I hesitated only a moment before following, staying slightly behind him so I wouldn't distract or interfere with his shots, should anyone attack. I needn't have worried, though. When we approached the crumpled debris of the other car, crashed into the side of a shipping container, it was pretty damn clear they were no longer a threat.
Somehow, my quiet, gentle, piano-playing lover had managed to hit both attackers with headshots while our Porsche was mid-spin on gravel.
"Ho-ly shit," I breathed, wide-eyed as I stared. "You're a little bit badass, you know that?"
Steele barked a laugh and pulled his phone from his pocket. "So are you, gorgeous."
He called the guys to advise them that we had a little mess to clean up, then walked me back to our car to wait.
Incredibly, the only damage to Archer's car was that back window. It was almost entirely frosted with spiderweb shatters, but it had stopped seven bullets from penetrating. Each one of them was lodged within the thick glass like a trophy.
"Ah shit," Steele commented, noticing something on the side of the body. "Arch is gonna kill me. I scratched the paintwork here."
Laughter bubbled out of me and it didn’t stop until Steele slipped into the passenger seat then pulled me into his lap. I relaxed into his embrace and soaked in the reality that he was still alive. It was going to take a hell of a lot more than bullets to take my men away.
27
By the time everything was cleaned up, my ice cream had well and truly melted. If that wasn't bad enough on its own, it'd somehow managed to melt out of its carton and get all through the carpet-lined floorboard of Archer's Porsche.
Whoops.
On the other hand, his car had also been shot full of bullets, so what was a little melted ice cream?
It was past midnight by the time we’d made it back to the house. Sampson and one of the other trusted security guards were taking care of the bodies, and we'd had the other car towed to a wrecker where it could be dismantled. Neither of the dead men had any ID on them, but it didn't make much difference. Dead was dead, no matter who you were.
"Benny is going to have the most well-fed pigs in the state," I mumbled as we made our way upstairs to bed.
"Nah," Kody commented, "Sampson doesn't use pigs, as far as I know."
Surprise made me blink a couple of times. "There are other equally effective methods to dispose of bodies?"
All three boys chuckled at that, so apparently I was missing the joke somewhere.
"Okay, cool. I'm going to sleep; who—"
"Dibs," Steele cut me off.
Kody scowled. "That's not how this works, bro."
Steele folded his arms, positioning himself closest to my bedroom door. "Oh no? How have you two been choosing who sleeps in Hellcat's bed these last few days, hmm?"
Archer scoffed. "Obviously, we've been handling it like real men." He held his fist out, and Kody copied. Then... "Rock, paper, scissors."
"Oh, for fuck’s sake," I muttered, ignoring their antics and letting myself into my room with Steele following close behind. I was almost positive they hadn't been deciding by rock, paper, scissors, but then... not much would shock me.
I fell asleep wrapped up in Steele's embrace, but woke the next morning to find Kody on the other side of me. I smiled as I admired my two sleeping men, pleased to find that they could compromise after all. And a compromise that ended up with more of them in my bed? That was one I could happily get on board with.
Carefully I slid out from between them, not wanting to wake either of them up, and smothered a laugh when Steele reached out an arm and snuggled Kody.
Downstairs, I found Archer in the kitchen. He was sitting on a stool at the island, drinking a protein shake as he chatted with Anna.
"Morning." I scuffed my way over to where Archer sat. He reached out, tucking his arm around my waist, and I leaned into him. "Why are you awake?"
He gave a small chuckle, and Anna clicked her tongue at me.
"Because it's nearly evening, my girl. You and those boys have been asleep all day. I was getting worried that this lamb shoulder I've been slow roasting would go to waste." Anna gave me a smile to show she was teasing, and my stomach rumbled.
"Yum," I whispered, leaning into Archer further and loving how he held me so tightly. Whatever the time was, I was still yawning. "Can I have cereal first, though?" I asked hopefully, and Anna threw her hands in the air with mock exasperation.
"You can, but only because the lamb is still a good two hours from done and I don't need you passing out from starvation."
"Sit down." Archer lifted me onto the stool beside his before I could do as I was told. "I'll get it for you."
I watched in loved-up fascination as he went to the pantry and selected my sugary cereal from the shelf, then got me out the biggest bowl and filled it two thirds of the way. Then he topped it up with milk and placed it in front of me with a spoon.
Grinning, I pulled it closer to me. "How'd you know how I liked my cereal?" I murmured as he slid back onto his stool.
He just gave me a look in return as if to say, Don't underestimate me, Princess.
Anna's eyes crinkled as she smiled at the two of us, then she tucked her oven gloves back over the rail.
"Right," she said with her hands on her hips. "Two hours until dinner. I'm going to get some laundry done; you make sure the other two are awake, yes?" Archer and I both bobbed our heads in understanding. "Good."
She bustled off and left the two of us alone in the kitchen.
Less than a second after she was gone, Archer lifted me off my stool and sat me in his lap, then wrapped his arms around my waist.
I only let out a small grumble of protest, then dragged my cereal closer so I could keep eating while he snuggled me. It was stupid cute.
"Hey," Steele said with a yawn. He wandered into the kitchen still half asleep. "How long have you guys been up?"
"Um, ten minutes?" I guessed with a shrug before taking another mouthful of loops.
Archer kissed the side of my neck, behind my ear, then replied, "Six hours."
Steele wrinkled his nose at his friend in disgust. "Gross. You should sleep more, bro."
Archer huffed a laugh, his warm breath feathering my skin and making my shiver. "I was asleep, but then I got a call from my guy over at Rainybanks pathology. He's sending over the results from James's test today."
I startled then turned in his lap to stare wide-eyed. "What?"
"I haven't gotten them yet," he assured me, "but I figured I may as well get up and be productive until they came through. Except apparently James doesn't work Mondays, so he's not even here today."
I bit my lip, trying really hard not to get my hopes up. It was weird, wanting a virtual stranger to be my biological father rather than the man who’d raised me. But there it was. I wanted James to be my dad because anyone had to be better than Samuel Danvers.
"Well, I mean, it's probably negative anyway," I said in a forced-light tone of voice. "James said he ran a test himself, and it was negative. So I doubt that was tampered with. Right?"
Archer just shrugged. "You never know in Shadow Grove."