Pepper patted my arm. “Don’t you worry. Axel will know what to do. I’ve never met another man who always had a solution. Heck, he probably has the numbers for at least three demonologists in his phone. He works a lot of PI cases all around. I’m sure he’s met one or two in his day.”
I smiled weakly at her. “I hope so. Because I have no idea where to even begin when it comes to helping Roan.”
Pepper nodded to the confection between my fingers. “If you don’t eat that, I will.”
My teeth sank into it. I moaned as velvety chocolate spread over my tongue. “It’s bliss.”
“Just like your name.”
Axel’s voice drifted up from the basement. “But anyway, I know a guy. I think he might be able to give you some answers.”
Both men appeared. I smiled at Roan, who crossed to me and squeezed my shoulders.
He whispered in my ear. “How’re you holding up?”
“I thought the cellar had swallowed you.”
“No such luck,” he joked.
But when his dark eyes pinned me, I sucked air. The look he gave me made my heart balloon. My throat dried. I felt myself slipping away, melting into him.
Roan threaded his fingers through mine. “Breathe, Blissful.”
I gasped for breath. “Right.” I needed to change the subject. I had to focus on something else. “Axel?”
“Yes?” He dragged his own lovey-dovey gaze from Pepper to me.
“Did you find out the name of the Hudsons’ niece?”
He shook his head in disappointment. “No, not yet. Still working on it. But I have a plan.”
“Okay, great.”
“The niece?”
I snapped my head in Artie’s direction. “Did you say that?”
“Yes,” he said between bites.
Somehow Artie had managed to find himself some grits. Imagine that.
“What about her?”
“I know her name.”
“Why didn’t you say anything before?” I fumed.
“Because nobody asked me.”
Oh. He may have been right. “Sorry. I’m asking you now. Do you know the name of the Hudsons’ niece?”
He slurped a spoonful into his mouth. “I sure do.”
“What is it?”
He raised his spoon, appearing to contemplate the secrets hidden in the steel before answering, “Brownie. Her name is Brownie.”
SIXTEEN
