, and Silas own the hotels we were meeting up in for years. They look scary, but Onyx and her omega Dylan bring a softer side to them.

“Is Raider coming?” I ask Lia.

Lia shakes her head. “He said, and I quote. ‘No, shit hit the fan, I need to sort out this mess or she might gut me’.”

My eyebrows raise. “She?”

“That’s what he said. I wondered if our rogue alpha might have messed with the wrong omega.”

I lift my glass. “To the mystery woman who can bring Raider Raines to his knees.”

“May she keep him there,” Lia says back. We clink glasses and chortle.

“What about Kelly? Any word?”

“No, he’s disappeared again, though I got an email from someone named Gael asking me to give him some time,” Locke says with a snarl.

I nod slowly. “He saved me three times. He keeps saving me. If he needs space, let him be.”

Lia pauses, and then she shrugs. “Sure. Uh, surprise!” Lia says nervously. “Here he is.”

I follow her gaze as a darker and more dangerous version of Raider walks in. The resemblance is uncanny. I stare at him, unable to look away.

“Baby Bailey!” Valen shouts. “I missed you! Come, give Daddy V a kiss.”

“You’d like that!” Bailey shouts and sticks his finger up.

“That’s Bailey?” I gape at him. “He’s like a replica of Raider.”

“I know, it’s freaky,” Lia whispers. “My baby brother, who is also, like, huge.”

Locke and Bailey meet and pause, looking each other up and down.

There is a second of tension, and the two of them break into a smile and start talking like best friends.

“Oh, no. There are two,” I murmur in mock horror.

“Wait until Kelly meets him,” Lia says with a giggle as we get up and wait for Bailey to make his way towards us.

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