“Huh,” I replied. “Are any of them ex-Hidden Justice?”
“No, but there are women operatives there as well.”
“Well, I guess you learn something new every day.”
He winked as he opened the lid of the pizza box. “Leo was listening. He was shocked at your behavior. Shocked.”
I began to laugh. “Does that mean I need to bake some cookies?”
“Yes.” He grinned. “But pizza first. Frank makes a great pie.”
“Okay.”
He looked around, noticing the new window and the cleanliness. “Egan says you scrubbed all day.”
“I clean when I’m upset.”
“No need to be upset, but the place is spotless. Did you do anything else but clean?”
“I talked to Egan. Oh, and Deb called and asked if we’d do dinner with her and Stewart on Monday. He has a reservation at Rustic Alley.”
“I hear that’s good. Eclectic.” He shrugged. “I’m game. What time?”
“Seven.”
He nodded. “We’ll get there a little early so I can scope the place out.”
I texted Deb to say we’d go. She replied with a smiley face.
Deb: See you there!
We began to eat, Damien polishing off his first piece quickly.
“Did you not eat today?” I laughed.
“No. I wasn’t hungry.”
“Me either.”
“Looking forward to dinner Monday?” he asked after his second slice.
“I suppose.”
“You don’t seem very enthused.”
“Deb really likes this guy.” I paused.
“But you don’t?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know him. He gave me a bit of a weird vibe when Deb and I ran into him.”
He paused between bites. “How so?”
“I don’t know. I felt wary.”
“Given what has happened to you lately, that isn’t surprising. Your guard is up when it comes to strangers.”
His words made sense.
“Anyway, you’ll meet him on Monday too. Maybe once I spend a little time with him, I’ll feel different.”
He nodded around a mouthful of pizza. He chewed and swallowed, wiping his lips. “I’ll be there too, so maybe you’ll be more relaxed.”
I smiled at him. “Probably.”
He told me he’d spent the day wandering his place, doing some work, then wandering some more.
“I missed you today,” he confessed. “My place felt empty.”
“It seemed strange to be here,” I admitted. “I felt displaced, which seemed odd since this is my home.”
“Or maybe it’s not,” Damien replied.
Our eyes met, and I had to look away from the intense gaze that he focused on me.
I stood and took the empty pizza box to the kitchen. Damien followed. He stood behind me, his arms on the counter, caging me in. His heat soaked into my back, his voice a low hum in my ear.
“When Egan said you were upset, I couldn’t wait to get to you. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to sleep without you beside me.”
Relief flooded my chest. I turned and met his eyes. “So, you’re staying?”
“Of course I am. Did you think I’d leave you alone overnight?”
“I hoped not,” I replied. “But I thought, with someone else watching, maybe it would be okay.”
“Someone else isn’t good enough. It’s my job to watch over you.”
I frowned, and he slipped his fingers under my chin. “What?”
“It seems to me I’m a lot of work. I don’t know if I’m worth all the trouble.”
“I disagree.”
“All this time, all the stress. What do you get from all this, Damien? It feels so one-sided.”
He studied me, lifting his hand and tracing a finger over my cheek. His touch was gentle, his voice filled with affection when he spoke. “What do I get, Raven? You want to know what I get?”
“Yes.”
He smiled, his blue eyes warm and tender. “I get you. Despite the worry, the stress, despite everything, the bottom line is, I get you. You mean so much to me, I find it hard to express it.” He took my hand and laid it on his chest right over his heart so I could feel the steady thump under my palm. “I get to love you, Raven. You’re mine. It’s a gift I never thought I would have.”
I blinked, my own heartbeat picking up. “You—you love me?”
His gaze locked on mine. “I love you. Totally. Completely. Without end.”
His words, spoken so simply, with so much emotion underscoring them, went straight to my heart, healing the ragged edges still left from the betrayal I had suffered. Tears filled my eyes as I saw the emotion his eyes held. Love. Love for me.
“I love you too,” I murmured. “I think I have from the first time you held me.”
He wrapped me in his embrace, his strength surrounding me. “I’ll hold you for the rest of my life, Raven.”
His promise stitched the final tear and made me understand something.
It wasn’t a place I had been looking for. It was Damien. In his arms, I was home.
Damien was my home.
And I never wanted to leave.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Damien
The restaurant where we met Deb and Stewart was upscale. Busy. We got caught in traffic, so they arrived just as we did, and I greeted Deb then shook hands with Stewart. His grip was firm. Too firm, as if he were trying to prove something. I brushed it off but didn’t like the way he stepped forward as if to kiss Raven hello. She held out her hand and he shook it as if nothing was wrong, but I saw the flash of annoyance cross his face. I tucked her closer to my side and pressed a kiss to her hair. We were shown to a booth, and I let Raven slide in first. Deb began to slip in across from her when Stewart stopped her, tapping his ear.
“Oh, right,” she said.
At my confusion, she smiled. “Stewart is deaf in his left ear.”
“If I sit on the outside on this side of the booth, I’ll be asking you to repeat yourself all night,” he explained.
“We can trade sides so you can have the outside,” I offered.
He slid in, shaking his head. “I’m fine.”
Deb sat beside him, nudging his shoulder. “Let’s hope we don’t get attacked. You won’t be able to defend me.”
He laughed, the sound unusual. High-pitched compared to his somewhat low, gravelly voice. “I doubt there will be any perps around here. If there are, my friend Damien here owns a security firm. You carrying?” he asked.
I was caught off guard by his casual term “friend.” I was also surprised by his question, his use of the words “perp” and “carrying.” He obviously watched too much TV. “No, I don’t carry a gun.”
“Ever?” he asked. “Even when you’re on the job?”
On the job?
Yep. Definitely too many police TV shows.
“No.”
“Hmm. Interesting.”
It was another unusual remark, but before I could respond, Deb spoke.