Page 115 of The Devil’s Lair

Chapter Thirty-Four

REBECCA

My watch vibrates. Somehow, I force my eyes to open. Six a.m.

As a mother, I’m used to operating on a few measly hours of sleep, but not after a night like last night. When Christian relayed what had happened with Tony in hushed tones, while Grace, Imogen, and Vicky all crowded around me, holding me up, I expected to feel some semblance of shock that the man I married had taken a life and intended to take more. To take the life of every man who took turns on me that night.

I didn’t even spare an ounce of regret or guilt. The only feelings I had were relief that I wouldn’t have to go through life fearing I’d bump into them unexpectedly like I had with Tony, as well as pride that my husband was willing to end their miserable existences to keep me safe and take the revenge I couldn’t.

Tobias is still crashed out beside me. The cuts and scrapes on his hands have already scabbed over. It’s hard to believe those hands took lives last night, then came home and touched me with the kind of tenderness I never thought I’d be lucky enough to feel.

Being a De Vil comes with the kind of benefits I wouldn’t have guessed if I’d been given a hundred and one guesses.

“What time is it?”

I roll my head toward my husband. “Six.”

He groans. “I feel like I’ve been run over by a truck.” Pushing himself upright, he rubs his eyes, yawns, then picks up a glass of water from his bedside table. He downs the entire thing. “Do you need to check on Isla?”

I shake my head. “I have an hour yet. Maisie is still with her. I asked her to stay so I could be here when you came home.”

“Right.” He pulls in his lips, avoiding my gaze. “I know what you said last night, but things can look different in the morning. If what I did has made you scared of me or something, I’ll understand.”

Is he kidding? He’s kidding, right? Even though I know there is logic to his statement. With my father, I suffered abandonment. With my mother, neglect. And with Marcus, abuse. I understand why he might think that way.

Gently, I touch his jaw, coaxing his head around until he faces me. It takes a couple more seconds before our eyes meet.

“There is nothing you could do that could ever make me afraid of you. It’s the opposite. You make me feel safe, protected, important.” I hesitate. “And loved.”

The relief that washes over his face would be funny if this wasn’t such a serious conversation.

“All those things are true,” he whispers. “Especially the love part. I don’t even know when it happened, but I do. I love you, Wren.”

My breath catches, and for a moment, I can't speak past the tightness in my throat. I press my forehead to his, letting the words sink in, letting myself believe them. “I love you, too.”

“You do? Because you don’t have to say it just because I did. I don’t ever want you to feel like that.”

“Shush.” I press my lips to his, lightly, all too brief.

Sex with Tobias is new and exciting, and we’re both discovering all kinds of things about ourselves and each other. Which means it’s easy for it to be a distraction, and we still have to talk about last night.

Except as that thought comes to me, I realize there’s only one thing I need confirmed.

“Are they all dead?”

He nods. “Every one.”

I pause, waiting for remorse to land because people have died because of me. It doesn’t come. I’m glad they’re dead. It means they’ll never be able to hurt anyone again.

“And are you in danger from the police? Or from anyone else?”

He chuckles. “No. Call it a perk of being a De Vil. We’re…”—he twists his lips to one side as though he’s searching for the right words—“above the laws regular people have to follow. There won’t be any fallout, I promise.”

Wow. That’s some kind of power.

I slide my arm around his middle and rest my head on his shoulder. “I’m glad they’re dead,” I whisper.

“After it was done, and I was on my way back here, it occurred to me that I should’ve asked you what you wanted to happen rather than deciding for you. It’s just… the way you froze when you saw him and then began to tremble. Once you confirmed he was one of them, I saw red. I’m sorry if I took away your power.”