“Yes.” He leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to her mouth. “The other day. You said something.”
She caught her breath. “Yeah.”
“I love you, too.” He slid both hands into her hair, cupping her head. “I don’t know what that means for us or what’s gonna happen next, but I wanted to say the words.” Then he kissed her again, the gentleness from such a deadly man bringing tears to her eyes.
All too soon, the water started to chill.
She savored the moment, feeling the truth of his love. Whatever happened, she held his heart. Even though they were in danger, and even though she was scared to death, she took a moment. Just to feel something so good.
He blinked.
She caught his eyes. Somber. Scared. Sorry. “What?” she whispered.
“I know why Madison wants me back so badly.” His voice cracked.
Noni stilled. All emotion fled, leaving her cold. It had to be bad. Really bad, or Denver wouldn’t look like he was about to throw up. The truth hit her harder than any punch ever could. She replayed her conversation with Madison. Every word and every hint. “Wait a minute. Oh, man. She’s your mother.”
Denver’s jaw firmed to rock, but his face remained pale. “Egg donor. She was my egg donor.”
Oh God.
The homemade chili Anya made for dinner had been delicious, but it still sat in Denver’s gut as the midnight hour approached. He’d worked most of the day and evening on the computer, trying to trace Cobb’s movements. He was getting so damn close.
His brothers kept eyeing him, obviously lacking words. He couldn’t blame them. There weren’t any. Of course he’d told them the truth the second he’d learned it.
He’d finally had to force Noni to go to bed when she couldn’t keep her eyes open. The woman had been drugged and then nearly frozen to death and needed sleep, whether she liked it or not. She’d tried to soothe him about his new reality, about his genetic link to Madison, and he’d let her believe he’d come to grips with it.
But there was no accepting it. Not really.
Heath had similarly talked Anya into getting some sleep since she’d been going through psychological profiles all day of pretty much everybody involved. Madison seemed to fascinate and scare her all at once. She’d gone in with Noni to leave a bedroom for anybody else who needed sleep.
Hell. They all needed some sleep.
At the moment, Zara muttered to herself over at the kitchen table, reading her many reams of color-coded notes and making sure the title search for the South Dakota property would never lead to them. Ryker was checking the outside perimeter while Heath and Denver worked the laptops.
Heath typed for a minute. “We should probably talk about this.”
“What the fuck is there to say?” Denver exploded, slamming his fist onto the table with enough force to make it jump. Fury roared through him so quickly his entire head heated. “I come from pure, psychotic evil.”
The front door opened, and Ryker walked inside, snow covering his jacket. He looked around, taking in the scene.
Zara hustled his way and leaned up to place a kiss on his cheek. “I’m heading to bed,” she whispered, glancing over her shoulder at Denver. “I think you guys might want to have a talk.”
Ryker kissed the top of her nose. “Got it.” He shut the door as Zara moved into the free bedroom and then he tossed his coat onto the bench. “So.”
Denver turned a glare his way. “I’m fine.”
Ryker lifted a dark eyebrow and looked at Heath. “He going on about coming from the she-devil?”
Heath nodded, his eyes somber. “Yeah.”
Heated blades spun through Denver’s torso, and he clenched his fist again. The need to hit something was a physical burn.
Ryker crossed his arms. “You tell him we all probably come from someplace bad?”
Heath drew in air. “I was getting to that part.”
“Did you tell him—”
