“Why?”
“Why take the risk of falling in love with someone when they mean nothing to your Triad?”
“So, you did fall in love at some point?”
She didn’t sound on edge, so he nodded.Warily, though.“I’ve seen ninety years, El.What do you think?”
“Should I be jealous?”
“No.There’s no need.They were… they kept me sane.They kept us all sane.They were entertaining, and for a while, they made us happy, I guess.But like I said, once Marc and I met Ryan, that kind of thing stopped.With the three-pronged bond in place, we knew we could meet our mate.”
“It’s all very complicated,” she said on a huff.
“Trust me, it is,” was his comeback.“You think we don’t know that?But how else do you address a population that’s so overrun with males there’s no hope of ever addressing a balance?”
“I don’t know, but you’ve all gone about it in a very convoluted way.”
He chuckled at her exasperated huff.“I’ll be sure to tell the Mother that when I meet her one day.”
She narrowed her eyes at him.“That had better not be for a long time to come.”
“Oh, baby, don’t worry about that.I plan on living a very long and fulfilling life with you.”
Her exasperation bled out as her eyes filled with warmth.“I like the sound of that.”
He grinned at her, jumped up in the water, grabbed her around the waist, then dragged her into the depths with him.
Her shrieks were muffled as she half sank into the pool with him, but his laughter roared out for all to hear.
Mother, it was a good day to be alive.
Chapter 7
Peering over the papers in his hand, Ryan asked, “I hope you asked her if she could swim before you dragged her into the water this morning.”
Trip snorted.“She was safe.Like I’d let anything happen to her.”
“You should have asked first,” Ryan snapped.
“If you treat her with kid gloves all the time, she’ll get used to it,” Trip warned.“She’s no delicate miss.She won’t appreciate you being so careful with her.”
“Making sure she won’t drown isn’t being careful,” he snarled.Blowing out a breath, he put the papers down and tried to let the desire to throttle Trip bleed from him.“Anyway, we have a situation.”
A snort was the first retort.“I’d never have guessed.What is it?The Panthers, the dead body in our mate’s SUV or…?”
“The guard.”
“The dead one?”
“No.The living one.Shawn McNamara.”
“What about him?”
Ryan blew out a breath.“I think he’s a mate.”
Silence befell the office.Marc stirred from his usual armchair in the corner of Ryan’s study, right by the door to the kitchen.
“A mate to whom?”was Marc’s careful question.
