“So that was my brothers, Vadim and Viktor. They contacted a couple of our resources and dug around for some information on the guy who tried to kill me last night. His name is Carmine Ragusi, and he’s a cop. It’s just like Toni said. The cops are in on this. According to my brothers, Stas has moles everywhere.”
Cormac’s head popped up, his dark hair brushing his collar as he ran his hands through the thick strands. “So there really isn’t anyone we can turn to without the risk of telling the wrong people?”
Wiping her hands on her jeans, Teddy nodded. “If we choose to go to the police, we risk the chance we’ll go to the wrong ones, yes.”
Nina nodded her head. “Okay, so the cops are a no-go. We knew that shit anyway.”
“My brothers are coming to help, if that eases your worry a little. They said they’d be on the next flight out of Colorado. They’re strong and smart, and if nothing else, they’ll add some strategizing and muscle to the group. They also have a lot of contacts we could probably use.”
“Good to know I’ll get to meet the in-laws,” Cormac offered with dry sarcasm.
Okay, yes. She’d done a bad, bad thing. Yes. He should be angry she’d done a bad, bad thing. But for the love of all that was holy, was it necessary to keep pounding that home every time she spoke?
“Okay, that’s enough!” Teddy hissed at Cormac and pointed at the doorway. “Kitchen, please.”
She could hear Nina’s cackle as she stomped into the kitchen. Spinning around, she planted her hands on the island behind her and waited for Cormac to stroll into the room.
He filled even the enormous kitchen with his presence—all muscle and ire, striding in with a look on his face that dared her to give him hell.
“Look, I apologized. And no, the mere words might not be enough right now, but the hell I’m going to grovel, got that? I did something wrong. I owned it. But I did it because I didn’t know who to believe or trust either.”
He rolled his tongue in his cheek. “Shouldn’t you always trust your life mate?”
“Oh, lay the hell off, will you?” she yelped. “I know what I know, and you’re my life mate. I don’t understand it. I don’t know how I know. I can’t describe the feeling other than it’s like knowing your own arm or leg. You just know. I can only tell you how it works when you’re a bear, and this is how it works. It’s how it’s worked for centuries upon centuries and it’s still going strong. And FYI, Crabby Gus, I don’t even know how happy I am about it anymore either. On the life mate scale of one to ten, you’ve bottomed out!”
“Well, we can’t have you unhappy, can we?”
That was it. That was the very moment she lost her shit.
Teddy growled just before her fist hit the countertop with a heavy thud. “Knock it off, I said! You can deal with this information however you’d like, but in the meantime, suck it. Who’d put themselves through this kind of humiliation just to save their own hide? Who?”
“Somebody who’d do whatever it took to see me dead?”
Teddy rose on tiptoe and stuck her face in his. “Fuck. You. Vitali. If I wanted you dead, you’d damn well be dead.”
“Are you sure you and Nina aren’t related?”
“Remember when you asked me if you were an asshole earlier and I cut you some slack?”
“Yep.”
“Well earlier, I was willing to cut you some slack. You know, circumstances, long day, dart gun, just spent virtually three years alone in a cabin in the woods. But now? Right now? Not so much. Now, you’re an asshole. You’re the shittiest asshole that ever shit!”
Then Cormac did something completely unexpected. He laughed. Loudly, and with vigor, the hearty sound filling up the kitchen.
“How is this funny?”
He gulped for air like a fish out of water. “It’s not. It’s just that you’re damn cute when you’re angry.”
Did that mean she wasn’t cute when she wasn’t angry? “I repeat. Fuck. You.”
Cormac snorted, placing his wrist over his mouth and composing himself before he said, “Okay, okay. I’m sorry. It just hit me how ironic it is that I want to drag you over the coals for lying to me, but you’re so damn cute, I can’t do it.”
“Is this the way you always react when there’s strain in a relationship?”
“Only when the relationship involves someone as cute as you.”
“Not laughing.”
“That’s okay, too. I can laugh for the both of us.” Then he did. Laugh. Again.
Teddy nudged him in the ribs and fought a smile he didn’t deserve. “Stop. We have something very serious happening here.”
“Indeed we do. We just had our first argument. That done, what’s next, life mate? Buying a house? Planning out our retirement?”