“Oh, yes. Please.” He relaxed into the feeling of Mercer’s fingers in his hair.
As the strands of Rahil’s half-destroyed braid fell apart, Mercer asked, “Who did you get this old place from? Was it just decrepit enough that they agreed to sell to a vampire?”
“I bought it from the Starlight Club, actually—the vampire kink club Diego Figueroa runs with their husbands. Do you know—?”
“I take commissions from them on occasion, along with some of their club’s customers. They tip well. They take care of each other, so they always have a little left over after.”
Rahil nodded. It sounded a bit like his own family, only his came together because of blood, and this one… well, they came together for a different kind of blood, he supposed. “They had hosted meets here on and off over the years. When I bought it, they offered to help me turn it around, too, but they’d already given me such a discount and my family all chipped in to help me pay it off, and I didn’t want to ask for more.” He groaned. “I might have actually been rather rude to them, now that I’m looking back on it. Them, and my family. Everyone wanted to help, but Shefali had just received her diagnosis, and she deserved that love far more than I did—”
“Did she?” Mercer asked, and Rahil looked up in time to hear him repeat, “Did she deserve that lovemorethan you? Is love even a thing that can bedeserved less?”
The protest caught in Rahil’s throat, because as he dwelt on it, he realized he hadn’t even thought about his own phrasing. He tried to substitute the word out—not love, but support, assistance, attention not deserved but required, earned, expected. But that all seemed just as hollow while staring at a man who’d been willing to kill for his family—for a family that included Rahil.
He gave a sniffly little laugh. “Well, I’m happy to accept whatever love you want to bestow upon me in the future, deserving or not.”
“Good.” Mercer must have finished the final plait because he let Rahil’s hair go, rubbing both his shoulders. “Because I think between the two of us, we can fix this place up rather nicely. At least, once we’ve started working on things we can sell together. I’m only an unending fountain of funds when it comes toapologies-for-traumatizing-youice cream.”
Rahil turned enough to meet Merc’s gaze. “You really want to do that with me?”
“I want to do everything with you, babe.” Mercer swallowed, an awkward little quirk to his lips. “I know this is jumping the gun, but since we both had spouses before…”
Rahil raised a brow, trying not to reveal what that statement had just done to his heart rate.Please, please, please, please,it seemed to be singing. “Do you want to have a spouse again someday?”
“Only if they’re you.” Mercer looked so adorably embarrassed for such a large, strong man. “But I would be happy simply to—”
“Yes,” Rahil said, and he doubted there was a grin wide enough to convey whatever nonsensical dance of joy was going on in his chest. “That is, if you don’t worry we’d be rushing this?”
“We both know what we want, and we’re aware of what marriage entails,” Mercer said. “I’m not saying we run to the courthouse after this, but… why delay? Lydia loves you, and I love you, and, well, Kat loveseveryonewho’s granted access to her treat jar. And the rings will take time to forge—a month, at least. I’ll need quite a few hours in the shed, especially ifyouhelp me.”
Rahil lifted his brow. “You’re going to teachmefor this? Oh, that’ll result in weeks’ worth of distractions, surely.”
“Surely.” Mercer wove his fingers into Rahil’s. Enough of the dirt had smeared onto Rahul that the blood beneath Mercer’s nails was obvious now. On the other side of the house, the door banged open to the sound of Lydia’s snorted laughter, Avery shouting joyously while Jim protested.
“And we’ll both have to figure out how to coparent again,” Rahil said.
Mercer groaned but one edge of his mouth tipped up as Lydia burst through from the hall. He muttered, “If either of us figure outanythingabout parenting, I’ll be amazed by us.”
Rahil nodded toward his daughter. “You did something right today, at least.”
“We both did,” Mercer said.
And for the first time in a long, long time, Rahil could accept it was the truth.
39
MERCER
The blood had come out from beneath Mercer’s nails, and while he wasn’t sure it would ever stop staining his soul, at least he could hear Rahil climbing into the shower, Kat barking at the backyard squirrels, and Lydia tapping on her phone from down the hall. His family was safe. That was enough.
And if, someday, his best couldn’t buy them that, then it would still have to be enough then too.
That was someday though, and today was today. He still had one more challenge to confront, one more before he could try to find some semblance of rest for himself.
Mercer tapped on Lydia’s open door, poking his head in slowly.
She looked up at him from the floor beside her bed.
“Can I… come in?” He didn’t mean it as a trick question, but somehow, he knew it was.
