Page 66 of Darkest Kiss

"You think I want to make you live in Ransom's surveillance state?" I touch her damp hair. "We'll find somewhere. Somewhere that's ours. A street with neighbors and stuff. Whatever you want."

"We aren’t ready for that yet, though." Her voice softens. "First you rest. Two weeks, the doctor said. And for once in your life, you're going to listen to his advice. Then, when you're not held together with tape, we'll figure out where we land."

"When we're ready," I agree.

"When we're ready." She looks like she wants to say more. "This feels tacky, but I have to ask. How rich are you, exactly?"

I hedge. "Ransom pays me well."

"That's not an answer."

"It's the only one I've got. He handles the money. I handle the work. There's more of it than I know what to do with. More than five hundred million. It's yours too, now, if you want it."

"I don't want it."

"I know, pretty girl. That's part of why it's yours."

I pull her back down against me, careful of the arm this time. She settles into the bad hospital bed like it's the most natural thing in the world. Her ear goes over my heart. I cup her jaw with my hand.

"You're perfect," I tell her. "You know that?"

"I'm really not."

"You are. Don't argue with me, I have a concussion."

She laughs. “You win.”

“Damn right.”

Beast lets out a long, satisfied breath, finally settling down to sleep.

For the first time since I was a child, I feel the door I've been holding shut my whole life ease open an inch on its own. Nothing terrible comes through it.

She stayed. Beast settles. And for once, so do I.

Chapter Sixteen

Noemi

The bell chimes at four minutes past six. I turn from ringing up a customer and beam at the sight.

Dr. Amunson is ten minutes late for his regular schedule, which includes being twenty minutes early for book club on Tuesday. He shuffles in with his glasses fogged and his hat crushed in one hand. I'm already halfway across the shop before the door swings shut behind him.

"Hello, Dr." I greet him warmly. "Your book came in this morning. I've been hiding it under the register from Sherrie, who thinks anything in the special-order pile is fair game."

"Noemi. That woman is a menace."

"I know. That's why I like her."

Behind the register the special order sits exactly where I left it. The Many Fish of the Amazon and Orinco Rivers: A Comprehensive Guide. It’s a sturdy hardback book, the edition with the color plates in the middle. The good doctor deserves a little treat.

Dr. Amunson's face lifts when he sees it. His hands are unsteady when he takes it from me. “It came!”

"As I said. A small press in Reykjavik finally answered my emails. It took six weeks of pestering emails. And then one phone call from you-know-who."

I jerk my thumb over my shoulder at Rian, who is standing a few feet away, trying to appear innocuous as he checks the door for the fiftieth time. It’s what we have agreed on; he’s allowed to be here in the mornings and the evenings, but most of the day he’s banned.

He still has a job to do for the King crew, no matter how much he mutters under his breath that he’d rather be here.