Page 42 of Shared By 3

“Getting them into the house is going to be another matter,” Hunter says. “I shouldn’t have gotten myself all worked up.”

“Today was a long day.”

“Did you hold the baby?” he asks.

“I did,” I admit. “We’ve talked about forever with Valerie for a while, but we haven’t ever talked about kids. I didn’t realize I even wanted kids.”

Hunter doesn’t commit or deny. Instead, he reaches in and pulls Valerie out. She curls against him and he grins at me. “I’d rather carry her than a baby, no offense.”

I roll my eyes and wake Lief up. He lumbers into the house, looking more like a giant that’s never met humans than actually looking human. He goes right to bed. Hunter shakes his head. “Get him coffee. We need to have a discussion.”

“Without our fiancée?” I ask.

“She already knows,” Hunter says.

I get the coffee going and Hunter comes down, patting Lief’s back. “That’s right, Viking. Hold off sleep a little longer.”

“Too many people,” he grumbles. “Too many questions.”

I finish his coffee–pretty easy, since he takes it black–and put the mug in his hand. He takes a drink before I can say it’s hot. He doesn’t even flinch. Lief sighs and motions for us to go ahead.

“Valerie has agreed to be bait,” Hunter says.

I gape at him and Lief is wide awake. The look in his eyes is something I’ve seen reserved for after someone injures him. The lethal edge to his gaze, the snarl to his jaw, promises violence without the mercy of our normal rules.

“Say that again,” Lief orders.

Hunter holds his hands out. “Okay, bad way to word that.”

“We have to draw this asshole out. Until we knowwhoit is, we’re sitting ducks. We can’t take any action at all without more knowledge. Valerie is our best option for that. It was give this plan a shot or let our father turn himself in,” Hunter explains. He takes a slow breath. “I explained it to Valerie, and she agreed. There was nothing except a yes after she considered it.”

Lief takes another long drink of coffee. “What is expected of her?”

“She’s going to be at her office and wait for a new patient. Chase or I will go in for our normal appointments. When she gets notice of a new client, the only thing that will change is that you go in for an appointment. It’s that simple. She picks his mind. If there’s a problem, she’ll have a way to let us know,” Hunter says.

I take a breath. “Why weren’t we clued into this?”

“It happened in a matter of seconds,” Hunter says. “At the party.”

I rub my forehead and Lief sets his mug down harder than necessary. “Our fiancée is not bait. She is a person. She has not trained for this life. She has done very well in our world, but this-”

“Is my choice,” Valerie says. We all look over at her. She pats her ruffled hair and pulls at her dress. “I chose to do this because I know I can. I took on my mom, questions about babies, and I’ve taken on so many other things ... I can do this and I want to.”

“Little viper, you are ...” Lief shakes his head.

I’ve never seen him reject anything so quickly. Valerie sits on his lap and turns his chin to face her. “I know you don’t like this. I understand why. This is how I feel whenever you go out to work. I’m terrified for you. But this, just sitting behind a desk and talking, it’s what I know.”

“I know,” Lief says. He presses his forehead to hers. “You’re so important to me.”

“To all of us,” I insist. “I don’t like this either, Valerie. I don’t want you staring downanotherterrible person. How many bad experiences until we lose your hope and your fun and your sweetness?”

She looks between us. “How many times do I have to sit at home and gain more wrinkles worrying about you three? Heart attacks can happen to anyone!”

I sigh and Valerie kisses Lief before sitting on my lap and rubbing my chest. “Baby boy, you know I take all our safety serious. I wore a knife on me today.”

“I thought I checked you thoroughly,” Lief growls.

“Which is why I did it when you were rushing us out to the car,” Valerie replies, before facing me. “I trust you three with my life. I know Hunter suggested this, that means he has five back up plans. I trust him. I trust you. I trust Lief.”

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