Page 75 of Secret Shifters Next Door

She touched my arm. “Things have been so crazy the last couple days, I forgot to tell you. The DNA test results came back. Good news.”

I looked at her and smiled. We’d already known the baby was mine. Having definitive proof was good, though. One less thing to think about as I worked to protect my new family from these hunters. It also gave me one more thing to shove into Ortiz’s face. First, I left him with a lawn and mansion full of men who were nearly dead. Those men, once recovered, would be so terrified that they’d all run back to New York. There was nothing Luis could do to bring them back.

We turned the lights off, and Harley fell asleep quickly in my arms. I stayed awake for a long time, staring at the ceiling, thinking. I’d made it very clear to Ortiz that I was not a man to be fucked with. I still needed him to know what would happen if he came near Harley and the kids—my kids—again. Between keeping them safe and Luis’ life? Death was the easy option.

THIRTY-TWO

HARLEY

After Emily’s death, Tate seemed much more on edge as the days passed. It seemed the stress was starting to wear on him. Even small things irritated him, and he was snippy with the team at work. Even me asking what he wanted for lunch made him snap. He, of course, apologized immediately. Still, it was draining seeing him wound so tight. As scared as I was about what Luis or the hunters would do next, I was starting to hope that the other shoe would just go ahead and drop. I wanted to get it all over with and see where the cards fell.

That morning, Tate was in a marginally better mood. We were making breakfast, and the girls had just come down from their rooms. Jordyn was watching cartoons, which always drove Mariah crazy. She thought they were both too old for them, but I liked that Jordyn was holding onto her childhood as long as possible, even though she was already boy crazy.

Mariah sat on a kitchen stool. “Mom, do you think it would be okay if Jordyn and I had a sleepover at our friend’s house?”

Without turning from the eggs I was cooking, I said, “Which friends?”

“The Davidson girls. Remember? They’re the sisters who are the same age as Jordyn and me. Our birthdays are almost the same, too.”

I was still wary of letting the girls out of my sight, especially after the kidnapping. I stared hard at the scrambled eggs, trying to think of some way to talk the girls out of wanting to go. It would be safer if they stayed home, but I didn’t want them to know something was wrong.

Tate, putting bread into the toaster, said, “It should be fine. Let them go.”

My head turned toward him so fast my neck cracked. Let them go? A sleepover? Was he out of his mind? I nearly had a panic attack if one of the girls went out to check the mailbox.

He must have seen the look on my face. He started the toaster, then stepped close so the girls wouldn’t hear.

He pressed his lips to my ear and said, “It’ll be fine. I still have guys watching them. And they know their ass is grass if anything happens to my girls.”

His girls. I didn’t correct him, because honestly, he was right. They were his. He cared for them and loved them. Not for the first time, I thought about how serious he was about us. He’d jumped in with both feet, and now it was hard to even remember life without him. The girls deserved someone like this. Someone who loved them as much as he did, who would protect them with everything he had. He wouldn’t do anything, or allow them to do anything, that would put them in harm’s way.

“Okay, that’s fine. Find out what time this little get-together is supposed to happen so I know.”

The girls were both ecstatic. It had been nearly a week since they’d really been able to do anything other than go to school and come straight home. The two of them barely ate any breakfast, they were too busy talking about what they were goingto do that night. It was all I could do to get them out the door before the bus came.

Tate spent the better part of the day walking around inside and outside the house with his phone to his ear. He kept barking orders to everyone on his staff. His voice was always gruff and angry. The only time he was cordial was with his three friends and us. I stayed out of his way, but it sounded like whoever he was dealing with wasn’t doing things the way he wanted.

It was awful seeing him so stressed out. I’m sure his team didn’t enjoy that their usually relaxed and calm friend was being such a dick to them. I wanted to do something nice for him. Something that might pull him out of the foul mood he was in.

He’d just hung up one of his calls, and I said, “I’m going to run to the store real quick.”

He smiled. “Okay.” He nodded at the door, “He’ll go with you.”

Confused, I walked over and opened the front door. Steff was sitting on our porch, reading a magazine. Blinking in surprise, I looked back at Tate.

“Really? How long has he been out here?” I asked.

“Since right after the girls went to school. Why?” He didn’t look mad or irritated. It was thenew normaluntil all the dangers were dealt with.

“Even though I’m wearing this?” I pulled my shirt down to reveal the opal necklace Emily had left me.

“I’m sure that will protect you in some way, but a shifter will protect you better. Besides, it’s Steff, you know him. I could have gotten one of the guys you haven’t even met yet.”

I rolled my eyes. “Fine. Come on, Steff.”

Steff drove. I decided to use Steff’s friendship with Tate to gain some much-needed info. I wanted to make him a nice dinner to get him out of his funk.

“So, Steff. Here’s the deal. I really want to make Tate his favorite meal.”

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