She frowned. “I didn’t force him to do anything.”
“You’re too close. We should leave now. Go back to Monty’s.”
She faced him head on, hands on her hips. “I’ve watched you fuck anything that could walk since Mom, Dad, and—”
“Don’t say her name.” She swallowed against a swell of guilt for dredging up painful memories for her brother.
“Since the shooting. You’ve been trying to fill some hole in your heart that nothing can fill. You know what I figured out? Our vices aren’t rooted in the things we desire. They’re rooted in our overlooked and unfulfilled needs. You need love so badly, you think you can get it with sex. I need it too. That true intimacy we lost, along with so much of our innocence the day they were killed—I found it. I found what they had. And it makes me feel whole and wanted and like nothing else matters. So you can take your nos and your can’ts and go shove them up your ass. Because nothing is going to make me leave Kyle. Nothing.”
She stormed off toward the house, heart heavy with the burgeoning distance between her brother and herself. It was like being ripped apart. Like her body was split in two. But she knew without a doubt which side would win. Something had changed today, and it would take a hell of a lot more than a werewolf or her pack to keep her from Kyle.
* * *
Jason leftfor Monty’s that hour without saying good-bye. No doubt he’d tell Silas what she’d said. There would be consequences. She waited with Milo in the library, taking books down, flipping through them, putting them back.
“I have to get home to Arthur. Are you sure you’ll be all right? Do you want me to fix you something to eat before I go?”
“I’ll be fine, Gerty. Go home. Get some rest.”
She nodded and took her leave.
Laina walked and fed Milo before giving in to her wolf and eating some leftover chicken she found in the fridge. She’d just put the big dog to bed when she heard the front door open and saw Kyle at the base of the stairs.
“It’s done,” he said to her. “I am no longer the face of Hunt Club. What you saw today will never happen again.” He looked tired, exhausted, like he’d spent the day jackhammering concrete rather than in a board meeting.
She descended the stairs. “I almost left today. I thought we were over.”
“Are we?”
“I hope not.”
“You were right. I let Nate and the company run my life for too many years. I ended that today. But there are two sides to this coin, Laina. I did my part. Are you willing to do yours?”
Twisting one finger in her hair, she approached him cautiously, afraid to make any sudden moves and risk jinxing a reconciliation. “Jason left today. I told him I’m staying. I’m not sure what will happen next. Jonah is still out there. I won’t have the protection of my family.”
“I’ll protect you.”
“I’m willing to try to make this work.” She didn’t know how or when she’d tell him she was a werewolf. She had no idea what she’d do about her business. But she couldn’t think about those things now.
“I need you to come to the Tanaka dinner with me on Friday. It was a condition of my change in position. I can’t go without a date.”
“Someone might recognize me.”
“This is a private dinner between us and our Japanese business partners. We’ll have full security. I promise it couldn’t be safer.”
“It’s here, at Hunt Club?”
He nodded. “At Nate’s place.”
She wanted to say yes, but she knew Silas wouldn’t approve. Then again, this was where the rubber met the road. Was she willing to choose Kyle over her family? The witch, Grateful, had said Laina would be protected by the mysterious spell that covered the property. If the man who had shot at her was Jonah, he already knew she was alive, and he’d proven he couldn’t reach her here. What could be safer?
“Either you serve as my date, or I have to choose a model. Nate will never settle for my going alone,” Kyle said softly.
Rubbing the space over her heart, she said, “I’ll go.”
“You’ll need something to wear. I’ll have Gerty bring you a few choices tomorrow.” He pressed a firm kiss against her mouth. “I love you, Laina Flynn.”
She met his eyes. “I love you too.”
