Page 20 of Semi-Reckless

Haven wished she had another option, but this was clearly above her paygrade. The demon wasn’t the kind she could easily apprehend and return to Section 8 with a magical leash around its neck. She needed more firepower to bring him down. She sighed. “I’ll schedule a meeting as soon as I can with Seven and her team. Maybe she’ll take pity on me and at least let me show them where I found the thing.”

Addy looked relieved as she said, “That’s a great idea.”

Yeah. Great. So why did she feel like she was about to get sidelined yet again?

“You’re being a fucking idiot.”

Roan raised a brow at his brother. “Hello, brother,” he said pointedly, barely managing to step aside as Gabriel barged into his home. “It’s good to see you, too.”

Gabriel frowned at him as he took a seat—completely uninvited—on the one and only chair Roan had in the living room.

He’d purchased the house two years ago, sight unseen. He’d needed a place that was close to Haven but not too close, and this split-level, 1980s custom-built home fit the bill. It was on a corner lot with very little yard space to maintain, and had been recently renovated with neutral paint colors and nice-but-nothing-flashy fixtures. Furnishing the place had not been on his to-do list. Which was why he owned nothing beyond the one chair (purchased at a garage sale), a wall-mounted TV of moderate size, and a mattress.

Which meant that while Gabriel occupied the chair, Roan was left to lean against the living room wall.

“Want to tell me why Haven was at my house at the ass-crack of dawn, freaked out by some new power she doesn’t understand?”

Roan winced. “I told her to go to the infirmary and make sure everything was OK. I didn’t tell her to come talk to you and her sister.”

The look Gabriel pinned him with labeled Roan the dumbest motherfucker on the planet. “Sure. Because Haven Hall always does what she’s told.”

Fair point. “She didn’t seem too upset about it last night.”

“Maybe because she was too busy being upset about you telling her you’d never see her again after she found this demon.”

Roan felt his back teeth grind together involuntarily. “You know I don’t want to hurt her, but this is the only way. You know why.”

Gabriel rolled his eyes heavenward, almost like he was praying for divine intervention, which was super ironic considering he was a demon. “And that’s why you’re being an idiot. Welcome to the conversation. Leaving her, never telling her what happened that night, is not the only way. My wife and I are proof of that.”

“It’s different for me and Haven.”

“It’s not that different. Addy and I love each other. You and Haven love each other.” He shrugged. “A couple of good conversations would straighten everything out.”

“You think talking about what happened—what I did—would help?” he asked, incredulous. “You’re crazy.”

“No. Not trying is crazy. Going your separate ways, letting her find someone else, marry someone else, start a family with someone else, all because you were too much of a coward to tell her how you feel is what’s crazy. And that’s best-case scenario.”

Roan rubbed his chest absently. The thought of Haven with anyone else felt like a fucking dagger to the heart. “What’s worst-case scenario?”

Gabriel pinned him with a look pointed enough to skin him alive. “Haven never finding someone else, never marrying, and never having kids of her own because she never got over you would be much, much worse.”

Fuuuuccckkk. He was right. That would be worse. The idea of Haven being alone, having no one to share her smiles and laughs and joy with was…wrong. No one deserved love more than Haven.

Trouble was, not many deserved it less than Roan.

“She deserves the truth,” Gabriel said quietly. “Let her make the decision from there.”

Roan nodded. “I’ll think about it.”

Again with the eye roll. “You’ve been thinking for two years. Time to actually do something. Unless you want Haven to go out with a werewolf tomorrow night.”

He couldn’t hold back an involuntary growl. Gabriel laughed. “Good,” he said. “Keep that feeling in mind while you’re thinking about telling Haven the truth.”

“You’re a real dick, you know that?” Roan asked without any heat.

Gabriel shrugged. “Being nice takes too long. Saves a lot of time if you just get right to the point and be a dick about it.”

“I think maybe you’ve spent too much time around your in-laws. You sound more like Harper every day.”

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