Page 31 of Queen's Ransom

Chapter Thirteen

It was almost midnight by the time Helena returned home. After questioning Dex, she, Chris, and Hawes had made the short trip from SFPD headquarters to MCS to circle up with Holt, who Helena had strong-armed into skipping the station. She’d wanted to talk to Brax, alone. Fat lot of good that had done. Sure, she’d gotten an initial word with Brax, leveling a warning he’d nearly bitten her head off about, but he’d been “too busy” to talk again before she’d left.

The nugget of earlier worry continued to grow, her soft footfalls up the stairs like an ominous beat in the back of her mind—and in her heart. They needed the buffer Brax provided with SFPD and other law enforcement. More than that, they—Holt especially—needed the absent member of their family back. Her brother was spiraling. Fuck, she was surprised any of them were functioning after the last six months, but Hawes had Chris and she had too many balls in the air to think about the lack of a safety net beneath her high wire. Holt, though, only had Lily and his wall of screens. He was the best of them, the one with the biggest heart, and the recent losses and betrayals had cut him the deepest. She’d seen where that sort of pain could lead Holt, and she’d seen who’d led him out of it. She needed Brax back on board in case Holt found himself in a dark place again. If she had to kidnap the chief to force whatever confrontation those two needed to have, she’d fucking do it. Anything to make things better for Holt.

But at least for tonight, judging by the lack of sound from the floors above, Holt, who’d left MCS before her, was finally getting some much-needed sleep. In fact, the entire house was quiet, not a nosy cat—or nosy Perri—in sight. The nosiest had gone home with Hawes to their condo, and it seemed the ones left in the Madigan home were likewise asleep.

Loss of a different sort twisted through Helena. More missed opportunities where Celia was concerned. Against their better interests, she’d wanted to spend more time with Celia tonight, wanted a repeat of that delicious kiss from the bakery, and wanted to assure her that Dex was handled. She’d wanted the illusion of the safety net that seemed to appear below her whenever Celia was around. Comfort and quiet, even as the world spun like crazy around them.

The same simple comfort that wrapped itself around her at finding the Tiffany lamps in her room softly glowing, fresh flowers on her nightstand, and beside the vase, a cannoli on a paper napkin. She muffled a laugh with the back of her hand, not wanting to disrupt the quiet of the house and the quiet spreading through her. That washed over her completely as she stopped outside the open door of the darkened room next to hers and poked her head inside.

Greenish-yellow eyes blinked up at her from a tabby face, Daisy tucked against a sleeping Celia’s belly. Neither moved as Helena snuck inside the room and rested back against the wall to admire the beautiful moonlit woman whose dark hair fanned out over the pillow, whose sense of peace reached toward Helena.

“You’re staring,” Celia mumbled after a minute. Not asleep after all, or at least not fully. She hadn’t opened her eyes, yet her assessment of Helena’s presence and actions were spot on.

Helena didn’t bother to hide the truth. “You’re beautiful.”

Celia’s lips curved into a drowsy smile. “What time is it?”

“Almost midnight.”

Dark eyes fluttered open as if fighting the weight of their lids. “What time’s your court call tomorrow?”

“Eight.”

She winced, the movement drawing a protest meow from Daisy. “You need to go to sleep.”

“I will in a minute.”

“Do you sleep?”

Helena held up a hand, thumb and forefinger an inch apart. “Wee bit. Law isn’t the only thing they teach in law school.”

Mention of the law seemed to wake Celia a measure more, even as she nestled more fully into her pillow. “Did Dex tell you anything useful?”

Helena repeated the motion. “Wee bit.”

Celia chuffed, then unwound an arm from under the comforter and stretched out a hand toward her. Reaching toward her physically too. No way Helena could refuse that invitation. She pushed off the wall, crossed the room, and lowered herself onto the side of the bed. Daisy’s death glare and Celia’s drooping eyelids stopped her from doing more, but just this, just Celia’s hand in hers, was the calmest she’d felt all day. Hell, since Friday. She hadn’t been lying to Celia in the gym the other night about her internal monologue not being too far off from Celia’s. Granted, hers was more concerned with Celia’s safety than her own, but that didn’t make the event any less alarming. If anything, it made it more so.

“Thank you,” Celia said. “For dealing with him so I didn’t have to.”

Helena gave Celia’s hand a gentle squeeze. “Anytime you want to tag me in to deal with that idiot, feel free.”

“Not alone,” Celia mumbled sleepily.

Helena repeated her promise from Friday. “Never again.” She skimmed her thumb over Celia’s knuckles, aiming to soothe her the rest of the way back to sleep.

But Celia’s caretaker instincts fought the lure of slumber. “You need anything?”

“Nope, I’m good. Just wanted to say goodnight.”

“That all you wanted?”

Helena chuckled. Maybe Celia was fighting some other instincts too, same as she was. She lifted Celia’s hand and kissed the back of it. “No,” she admitted. “But those plans flew out the window hours ago.”

“And you have court in the morning.”

“And you have kids to get to school.” Celia’s pout made Helena chuckle again. She added cute to the long mental list of adjectives she used to describe Celia Perri. This one near the top of her favorites. She tried not to think too hard about how she’d love to exist more often with Celia in this halfway land between sleep and wakefulness. “How’s your day look tomorrow?” she asked. “Shop covered?”

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