Page 22 of Sovereign Oaths

“Maybe he thought you’d like to know.”

Probably. Had the guys told him I’d had a hard time thinking of Alessio as the villain? Maybe he thought I’d appreciate knowing I did the world a favor by killing that scum.

CHAPTER 6

Javier

“I need a verb.” Em tapped her pen on the counter while I rinsed a pot of rice.

This was at least the tenth Mad Lib this evening, and I was running out of words, so I reached for the familiar. “Murder.”

She giggled and jotted it down. “Adverb?”

“Hauntingly.”

“Is that an adverb or an adjective?”

Oh, now she wanted to be picky? “I think it can be either.” Did it really matter?

She hummed and wrote it down. I filled the pot with water, sat it on the stove, and turned the flame on high.

“Adjective.”

Annoying. “Funny.”

“You already said that before.”

“Like five stories ago.”

She sighed. “A noun.”

“Marco.” The man I hoped was going to be hauntingly murdered for buying her the stupid book. It was supposed to keep her entertained, but it was driving me insane.

“That’s a proper noun. I’ll use it below, but I still need a noun.”

I glanced around the kitchen for inspiration I hadn’t already used. “Cheese grater.”

“Oh, that’s a good one.” She wrote it down, then read the story we created about an ice-cream man who ended up murdering Marco, who didn’t like his ice cream, in a hauntingly funny fashion using a cheese grater.

I cringed. “Are you sure these are for children?”

“Yeah, but I don’t think they expect them to use such violent words.” She closed the book, and I nearly wept with joy. “Can I help?”

She never volunteered to cook, and we stopped asking after the third meal she had destroyed. It was for our safety as much as hers that we kept her occupied, away from the stove. Or air fryer. Or cutting board. Or spices. Even the measuring spoons.

“I’ve got things handled.”

“I’m bored,” she complained.

I chuckled. I was used to having three children around; adding a fourth to keep entertained was going to take some getting used to.

I waggled my brows. “I can think of something we can do.”

She eyed me while biting on her lip. “Do we have time?”

Shit. I couldn’t leave the stove right now, and it was my turn to cook.

“Why don’t you just relax? Put on a movie or read a book.” I pulled out the stir-fry vegetables from the fridge and began washing them.

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