Page 71 of Charmed

"Even uglier is the way he treated you boys. You do know that, right? His actions are a reflection of him, not you. This might sound patronizing, but I don't mean it to be." Her throat worked a swallow and she met his eyes. "I'm proud of you. It takes guts to rise above the hate you were taught. It would've been so easy to turn into him, to not care. Instead, you're compassionate and giving and sincere. I'm really proud of you, Riley."

Almost thirty years on this Earth, and he couldn't recall anyone ever saying those words to him. I'm proud of you. Chest tight, eyes hot, he stared at her.

And he realized the splat from a rapid descent wasn't forthcoming. It had already happened.

He'd probably been too confused to know when it had officially occurred, nor could he pinpoint an exact fragment of time for the event. Actually, if someone had asked him a week ago what the emotion felt like, he would've shrugged in complete ignorance. He hadn't sought it out, hadn't necessarily wanted to experience the sensation, and he sure as hell didn't have an inkling what to do now that it was smack in front of him. But, there it was just the same.

He was freakin' in love with Fiona.

"I wish I had been there. I would've hurled a plate or two myself." The smile lit her eyes point five seconds before her lips curved to catch up. "I'll bet it felt great."

"It does," he mumbled. Except she was talking about dishes and he was still stuck on...the other thing. "It did, I mean."

Was he supposed to be flipping out? That's what guys did in the movies when they discovered they were in love. Brady hadn't when he'd fallen for Kaida, though. A few friends Riley kept in contact with hadn't, either, but they'd been with their significant others since high school or college. He tried to wrap his mind around the concept, examine what, precisely, his body was telling him, but it was useless.

No pain. No fear. No urge to scream and jump off a cliff.

Then again, loving Fiona was a freefall, he supposed.

Holy hell. What was he supposed to do now? Tell her?

Okay, no. Bad plan. She was all about the one day at a time crap he'd stupidly, not ten minutes ago, agreed to. Perhaps he should...

"Are you all right? You're miles away." She studied him, her fingers making lazy circles on his arm. "Still mad at me, aren't you?"

"No." It wasn't her fault he was in this predicament.

Wait. Yes, it was. Totally the little witch's fault with her beauty and humor and come-hithers and one-liners and sexy body and sympathetic heart and warrior soul. All. Her. Fault.

And they were having two different conversations right now.

He shook his head to clear it. "Actually, yes. I am mad, just not at you. Or, not solely at you. You're plowing through on the plan to meet my uncle when you clearly know I'm against it. You all out-voted me."

"We made you feel like the odd man out, that your opinion doesn't matter."

"Yes." A position he'd been in since birth. He shouldn't be surprised. And damn her for noticing.

"You matter."

His gaze shot to hers. Was it any wonder he'd fallen for her? If a woman such as Fi said a person mattered, it may as well be written in stone. Moreover, he believed she meant it. Her declaration directly contradicted everything he'd come to understand as truth. Which did something terrifyingly strange to his organs. Shifted them. Rearranged them so nothing seemed to fit.

Slowly, she sat up, resting her palm by his hip and leaning across his torso. "You and your opinion matter. We took a vote as a group and made the right decision. We need to understand what your uncle's end game is and what he's after. As soon as the fear wears off, you'll realize that. If it were anyone else, would you be against the idea?"

No, probably not. "Yes."

Her expression dialed to school marm and relayed that custom tell-me-the-truth non-verbal eyebrow quirk all parents wielded with expertise. He felt sorry for her future offspring. They'd never get away with anything.

"Okay, fine." He bent his arm over the pillow and rested his head. "I'm worried about you. Sue me."

She canted her head as if considering it. "You are worth a lot of money."

"You can have it all if you call off the charade."

A roll of her eyes, and she looked at him. "Nothing's going to happen to me. We're taking precautions. It's a controlled meeting."

"You just jinxed the whole operation by saying that." When she glared at the ceiling in frustration, he tried to compromise. "Look, I know it's the right thing and we need answers, but it's not as if I can shut off my concern, Fi. Since we've been paired, we've had one blinding blow after another."

"Which is the precise reason we have to follow through." She took a calming breath and glanced away as if carefully choosing her words. "I'm terrified one of you is going to get injured and I won't be able to heal you. I almost failed with Kaida. We cut it too close in the forest that night and the day in the alley."

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