Page 53 of Nest Of Lies

She glances at him out of the corner of her eye, and her cheeks turn a lovely shade of pink.

“Did you know Ianto has the most amazing grams? She cooks up the meanest stew I’ve ever eaten.”

“You do?” she asks him.

“Mm-hmm, and she wants to meet you,” Ianto says.

I chortle a laugh at the expression of terror on Lia’s face.

“But what if she hates me, what if she thinks I’m…” Lia chokes herself off and looks away from us, her cheeks turning an ugly shade of white.

What the fuck?

“Lia? Lia, look at me.” Ianto speaks to her softly.

She turns slowly but braces herself as if from a blow.

“My Grams will love you. You don’t need to stress. She still loves me and I made her crazy with worry until I met the Mirakill MC.”

But the scent of burning marshmallows fills the room, and she gets up and paces.

Damn it.

I grab a lava cake and a spoon, carry it to where she’s pacing, stick the spoon in, pull out a big portion, and grip her jaw, force her mouth open, and stick the cake inside.

Then I kiss her.

She’s stiff for a couple of seconds, and then she melts against me. I suck at all the chocolate and lick at her lips until she is a purring mess.

“Better?”

She blinks and nods.

“Good, let’s continue eating, and then I’ll kiss you some more.”

I don’t miss the look she sends to Ianto, but either way, I think in all the happy days I’ve had, today just made my top one.

Chapter nineteen

Lia

I wake up inmy bed, but I’m not sure how I got here. The last thing I remember was falling asleep in Ianto’s arms in Zaden’s room. I sit up slowly and turn, only to freeze when I find Mills standing near the window, staring out. He looks so pensive and sad.

I must make a sound because he turns and smiles at me. Whatever he was thinking about is gone like it never was. I’m caught, mesmerized by the expression directed at me. Okay, now I’m sure I’m dreaming. Mills in my bedroom? I’ve had this one before.

“Are you feeling better?”

My defenses come up, and I struggle out of bed. The implications that I was sick are heavy between us. I’m in a t-shirt and my underwear. Despite my millions of questions, I refuse to be embarrassed. I walk quickly to my walk-in closet and pull out a pair of leggings and a baggy jumper.

“I’m fine,” I snap out.

“You had a fever. We found you unconscious.”

I freeze in the act of pulling on my leggings. My mind races. I was actually sick? Is it getting worse? Have I caught something? What do I do?

“What happened?” I ask guardedly.

“That’s what we were wondering. But we had a doctor come out, and he said it was just a bug. You’re fine now. Valen and Ianto had left you for an hour and you passed out. What happened, Lia?”