“I don’t know,” Grady said. “Looks real to me.”
“But why kill Jim?” Declan asked.
“I think I know the answer to that as well,” Paula said sadly. “I found emails on his computer that he sent to her.” Paula pointed at Lily.
“Your precious Jim was no saint,” Lily said, sneering. “He was blackmailing me, and he got what he deserved.”
Grady sighed and walked over to Lily. “Come on. Let’s get you to the station.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Hot chocolate and hotter kisses
Declan
It’d been hours since Grady had hauled Lily away, and I was still in a state of shock. Gideon had me tucked away in a quiet corner of the pub and had been feeding me endless rounds of hot chocolate ever since. Someone must have told him sugar was good for shock. I’d half-expected him to lock me in his apartment, but he’d mumbled something about it being good to be around the pack, too. Which just showed how rattled the wolf shifter was, if he was using words likepackto describe his friends.
The raven that’d been at the coffee shop earlier was now perched on a windowsill. It stared at me through the window like it thought I’d get in more trouble if it looked away. I knew I needed to deal with the bird at some point, ask questions about why it was following me around, and all that. But not now. I couldn’t deal with anything more today.
But the shock didn’t seem to be wearing off, no matter how much hot chocolate I drank or how many people came over to sit close to me.
Because…
Lily. The creator of stomach-turning coffee flavors. The lover of awful pantsuits. That Lily… She was a murderer two times over, and she’d been trying her damnedest to bump that up to four by killing Paula and me. Sure, we were both safe, but it’d been so terribly close to going the other way…
Given all the strange things Lily added to her coffees, I doubted Paula had even batted an eye at the concoction she’d been served. At least Gideon had known, thanks to Elwood and his garden. Thinking about that poisoned brew again made me lightheaded, and my stomach churned. Although the stomach churning could have been because of all the hot chocolate.
But still, how long would it take to get over someone trying to kill you? And I didn’t think I was the only one who would need time to come to terms with what’d happened. Gideon hadn’t left my side for a second since he’d busted through the coffee shop door like a superhero and saved everyone.
Seriously, though. I was getting worried about Gideon’s bladder. Didn’t he need some time to take care of himself? He couldn’t stay glued to my side for the rest of my life, could he? But hanging out with a sexy and protective wolf shifter was one way to keep from being murdered, so I wasn’t complaining.
“Are you okay?” Gideon asked for the umpteenth time.
It was like he knew I was thinking about how close Lily had come to killing me again.Me!Like what the hell. I hadn’t even been in Ravenstone for a week yet, and already someone hated me enough to try to wipe me off the earth.
Elwood had always said my curiosity would get me in trouble someday. I just didn’t think it could lead to near-fatal consequences.
“Yep.” I nodded to emphasize my point. Was I lying? Probably. I took his hand in mine and squeezed it. “I don’t think I thanked you. So, thank you. I… I really didn’t see how I could get out and save Paula, too. If you hadn’t shown up when you did…”
“You don’t need to thank me,” he said gruffly. “I will always come when you need me. I told you that.”
“You did. And I hope it never comes to it, but if you ever need to be saved, I’ll be there for you, too.”
“No.” He shook his head. “You need to keep yourself safe.”
I rolled my eyes. “We’ll have to agree to disagree on that.”
“I’ll get you some more hot chocolate,” he said abruptly. Apparently, that was his cure for everything today, including me putting myself in some hypothetical danger.
Before I could stop him, he was halfway across the pub, heading for the kitchen. His phone rang. He glanced at the screen and stopped. He glanced at me. Then his mouth flattened as he swiped the screen to accept the call.
“What do you know?” Gideon demanded instead of greeting his caller like a normal person.
I couldn’t hear what was being said, but I suspected the call had something to do with Lily. I climbed out of my seat to stand closer to him.
“Hold on a sec. I’ll put you on speaker. Okay. Say that again.” Then Gideon glanced at me. “It’s Grady.”
“Lily made a full confession,” the sheriff said.
