Page 173 of Renard's Deliverance

“Yes, I was gearing up for a fight and you took the wind out of my sails.”

“You wanted a fight?”

She shrugged. “Not saying I wanted it. Although maybe then I’d get my old Renard back.”

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“You can’t keep tiptoeing around me. Every time you boss me around, you then try to amend it so it doesn’t sound so bossy. And you’ve hardly sworn at all. Or gotten loud.”

“I just . . . you’re recovering. You need gentleness and quiet.”

“I love you.”

His eyes flared.

“But I fell in love with the guy who isn’t afraid to express himself. Who is blunt and grouchy and bossy. I want my gruff teddy bear back.”

He blinked, looking like he was thinking. Then his shoulders relaxed. “Well, thank fuck.”

“What?”

“That was exhausting.” He rubbed his stomach. “Think I gave myself an ulcer.”

She couldn’t help but giggle. “Good. Now, give me my phone. I want to text my girls and see why they haven’t been to visit me.”

“Ah. Well.” Renard cleared his throat.

That was a guilty look if ever she’d seen one.

“I asked them to give you some time to recover and that I’d text when you were ready for visitors. You needed some peace and quiet.”

She wanted to be mad. But he was right. She had needed a couple of days to get herself sorted.

“You were right.”

Surprise filled his face. “I was?”

“Yeah. You were. But . . . I want to see them. I need to see them and they need to see me.”

She knew that they had to be going nuts.

“Yeah, well, I’ve had increasingly grouchy messages from a number of unhappy Malones. Apparently, they need fucking proof of life.”

“Might help if you gave me my phone so I could speak to them,” she told him.

“Fine. I’ll get it for you. After you eat your breakfast.”

The man drove a hard bargain.

Luckily, it was no hardship to eat the food he made.

* * *

Opal knewthat Ryleigh was holding back tears.

She was also shaking.

Lilac was holding herself together, but she’d seen Opal like this more times than either of them liked to admit.

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