Page 78 of Devil's Cage

I walked with them to the door, noticing how Daniel’s smile grew, and how Sara struggled to keep her aloof, glamorous edge — which she usually kept sharp by toying with guys. But she couldn’t help smiling back as Daniel gallantly helped her down the icy stairs and to the driveway where a black Range Rover idled.

Lifting my hand, I waved as the car pulled out and shivered, hugging myself as I gazed out into the snowy afternoon. It seemed to tuck this corner of the country into a secret, gorgeous blanket of white and part of my attention drifted, trying to figure out how I was going to paint it.

The other part waited as I smiled into the cold afternoon, and warm arms wrapped around me from behind.

“Did you like your presents?” Ty purred into my hair.

What if Ty was one of them? One of the criminals your mother had been after? Did you think of that?

I saw the blood-stained blue tiles and then Mickey Weiss’s office for a second. But when Ty’s grip tightened, I saw Ty’s face filling with relief when I walked into the kitchen unharmed after Jock Hendrix and those men tried to kill us and kidnap me. I saw Ty’s eyes flaring with heat as he bent down to kiss me. I saw the art studio that he’d created for me with the help of my best friend.

I’ll give you everything you could ask for. All I ask is that you stay by my side.

Leaning back against Ty, I tipped my face up and smiled. “I did. Thank you.” A small, breathy gasp escaped me as he kissed my neck. “Ty, um, do you…”

“No one is here but me and you,” Ty murmured. “And the snow will only worsen, so we’re in for the afternoon, the night and maybe tomorrow.”

“Oh?” I asked and arched as his hands slid to my waist and then hiked up my dress to my waist, his hands finding my stomach. Rough fingertips drew careless, tight circles on my bare skin and the freezing air outside made me shiver, even as the big man at my back seemed to burn hotter than ever.

“You know, you can give me something in return,” Ty murmured.

“And what would that be?” I asked as Ty kissed my neck again.

“I’m tying you to our bed as my dessert.” His eyes glinted. “For as long as I please, Lia, no matter how much you beg.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

Lia

Afew days after Sara’s visit, I came downstairs and found Daniel in the kitchen. At first, I wondered if Ty was home again and my heart gave an excited bound as I looked around, expecting to see him come striding through the door, giving me a slow and smoldering grin when his dark eyes lit on me.

“He’s not here,” Daniel said by way of greeting. I tried not to show my disappointment but I knew by the slight shake of Daniel’s head that I had failed. “Sorry.”

“That’s okay. Good morning,” I replied and walked into the kitchen, going straight for the coffee and the covered plate of breakfast that Flora had left for me.

I walked to my usual spot and began to eat, then raised an eyebrow at him. Between bites, I asked, “Wait, are you here forme?” Daniel nodded, and I exclaimed, “What? Have you been waiting long? I seriously overslept.” A glimmer of amusement shone in Daniel’s eyes even as he shrugged. “Danny,” I said without thinking, falling into Ty’s habit of calling his cousin that. “You should’ve had Flora come get me.”

“It’s no problem, Lia,” Daniel said gently and stopped spinning his phone about. “There’s no big rush or anything. Besides, it’s not often I get to kick back and play stupid games on my phone.” His head tipped the side and he gave me a disarming smile.

Between that smile and the look of mischief in his eyes, he’d never looked more like Ty. Despite the stark difference in their hair colors and Daniel’s lankier build, their features would mark them as Michaelson cousins forever. They had the same dark eyes, heavy eyebrows, strong noses and enviable, perfect olive-tinted skin.

“By the way, youcancall me Danny. I don’t care. Now, to answer the question you’ve wanted to ask — I’m here to take you on a little road trip to visit Mickey Weiss.”

My fork clattered onto my plate and I stared at him. “Today?” I asked and pressed my hands to the countertop, my head spinning. “Now?”

“Whenever you’re ready to go,” Daniel said.

I nodded and took a sip of coffee, telling myself my hands were shaking because I needed to finish eating, not because I neededanswers about what my mother had been looking into and how she was connected to all of this.

But is my mom connected to Ty somehow? And if she is, do I want to know more?

Could I handle the answers that I was so hell-bent on finding?

As we walked down the white hallways of St. Elizabeth’s, it hit me that I’d never been in a hospital before. There was a vague memory of visiting my father when he was coming off a bender, or maybe had gotten beaten up by some bookies he owed money to. Either way, I’d been too young to understand.

The lights were grim, the antiseptic smell assailed my nose, and the scuffed linoleum floors were too squeaky underfoot. The sounds made the hair stand up on the back of my neck — too quiet but with distant, harried conversations, faint beeping and muffled announcements over an intercom.

It was as though we’d crossed over the threshold into a blank-eyed nightmare. The rest of the world seemed like a faraway place, whereas the busy and snow-locked streets part of another universe entirely, and the blue sky and cold air outside nothing more than a foolish fairytale.

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