Page 61 of Blood of Vengeance

I snorted a laugh. “Tell me about it. I just realized I’m going to need to buy a bigger house.”

“So Zella can stay?”

“Yeah. I don’t have a second bedroom or bath.”

Rush looked over my place. “We could add on. You’ve got the land for it. Hell, put in one of those tiny home things, but not so tiny for her.”

A separate building. Might be nice—Locklyn and I could keep our privacy, but the two would still be able to be together all the time. Zella would be under my protection. “Might work.”

“Let me know. I’ve got family in the construction business.”

“Why does that not surprise me?”

Rush sat a little deeper, throwing his arms wide as he grinned at me. “I’m here for you, big guy. Whether it’s building on to your house or just getting the best Italian food in the state delivered. Whatever your mate needs.”

I stopped short, staring at him. How the fuck…

“You figured that out, huh?”

Rush shrugged, pulling himself together before sitting up. “Anyone with half a brain in their head would have figured it out. Luckily, most of the brothers keep at least two-thirds of their brains in their dicks, so I think your secret is relatively safe. For now.”

It was the for now that made my skin itch. “Any whispers at the club?”

“Not that I’ve heard.”

“Good. That’s good.” I offered my fist for one more bump. “Seen Eloise lately?”

His mate. The spirits brewer he had killed a human over. The woman he hadn’t claimed yet but definitely wanted to.

His face grew harder, his expression almost unreadable. “Saw her the other night.”

“Like a date night?”

“Maybe.”

Interesting. “I haven’t heard any whispers about her or that human.”

“You told me to keep my mouth shut. I’ve kept my motherfucking mouth shut.”

I had. On a night that seemed a lifetime ago but had been less than a week. He’d killed a man, I’d helped dispose of the body, and then Locklyn had shaken up my world like a goddamned snow globe. Not that I would have rather her not have done the shaking—I was just looking forward to things calming the fuck down.

“I’ve got to hit it,” I said, knowing Cutter would be waiting on me so he could ask about Zella. “Keep ’em safe, okay?”

“I’m on it.”

With that, I mounted up and walked my bike to the end of the driveway, not wanting the noise of starting it to wake up the women. Within minutes, I had the machine roaring full out toward the clubhouse with my thoughts finally calming. Other than the need for a bigger house—that bitch wasn’t going to release her claws from my brain.

Once at the clubhouse, I parked my bike and headed inside. Downloading a realty app along the way to get a feel for the market. Having bought and sold dozens of houses over the decades, I understood the process and had a good sense for when something was a deal or overpriced. The whole credit score bullshit had slowed me down when they’d first come to be needed, but I’d figured a few ways around the banking industry nosing into my business dealings. Mostly, I paid with cash, but I had other options as well. I just needed to get my shit cleaned up before I made any decisions.

“Flinch.”

I turned at the door, spotting Cutter coming from behind the building. “What’s doing?”

“Got Rush on duty?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“Just making sure the ladies are covered.” He looked out across the desert, as if he could see my house in the distance. “Two women to watch over is a lot.”

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