He smiled. “I think it’s the law on something like this, but I don’t know. There’s some damage to the patio for sure. I don’t know if we can get the bloodstains out.”
“It’s still better this happened outside than inside,” she muttered.
“Do you want me to bring you a cup of tea?”
“Yes,” she said. “I would love that.” And she watched as he disappeared. Something was just so damn special about a man who looked after you like that.
It was a while before he returned, almost an hour, but he was carrying a cup of tea. “Sorry it’s so late,” he said.
“That’s fine. How is it going?”
“Well, the bodies are gone. The forensics guys are working still.”
“What about the guy you punched out?”
“That’s both good news and bad news,” he said, squatting in front of her to study his daughter, who still slept soundly in her crib. Shambhala reached over and nudged him with her muzzle. Instantly he stroked and caressed her long silky fur. “He didn’t make it.”
She gasped.
“I guess, when I hit him, and his nose exploded, a piece of the bone went into his brain.”
She took several long, slow breaths as her mind processed the information. “Once again,” she said, “I feel like it’s wrong to be happy about it, but it seems like the best thing for everybody.”
“I don’t have a problem with it. That man came here, held a gun on my family and was trying to kidnap my daughter. As far as I’m concerned, having them all dead is the best way.” A shout came from downstairs, and Weston said, “I’ve got to go see what they want.”
She smiled. “We’ll be fine here. Thanks for the tea.”
He nodded and disappeared downstairs.
Another two hours later he made it back upstairs again, and, when he walked into Sari’s room, Daniela was stretched out on the floor with her feet propped up on the edge of the crib, sound asleep too. He winced because he knew she would be damn sore in the morning, sleeping like that. He walked into the master bedroom and pulled back the covers, thinking he could wake her up and bring her to bed, but she resisted all forms of easy wakening. He smiled because she slept just as heavily as Sari did. Finally he scooped her up, carried her to the master bedroom and laid her down on the bed.
Quickly he stripped her of her outside layer of clothing, leaving on her bra and panties, and tucking her under the covers. Instead of doing what he wanted to do, which was crawling in beside her, he reached down and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. He left a lamp on low.
Then he went into Sari’s room and looked over at the small crib, where his daughter still slept. Would she panic if she woke up and didn’t see her mom? Would Daniela panic if she woke up and didn’t see her baby? The crib was on wheels, so that was an easy solution. Moving quietly through the hallway, he wheeled Sari’s bed so it was beside Daniela. Shambhala totally agreed with the concept and, when Weston picked up the rug she’d been sleeping on and put it between the two women, Shambhala took up a position between them. Weston bent down and gave her a cuddle.
He headed back downstairs once more, and, when the authorities finally left, he locked up and returned upstairs, heading toward his own bed in the guest room. And then found Daniela sitting up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
He walked in and said, “Hey, sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“It’s okay,” she whispered. “What’s going on downstairs?”
“They’re gone. It’s quite a mess, and we’ll have lots of cleaning to do tomorrow, but it’s over.”
She smiled and looked down. “Did you put me to bed?”
“Yes,” he said, “you looked so uncomfortable the way you were lying.” Then she smiled at Sari’s crib beside her. She looked up at him and said, “You are the sweetest man.”
He shook his head. “I don’t know about that, but you need to get more rest.”
She patted the bed beside her. “Curl up,” she said. “We all need rest, and nobody needs to be alone.”
“That would be dangerous,” he said with a half smile. “I was on my best behavior putting you to bed, but I won’t be on good behavior if I get in too.”
She gave him a slow dawning smile. “I’ve been on good behavior for one hell of a long time. I really don’t mind letting loose a little tonight.”
“Are you sure?” he asked, studying her carefully.
“It’s got nothing to do with tonight and nothing to do with Sari,” she said. “It has everything to do with you. I don’t think I’ve ever met a man quite like you.”
He frowned, still unsure.
She looked up at him, slowly pushed the covers back and slipped out of bed. Still wearing only her panties and bra, she walked toward him, her hands sliding up his chest. “You know you’re wearing too many clothes, right?”
His grin flashed. “I can take care of that in no time,” he said, “but I don’t want this to be a reaction, you know, to—”
Chapter 19
“To all that violence?” Daniela said. “I get it. Partly it is a reaction because, if there’s anything that one needs to affirm in the face of so much death, it is life. And, if there’s anybody I’d like to do that with, it would be you.” She tugged him into Sari’s room, her fingers already busy undoing the buttons on his shirt, then tugging the material out of his jeans. When she got his shirt off his chest, she stopped and stared because he was heavily muscled everywhere. Even the multiple crisscrossing of scars didn’t diminish the sense of power exuding from him. She stared in astonishment, her hands stroking the huge muscles across his pecks.
As
