The bruises on his face had faded, but he’d be sporting another shiner soon.
Another officer joined us, and they led him away to ask him some questions.
Blade walked up to us, his face thunderous. “He the one?”
“Sure seems that way,” Sebastian said, glaring at Bullet.
“Grim, get all his stuff out of his room. Don’t care what you do with it as long as it’s gone. Make sure everyone knows he’s not allowed back here and he’s lost his patch.”
Grim gave me a half-smile, then saluted Blade and walked off in the direction of the stairs.
Sebastian and Blade were talking in hushed voices, and I decided to leave them to it and find Malena. She was sitting on a barstool, Talon keeping her company.
“Let’s go home,” I said and took her hand. “We can snuggle with our babies and forget how crazy our lives are just for a few hours.”
The guys all hugged me when I walked past, making my heart burst with joy at the obvious affection they felt for me.
“I’m glad you’re okay,” Grim said when it was his turn to hug me.
“Not as much as I am,” I replied and kissed his cheek before untangling myself.
Sebastian joined as we reached the exit. “Let’s get out of here,” he said, slinging his arm around my shoulders.
He drove us back in his truck that was parked at the compound, and since he refused to leave me, he crashed on the couch at Malena’s parents’ place.
Good thing they were the most easygoing parents I knew and would be fine with him staying there. Especially once we told them what had happened. That would be an interesting conversation. But for now, I snuggled up with my kids, who were sleeping on a mattress on the floor in Felix’s room. Malena crashed in her son’s bed, and we fell asleep amid the snoring and sleep-talking.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
“Don’t ever let me see you do that again,” I ground out, kneeling in front of Luca, who was holding the bucket he’d just used to dump water all over his sister.
“Okay, then close your eyes,” Luca responded with a shrug. “I told her not to take my shovel again.”
Lena was wailing next to us, her face taking on a deep shade of red. Not satisfied with my attempt to get justice on her behalf, she walked up to Luca and pushed him, causing him to start crying as well.
“What’s going on?” Sebastian asked, joining us in the backyard.
“Just a little disagreement,” I said, holding Luca on one side, Lena on the other.
Sebastian held out his arms for Lena, and she abandoned me for her favorite person.
“Watch out, she’s wet,” I called out when she threw her little body at him.
He caught her, holding her close. “A little water never hurt anyone.”
It was almost a week after the psycho stalker incident, and it seemed Sebastian had moved in with us. He slept in my bed, his clothes were in my closet, and his dirty socks were getting comfortable on my bedroom floor.
“You got time to head to the compound before your shift tonight?” he asked, holding a now quiet Lena.
Luca had stopped wailing as soon as he saw Sebastian, not wanting to cry in front of his hero.
“I’ll ask Stella if she can come over earlier,” I said, hoping he’d take his shirt off now that it was wet.
“Great, it shouldn’t take long,” he said, carrying Lena inside.
“That wasn’t cryptic at all,” I muttered to myself and followed him, holding Luca’s hand.
After taking my daughter off Sebastian, I changed her into clean clothes and then called Stella.
“Hey, Stella, any chance you can get here an hour earlier tonight?” I asked when the phone connected.
“I can probably do that.”
“You’re the best. See you soon.”
“See you soon.”
We hung up and Sebastian came back, kissing me lightly on the lips. He was now wearing a different shirt, and I regretted missing the show.
“All good?” he asked, hugging me close.
I wound my arms around him and rested my cheek on his chest. “She’s coming earlier. Now, are you going to tell me what we’re doing?”
“It’s a surprise,” he said, making me curious.
“Will you be wearing clothes for this surprise?” I asked, looking up at him.
He chuckled, and his eyes lit up in amusement. “I will. But if you ask nicely, I’ll see what I can do tonight.”
I pursed my lips, pretending to contemplate his offer. He leaned down, whispering kisses along my jawline and then lips.
“I think that’s an acceptable offer,” I said right before his lips fused themselves to mine. The kids were just in the next room, and I didn’t want to chance them walking in on me humping Sebastian’s leg, something I was close to doing, so I pulled back sooner than I wanted to.
“I’m glad,” he said, his eyes crinkled at the corner. “Now why don’t you go relax while the kids are playing by themselves and I’ll start dinner?”
“Your foreplay game is strong,” I said, swooning at the thought of not having to cook. It was one of my favorite things to do, but when you were always short on time and money, it wasn’t as much fun anymore.
“I’m not even close to running out of moves yet,” he said, then winked at me before I left the kitchen.
I checked on the kids, who were still playing in Luca’s room, taking the bedding off and building a fort.
I left them to it and caught up on emails in the living room. The house was small enough that I could hear them from anywhere.
We had dinner together, and the kids even tried a bite of the steak Sebastian cooked. There was also pasta and
