Awakening Kiss (Watcher's Kiss Book 4) (31 page)

“Yeah. And it’s forever. The bond can only be broken by death.”

“Sounds intense.” She laid back down. “Do you need a witch to set it all up or something?”

“No, it just happens, I guess. It’s happened to a few friends. I didn’t ask for details on how it all went down.”

She let out a small giggle. “Mr. Logic and Reason didn’t ask for details?”

“No.” One word, delivered with all the weight of the guilt he still carried. This was it. He needed to tell her how he’d fucked things up before.

Against his side, he felt her go still. “Why not?”

He caressed her back, inhaled her sweet scent, and knew he was shitty at talking about this stuff. “I haven’t brought a girl home in a long time. Years. Before you.”

“Okay.” Her voice was wary, and he hated that she was worried about what he was going to say.

“Things didn’t work out very well in my last relationship.”

She raised her head again. “Rhys, you don’t have to tell me—”

“Yes I do.” He sat up. “I fucked up. Bad. And you need to know I’m not some kind of good guy, some noble warrior. I make as many mistakes as human guys do. Maybe more.”

“I never said I didn’t expect you to make mistakes.” Wide, reassuring eyes full of comfort.

Gods, she wasn’t making this any easier. “This…female. I brought her to our former home base. She slept over, hung out, got along with everyone. I trusted her to be here when I wasn’t here. She was really tech savvy.” He shook his head. “Turned out that was the one thing we had in common.”

Enza watched him, waiting.

“Anyway, she got into my files. Hacked them. I didn’t know. She gave information to an enemy and a mission was compromised. Watchers were hurt. Brenin needed a healer to survive. And it was my fault. I let her in.”

“Rhys, she spied on you. You couldn’t have known. Or anticipated that kind of betrayal.”

“Yeah well, Arawn thought I should have known better. I was demoted to the equivalent of desk jobs for a while. And I have never brought a female into our home…until now.”

She sat up and wrapped her arms around him. “It wasn’t your fault. There are bad people in the world, and you don’t have a crystal ball. You can’t go around second guessing everything in life.”

“Maybe it doesn’t sound like a big deal, but I let down my team and my commander.” He tucked her close, drawing in her sweetness. “That’s a hard lump to swallow.”

She stroked his bicep. “I’m not a soldier so I can only empathize. But you were disciplined for a time and then it was done, right? You’re back to your regular job.”

“Well, yeah.” He frowned. “You make it sound so simple.”

“Maybe it is. Brenin has recovered. And other people who were injured? They’re better?”

“Yeah.”

“You can’t go through life beating yourself up about the same thing. If everyone else has moved on and sees it as a thing in the past, then maybe you can too. Because otherwise, you’re only holding yourself back.”

Honesty poured through her words and it smashed through the barriers of his resistance. Now she was the one making logic out of a messed up knot of emotion. And he knew she didn’t find any fault in him. That came through like a broadcast from her mind to his.

“Sounds so logical.” A grin tugged at his mouth as he echoed her words.

“Because
it is
.” She cupped his jaw with both hands. “I can hear the regret in your voice. Don’t do this to yourself.” She leaned in and placed a quick kiss to his lips. “I hope I never meet that woman. I might not play nice.”

He laughed and pulled her in for a deeper kiss. His sweet and sexy half demon had a strength in her that she may have yet to realize, and sass to go along with it.

He didn’t know how he’d gotten lucky enough to find her, but he knew one thing for certain.

He was never letting her go.

C
HAPTER
31

A
N HOUR AND A HALF
later, after a leisurely shower where he was surprised they didn’t use up all the hot water, Rhys led Enza down through the house to the garage. This time he wouldn’t leave her even for thirty minutes. They climbed into the Escalade and drove along the quiet streets, where the faintest tinge of light rose determinedly in the east. The western sky was still cloaked in charcoal gray—as dark as the city ever got.

“It’s like there are two different sides to the city,” Enza murmured as she stared at the avenues devoid of pedestrians. “Night and day. Literally. Your world and the human world. They exist in the same space… but half the population has no idea.”

He covered her thigh with his hand. “Yeah, but after a while it merges. It doesn’t seem like a different world anymore. We just take care of different things at different times.”

“I guess.” She shrugged. “Guess it will take me a little bit longer. Right now it feels like I have a foot in both worlds.”

He gave her leg, clad in slim fitting khakis, a squeeze. “I’m right here with you,
bella
.”

“I know.” She leaned across the console and kissed his cheek, then peered outside. “Oh my gosh, a spot right in front!” She pointed to the open parking space. “That’s rare.”

He grinned. “Not so hard to find at the crack of dawn.”

They parked and Enza let them into the quiet store. “Meena will be here soon. She’s a morning person. Otherwise I would have said bring the camera stuff now.”

Yeah, they hadn’t gotten to that last night, a fact that irritated Rhys. But his little woman had needed rest, and he’d been loath to leave her. “I’ll set them all up tonight.” He followed her back to the kitchen, her domain, which she had managed to make fun and inviting even though it was clearly more industrial than homey.

She moved through her space like a queen, flipping on lights and ovens, taking out ingredients and two refrigerated trays of croissants. Utter confidence born of habit, damn good skill, and a work ethic more people should emulate.

“Sit anywhere you want.” She washed her hands. “I might talk to myself as I work, just warning you. Oh, guess what?”

“I can’t imagine.” He winked.

“It’s Thursday, my mom’s day off. She’ll be here at some point, so you’ll get to meet her.” Her delight was contagious.

“I can’t wait,” he said with one hundred percent honesty. He already had mad respect for the woman who had raised her baby girl alone, and helped her grow into the caring, smart, strong female that was his Enza.

“Any word from the guys?” She glanced up as she tied a black and white checked apron on, concern in her voice.

He sat at the long work table and pulled out his phone. A quick check of his texts showed a new one had just come through from Brenin.
Found Rain She’s safe. Scared. We’re talking to her now.

“They found her,” Rhys murmured to Enza, then typed:
Where are you?

Brenin:
Her place. She wasn’t out at the bars last night, so it took longer to find her.

“Oh thank goodness. Is she all right?” Enza asked.

“Yeah. They’re all with her.” He typed back to Brenin,
Keep me posted. I’m at JG with E.

Enza sighed. “That makes me feel better. A little, anyway. I still feel sick for Cara.”

“I know, baby. Hopefully Rain can help shed light on what’s going on.”

Enza squared her shoulders and nodded, then got out a set of large bowls. “Work helps me stay centered,” she explained.

He winked and refocused on his phone, scrolling through city news feeds until his phone buzzed with a call from Brenin. Rhys hit the green accept button. “Yeah?”

“She and Cara were with the two Deserati the night before. Met them in a bar on the North Side. They all went back to the girls’ place.” Footsteps echoed through the line, as if he were pacing. “Here’s the weird thing. It seems Cara has a special trick she can do, to levitate small objects. She was doing it in the bar, showing off to some human guys that they started out with. And our two new friends saw her.”

“Levitation?” Rhys frowned. “Don’t see that every day.”

“Yeah. So they were interested in that. And they asked Rain if she could do anything special and when she said no, they almost left her in the street. But the girls argued that they stick together.”

“So they all went home together?” Rhys pushed up off the stool and paced to the back door.

“Yup. And in the morning, the guys took Cara through a portal.”

“Shit.” Rhys ran a hand over his hair. “Why would they want someone who could make things levitate? Or rather, why would Splinter?”

“If they’re planning a theft, she could levitate keys, papers, maybe one gold bar, I don’t know.”

“That’s fucked up.”

“Yeah.”

“Think if Rain had any extra talents, they’d have taken her too?” Fury shot up his spine at Enza’s amazing power, to which those assholes had been front and center.

“Sounds like it. Fuckers. If this is their game, no wonder they risked a daytime chase.”

“Shit. True.” He studied Enza, who frowned as she poured flour into her largest bowl. “I’m gonna stay here for Enza’s shift. Let me know what you guys are doing.”

“You got it. See ya.” Brenin ended the call.

“What happened?” Enza asked. “I heard parts of it. Cara can levitate?”

“Not herself. Small objects. Guess that’s why they took her. Rain doesn’t have any special skills so they left her here.”

“Special skills.” Worry filled her eyes as she stared at Rhys. “They know exactly what I can do.”

He crossed the room to wrap his arms around her. “You’ve got four warriors and a demoness who will stand between you and them. We won’t let anything happen to you.”

“Okay.” She let out a shaky sigh.

“Good morning!” Meena’s cheery voice carried through the bright kitchen. “Oh, sorry to interrupt.”

Rhys stepped back from Enza, cleared his throat, and pointed to one of Enza’s foreign language signs. “Well, it does say, Kiss the Cook.”

“Brushing up on your Italian. Very nice.” Meena grinned. “Hey, are any of your friends coming today?”

“Meena.” Enza shook her head, exasperation in her tone. “They have jobs, you know.”

“Just asking. Geez.” Meena arched a brow. “Business picks up when they’re here. Anyway, Ben and I will be out front.” She ducked out of the doorway.

Rhys stroked a hand down Enza’s back. “You good?”

She nodded. “Between baking two hundred muffins, cookies, and tarts, and knowing you’re here, I’ll be fine.”

“That’s my girl.” He kissed her cheek. “Since the store is open, I’m gonna sit out front.”

“Have fun. Ben makes the best espresso, if you’re interested.”

“Good to know.” He walked out and around the counter, past a line of three groggy, bleary-eyed men, to sit at a table away from the windows but with a view of the street. Once the trio of customers left, the store was quiet, and Meena came around the counter and beelined for his table.

“Did you want to order anything?” she asked.

“Yes. The biggest, strongest, darkest coffee you have.” He surveyed the cheerful interior, quirky with its colored pendant lights over the counter. “And pick out something Enza made. Doesn’t matter what.”

“You got it.” She hurried off.

Rhys settled in, watching the growing parade of pedestrians outside. The heat had returned, threatening to reach triple digits, and the city news feed was abuzz with warnings for people to check on their neighbors. Meena returned with his order, a coffee that smelled as bold as he’d requested, plus some kind of scone he knew he’d love.

The customers who came in were a wide range of personalities. Students with backpacks slung over shoulders, moms with small children, as well as professionally dressed men and women. A few men in casual clothes came in and set up laptops. But no supernatural creatures.

Even outside, he only glimpsed a few souls who might be fae. From inside the shop, he couldn’t tell for sure.

An hour passed, and the crowd changed to mostly women in workout clothes. If Rhys listened hard, he could make out Enza back in the kitchen alternately humming and talking to herself. A sudden thought popped into his head, of how it would be to hear her hum and chatter away while baking in his kitchen. She had admired it. If she didn’t like it, he’d make any changes she wanted. It wasn’t as if he and the guys used it much.

Whoa.

Where had that come from? Yeah, it might be nice, but he was getting ahead of himself. Before he could think about playing house, he had to make sure his pretty baker was no longer in the crosshairs of some deranged Deserati demons.

His phone buzzed with an alert. The facial recognition program had found a match. All his home software was linked to his phone, because who knew when crucial information was going to come in.

Rapidly flipping to the app, he opened it and found himself staring at the side-by-side match of Antonio Grasso...

Holy shit.
No.

No fucking way.

The mug shot on Rhys’s phone was an epic disaster made real. The picture was definitely Grasso, but the rest of the details turned Rhys’s blood cold.

Location: Provincia di Messina, Departimento di Polizia

Date: 18 Marzo 1988

Alias: Antonio Conte

Rhys stared, transfixed, as a hundred
what the fucks
tore through his head.

It couldn’t be.

This male could
not
be who Rhys suspected he was.

But goddamn it all. Enza had said her father’s name was Tony Conte. And that her mother met him in Italy in the spring…doing the math, the year would have been 1988.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

This male would have kidnapped his own daughter? What kind of monster—

Wait. Did he even know he had a daughter?

Shit. Rhys closed the app and slid his chair back to stand. He had to tell her, and this would go over like a lead balloon.

Then again…Enza had said she had no need to ever track down her father.

But that was before they both knew
he
was tracking
her
. Goddamn it! Rhys clenched his fist. Standing, he scrutinzed the bright, upbeat shop. Patrons drank coffee and munched on Enza’s amazing creations, unaware of what lurked all around. His little baker’s world was about to get flipped on its head—again.