Page 40 of His Lovebug

Bay frowned after him as if she was trying to figure him out. She nodded at us and hustled back toward her post again.

I nearly swallowed my tongue when Derek strode toward us, emerging out of the darkness like a demon into the hellish glow from the house. O’Neill shot some words at Derek that had him smiling and laughing—then flipping the cop off. When Derek reached us, he sighed.

“What a pompous asshole. He’s still a real fucking treat.”

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

Derek reached out to squeeze my hand. “You scared the hell out of me.”

Shame made my cheeks boil. I took off my hat and fanned my face. “I’m sorry. I had my reasons.”

He glanced at Matt. “I’m sure you did.”

I chuckled when Derek sent me a wink.

Derek glanced over his shoulder. “You know, I’m tired of getting the hairy eyeball from O’Neill. You think anyone would look too hard if he disappeared?” He grinned at Matt, who only grunted and glared after the cop.

“Unfortunately,” I muttered.

We all stood around for a long time watching the house burn, but after an hour went by—and I was sure the smell of smoke would never wash out of my borrowed clothes—Derek finally slapped my shoulder and Matt’s. “Come to my house.”

Matt tipped his head back and stared up at the sky.

“Oh, that’s very generous of you,” I said, slipping into my housewife persona.Manners, manners, manners.I didn’t hate it, but right now I wanted to swear. I didn’t want to have to spend God knew how long at Derek’s house, even if it had a nice view of the lake.

“We should go to the Courtesan Hotel.” Matt cut a glance at Derek that seemed to hold the weight of the world, and he nodded slowly.

“Why?” I asked, wrinkling my nose at him. “Not that it isn’t lovely, but we’re going to need a place to stay for more than a few nights.”

A grin slowly spread across Derek’s face. “Quin, a well-known secret in New Gothenburg is about to become yours.” He stretched his arms up over his head and arched his back. “Madam Winters will put someone’s head on a pike if they shed blood in her place. It’s been declared a no-fly zone for years. Everyone likes to get a piece of ass without worrying about their head getting blown off, so that neutrality has stood for a long time.”

“There’s more to it than that,” Matt said.

“Yeah, but that’s enough info for Quin, and besides,don’t piss off Madam Wintersis good advice for anyone.” Derek waggled his eyebrows.

“Topher would be insane to come after us there.” Matt lifted my hand and kissed my knuckles. “I want you safe.”

Derek waved at the house. “Thisis insane. The cops know something is up, and with this mess, they’ll dig. O’Neill has been hounding us for-fucking-ever. This is better for him than his goddamned birthday. Topher clearly doesn’t care about the heat—figuratively or literally.”

My stomach clenched as I watched the firefighters back away from the house. The top story completely collapsed. They scrambled and pointed their hoses at what seemed to be strategic positions around the mess. I grabbed Matt’s hand and clenched it hard while sparks lazily drifted on the wind, dangerous fireflies ready to take a bite out of our unsuspecting neighborhood.

“You should check on Royal and Jackson,” I said, not caring which one of them did it.

Derek glanced at me, then nodded. “Yeah, who knows how much Topher is aware of? He knew enough to track down Quin while he was out today.”

Matt pursed his lips and dragged his phone out of his pocket.

I leaned against his side as he texted.

“They’re probably fine,” he said.

They had to be okay. No one could knoweverythingwe’d been doing. I peeked at the phone when nothing happened—no response. That wasn’t good. I bit my lip as he hit Royal’s number and tried to call. He did the same with Jackson’s. When there was no answer again, we all stood around for a few more minutes.

My stomach tightened into a knot. Derek’s face was paler than I’d ever seen it, even though he didn’t look otherwise worried. The only reason I could tell Matt was concerned was because the hold he had on me was starting to make my shoulders ache.

All at once, as if one of the cinders from the fire had slid down his pants and burned him on the ass, Derek ripped his phone out of his pocket. He walked a few steps away from us to mutter low and fast at someone on the other end. When he was done, I couldn’t help the questioning grunt that slipped from my lips.

“I’m having one of Kit’s friends ask him to stay the night, and I’ll go with you and Colt to the Courtesan.”

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