Page 10 of Dark Daze

"Kids playing in the pool in front of us," I said dryly.

"That was part of the vision," she said. "Little kids running around us. Vinny and I want at least four. Right, Vinny?"

He made a face. "Sure, babe." He pressed his sunglasses up his nose with his knuckle. "Whatever you say."

Bella was unfazed. "Four is a perfect number, don't you think Gunnar?"

Gunnar, who was staring at the side of my face, made an unintelligible sound. "Sure, four is good. Or six."

I turned to look at him like he’d grown a second head. "Six?"

He shrugged. "I always wanted a big family. We have six in mine and it works. More or less."

Considering what he told me about his brother, Mannix, it seemed like less was more accurate, but from what I remember of his family, they were close.

"You want to give Nova a little brother or sister, don't you?" Bella asked. "She seems to be enjoying spending time with her cousins."

"Yeah." In two days she'd gone from being the kid who was stuck to my side, to one who was always in the presence of at least several cousins. She seemed happier and more confident than I ever saw her. The idea of taking her away from this after the wedding hurt my heart. Honestly, the thought of leaving wasn't as appealing as I thought it would be. This was home more than Melbourne had ever been. Fucked up though that was.

"I'm sure Gunnar would be more than happy to help you make one," Bella said.

"She’s subtle, isn't she?" I said to him.

"No, but she's not wrong," he admitted, his eyes intense and hungry. "I always thought the four of us would end up like this. I was pissed when my parents moved us away. It was bullshit."

"Yeah, it was." Then I moved on with Ric for a while. I didn't forget Gunnar. Hell, we'd known each other since preschool. On the day we met, he pulled my ponytail and I punched him in the face. When the teachers told my father, he gave me a high five and took me on an outing to the shooting range for fun and practice.

Gunnar's parents hadn't minded his black eye either. From what I gather, his mother yelled at him for touching me in the first place. There was none of that, 'he's only doing it because he likes you,' bullshit. And no one suggested I punched him because I liked him. Although I did, because he didn’t cry.

"And here we are—" he started to say.

He was interrupted by Ric, who hurried out the back door dressed in a dark suit. He looked wired and hot as fuck. Hot enough to melt my panties clear off.

Droolingwasn’tbeing fucking careful, I told myself.

"There you are," he said to Gunnar. "We have work to do. Let's go."

“Right, boss.” Gunnar placed his hands on the armrests and pushed himself to his feet.

Ric's gaze settled on me. "You wanna come? Should be fun. Just like old times."

I glanced over to where Nova swam, flotation devices on her arms, a grin on her face.

"Go on," Bella said. "I'll keep an eye on her."

I shouldn't want to, given whatever the fuck they were up to probably involved a lot of blood and maybe a little death. But Ididwant to.

Playing it as cool as I could, I shrugged. "I guess so. It'll be nice to get out and see how Dusk Bay has changed."

If they were up to some shit, they might let it drop when we were alone. Would I tell Hilton if they did? That was a tougher question, and I wasn't sure of the answer. Hilton was my boss and in spite of him telling me he wanted me, these two guys were a big part of home. The most fucked up parts, maybe, but still…

"We'll be happy to give you the personalised tour, right Gunnar?" Ric said. He looked at Gunnar like he had anger simmering under the surface. He didn't give voice to it until we stepped away from the pool and out to Ric's car.

"You two are getting cosy," he said. He looked directly at me. "I've heard you and Hilton Blake were having a quiet chat the other morning too."

"He's my boss," I said coolly. "I'm sure you know that."

He opened the door to the back of the car and gestured for me to get inside. "Are you fucking him?"

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