“Dddiego! I didn’t see you there. Can I help you with something?” she stutters, lowering her supplies to the island.

Perfect. She should be on edge around me.

“Well…for starters, I need you to make my wife something to help cure her hangover. Except, I don’t think I trust you not topoisonit…” I start to circle the island, playing with my prey.

“I…I wouldnever. Tonight had nothing to do with Madison. I was mad at Liam.”

“Liar.” I smack my palm down onto the granite. Lainey jumps, clearly afraid of me.

Good.

“This will be your one and only warning. Speak to or about my wife the way you did earlier, and you will no longer be able to use that sharp tongue of yours. I know you grew up in this life, so you know I don’t play around. I especially don’t play around when it comes to Madison.”

A lone tear drips down her cheek as she toughens her skin. Straightening her spine she looks at me. “You are all blind. Liam included. That’s all I’m going to say. I will bite my tongue moving forward.”

I narrow my eyes at her. “Bite your tongue, Lainey or you won’t have one. It is very simple.”

She nods silently, moving toward the blender. With her back to me she says, “I can make her a smoothie that will help her with the hangover.”

Leaning back against the counter by the sink, I cross my arms and ankles, watching her every move. I don’t trust her, but I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt. If Liam and her reunite, I don’t want bad blood between us. Not everyone handles jealousy maturely.

“Fantastic,” I drawl.

The incessant soundof an alarm rattles my skull.Goddamn hangover. I fumble around on the end table for the source of the alarm. Is it my phone or Diego’s?Regardless, it needs to shut the fuck up. As bad as my head feels, at least I’m not nauseous. The smoothie Diego brought me last night worked wonders. I felt so much better. Right now? Not so much. My head is pounding.

“Urgh.”

A container of Ibrophen knocks over in my blind attempt at retrieving my phone, followed by the water bottle next to it.

“Ugh!”

Diego’s deep chuckle reverberates next to me. Warm arms embrace me, pulling my back to his front. His lips lower to his new favorite spot over my tattoo.

“I woke up thinking we had some sort of creature in here…” His morning rasp sends shivers down my spine. “Turns out, it’s the deadliest of them all. My gorgeous wife with a hangover.”

He chuckles again, leaning over me to shut the alarm. In his retreat, he grabs the ibuprofen and water bottle.

I sit up and he mirrors me, leaning back against theheadboard. My sweet husband empties two blue pills into the palm of his hand and removes the cap from the water bottle.

“Open,” he demands.

Getting used to him taking care of me, I oblige. He places the pills on my tongue and raises the water bottle to my lips. I cover his hand with mine, still struggling to let go of my need for control.

I swallow the water and pills, lowering the water bottle. “Thank you.”

His smile broadens as he releases the bottle to recap it before placing it between us on the comforter.

“Any chance you’ll tell me what the surprise is?”

I angle my body to face him as his hand comes up to cup my face. “Nope,” I say, popping the P.

“Brat.” He taps my nose with his index finger before placing a chaste kiss to my lips. Lucky me, gets the best visual of his beautiful backside as he rises from the bed. This delicious beast of a man knows I’m staring. Muscles and tendons ripple as he stretches his arms above his head. The Kraken tattoo comes alive as he moves, turning me on even more.Mmm. I take a quick glance at my phone: 7:45 AM.

Dammit. No time for a quickie.

“Your hair is gorgeous!You look like some warrior princess or a dragon slayer,” the stylist doing my hair gushes.

“Right? My Matron of Honor is not only hot but she’s a total badass,” Lexi chimes in from her chair next to me.