Page 41 of Brandon’s Mate

“I guess,” the guy said. “They had some kind of wings on their jackets. I heard it was a jealousy thing—one of them thought his girlfriend was cheating on him here or something. And of course they had to wreck everyone else’s night.”

“Wow,” Brandon said, pretending to be just a mildly curious bystander while his heart was pounding, thinking about Kitty in danger. “Was she? Here, I mean?”

The guy shrugged. “I heard they took off before the cops got here, but I don’t know if anybody was with them. Don’t care. I just want my damn dinner.”

Brandon went to the door, but the police wouldn’t let anyone in the building until the fire crew had checked it out and cleared all the rooms. Kitty wasn’t in the crowd outside, and they hadn’t found anyone inside. Brandon circled the building, and the Catalina wasn’t there either.

Either she’d taken off, or the Talons had her—presumably to get to him. He realized he’d forgotten to turn his phone back on after meeting with Callie.

He’d missed a call from Kitty about 8:45, but she hadn’t left a message. There were also two texts from her—one that wanted to know where he was, and another one that said, Go home, asshole.

What the hell did that mean?

Brandon drove back to Farville as fast as he dared. Kitty didn’t know where he lived, but Caleb did. If they’d taken her to the house, it could only be to teach him a lesson by hurting her where he could see.

When he pulled in the driveway and saw the Catalina sitting out in front of the house, he didn’t know whether to be relieved or terrified.

There were no other vehicles. He prayed that was a good sign.

He walked up on the porch as quietly as possible and let himself in front door. He entered the foyer quietly, listening. He could see light coming from the great room and heard a murmur of voices, like someone was watching TV.

Except he didn’t have a TV.

He pulled his gun out of the waistband of his jeans and slithered around the corner into the shadows, keeping his back against the wall.

The voices were coming from the other end of the room—an open laptop on the coffee table in front of the couch. Some sappy romantic movie, by the sound of it.

The coffee table was strewn with empty chip bags and snack cake wrappers.

And Kitty was standing at the kitchen island, dressed like it was a sleepover, pouring whiskey into cup of tea and looking perfectly at home.

She was okay.

The relief that surged through Brandon turned to a hot wave of desire. Desire for Kitty, but even more, the aching need to come home every night to this.

Whiskey, sappy movies, and a woman he loved wearing ninja unicorn pajamas.

Kitty put the whiskey bottle down on the counter and spoke into the darkness. “Are you just going to stand there in the doorway fondling your gun barrel, or are you coming in?”

Brandon put the safety on his weapon and walked through the great room to the kitchen. He wanted to hug her, but judging from the expression on her face, he better not.

Instead he said, “You’re mad at me again.”

“Not again. Still.”

Fair enough. “I heard the Talons came to the inn. Did you get away clean?”

“Yes. Yes, they did, and yes I did. It’s a pretty poor day when your enemies are better at keeping your dates than you are.”

He met her eyes. Hers were really pissed off—he’d let her down again. “I’m sorry I didn’t get to the inn when I said. I got word at the last minute than an informant needed to meet.”

“Really?” Kitty made her eyes big and wide. “If only there were some kind of invention that made it possible to communicate with people at a distance and let them know you’ll be late. Somebody could make millions on a thing like that.”

“I know, okay? I didn’t have your number in the phone I had with me. And I did try to call after I got your texts.”

“Wow. ‘I didn’t have your number.’ That’s the best you can do?” She tasted her tea, made a face, and added more whiskey. “I thought you might go with ‘abducted by aliens,’ or at least the tried-and-true ‘my great-grandmother died.’ Although she’s still alive, in case you’re interested. She misses you.”

Brandon winced. “That was a low blow.”