Page 52 of Lethal Saint

“Not yet, but there’s time,” I quipped, too distracted by the sight of that golden, flawless body that had covered mine last night.

Damien laughed, the sound rich and warm. “Something to aim for. I love an ambitious goal. And I warn you, my queen, I’ve never failed to attain something I want.”

“And you want me obsessed with you?” I asked, stepping closer, enough that his heat stroked my body.

His voice deepened. “Very. And to that end, here’s your gun, Vasilisa.”

I shot him a smile and curled my fingers around the metal he’d warmed in his hand. “You have the right idea, Saint.”

“Fuck, why is it so hot when you call me that?” he groaned, pulling me close.

We startled apart when a cupboard closed loudly in the kitchen, and I jolted when I realised we weren’t alone.

My heartbeat kicked up, but it wasn’t Finch. It was a petite brunette woman around my age but a good head shorter, with a heart-shaped face and huge sapphire eyes filled with panic. She gripped the handle of a mop so hard her knuckles whitened.

“Sorry! I was trying to be quiet,” she whispered, like she was afraid to make more noise.

Damien pulled me into his side, like it was the most natural thing in the world. “You’re fine. Vasya, this is my friend Rose. Rose, this is Vasilisa, the light of my life.”

I glanced away, his words touching something sore and tender in my chest.

“I don’t want to disturb you,” she said in a breathy voice that I—recognised. I sounded like that when I spoke to my dad. My shoulders dropped, any part of me that might have seen her as a threat fizzling out. “I’m finished with most of the rooms, I just need—” She shook her head, a little breathless. “I won’t trouble you, it’s fine.”

“Rose,” Damien repeated, guiding us across the room to the kitchen island. Had it really only been four days since I first sat here in a teddy bear onesie, terrified of the Saint? “What’s wrong?”

“I can’t find my keys,” she breathed, strangling the mop handle.

Oh.Shit.I left Damien’s side and hurried around the island, holding out the keys and the yellow flower keyring. “I thought they were the keys to the front door, I’m so sorry I took them.”

Rose smiled weakly and hurriedly took them from my hand, rubbing her thumb over the smiling face in the middle of the flower—over and over and over. “It’s fine. No harm done.”

I shot Damien a panicked look and found him watching us both with the same heavy, sad expression.

“Right, that’s it,” he huffed decisively, stalking around the island. “Group hug time. Get in here, Vasya, Rose. Hell, bring the mop and we can make this hug a foursome.”

I snorted, giving him a look that told him he was ridiculous, but I pressed close to my husband, winding my arm around his back.

“I don’t think—” Rose began, her blue eyes panicked, face both splotchy with red and pale.

“Are you, or are you not, my friend?” Damien asked.

“Yes,” she sighed, a smile pulling at her cheeks.

“Then I’ll be insulted if you don’t accept my very generous, arguablychivalrous,offer of a hug.”

She rolled her eyes.

“He’s not going to give up,” I told her, a careful offer of friendship. “You’ve known him longer than I have, so you must know how stubborn he is.”

“As an ass,” she agreed quietly, but she sighed and joined the hug, bringing the mop along too. She never let go of her keys and I didn’t release my gun.

“This is a very weird way to introduce me to your girlfriend, Damien,” she told him.

“My wife,” he corrected with a grin.

I couldn’t hold back a giddy smile, resting my head on his shoulder.

“Wife?”Rose screeched, drawing back to give him a wide-eyed stare of disbelief. “You’re fucking joking.”

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