“Today was a close call,” she whispered.
He grabbed her mug and set both their drinks on the coffee table before gripping her waist and pulling her onto his lap. He slipped a piece of hair off her cheek and behind her ear. “It was. And I’ll have nightmares about it for a long time. Never again.”
“Never again,” she repeated, palm pressing flat to his chest.
She lowered her head and kissed him for long seconds before touching her forehead to his. “Thank God we’re good at getting out of dangerous situations alive.”
He couldn’t even laugh. “Thank God.”
CHAPTER 33
Bonnie swiped the paintbrush across the stark white wall of The Pit. Gray. Or dark gray, to be more exact. She’d argued for a pretty yellow similar to a sunflower, to brighten the place up, but Zane had been a firm no on that. Well, actually, his exact words were, “The Pit is not having yellow fucking walls.”
He’d said it like it was a crime. Then, of course, he’d grabbed her and kissed her. It softened the no.
And it was his gym. She was just the help, much like her family.
She glanced around the room. At Noah and Indie. Ethan. Her cousins. Everyone’s partners. Even Pam had rolled up her sleeves to help freshen the place up.
The room was busy and noisy and filled with all her favorite people.
She paused, her gaze on Zane, who was deep in conversation with her aunt and Ethan. He was smiling, and Pam was touching his arm as she laughed. How was he so good at just slotting right into her family? Like he was always meant to be here. Like they werebothmeant to be here.
Indie came to stand beside her, a blob of paint on her nose from where Colt had gotten her a few minutes ago. “Penny for your thoughts?”
“I’m having one of those moments. You know, the ones where you just feel really grateful for everything.”
Indie rubbed her belly, her smile softening. “I have them a lot. Especially since you got back. It’s that feeling of things being so perfect you almost don’t want to move in case you disturb the world around you and it changes.”
That’s exactly what it was. A deep happiness combined with a slight fear of things being taken away.
Indie bumped her hip. “I heard the shelter reopened this week?”
“It did. We’ve got eight women and two children right now, and my new shelter manager is just beautiful.”
“Does she know what you’ve been through?”
“She does. And she was really pushing for me to work fewer hours with the same pay for the first couple of months, but I assured her I was okay.”
“She sounds great.” Indie’s voice softened. “You deserve to be happy, Bon.”
A strong arm suddenly slung over her shoulders. “What about me? Do I deserve to be happy?”
Bonnie laughed at Noah, while Indie just rolled her eyes and said, “Most of the time. Sometimes you deserve a swift kick to the midsection.”
“You’re lucky you’re pregnant, woman,” he said jokingly.
Two familiar figures passed the window outside, and the smile dropped from Bonnie’s lips. Indie and Noah’s gazes followed her own.
Noah’s arm dropped and he stepped toward the door.
“No.” Bonnie grabbed his arm. “I’ll do it.”
“Bon—” he started.
“I’ll be okay. I’ve actually been wanting to talk to them.” She needed to know if things had changed since they’d learned the truth. She wasn’t sure why. She probably shouldn’t care. But she couldn’t close the chapter on any of this until she at least spoke to them.
Her brother didn’t have a chance to argue anymore because she was already moving across the room. The skin at the back of her neck prickled when she felt Zane’s eyes on her. But she didn’t stop or turn.
