The hug merely tightened. “We are going to be the best of friends. I just know it.”
“Okay. Uh, sure. If that’s what you want. But I have to warn you, you might change your mind after you get to know me.”
“She won’t,” Blue called.
Was he confident in Evie’s charm, or just determined to force a friendship if necessary?
Vika urged her to the couch. Once they’d settled, she placed Evie’s hand on the bulge in her belly. “I shouldn’t be this big, but Solo tells me his race has accelerated gestation. Do you feel my sweet baby boy?”
“No.” A baby, she thought. A family. Something she hadn’t ever wanted for herself. Had that changed?
She thought for a minute, shrugged. Maybe. Not with Blue, though. She’d told him that he wasn’t a forever kind of guy, that a case would come along and he’d have to do what he did best, and he hadn’t denied it. But maybe later, one day in the future, she could start a family with a doctor at the hospital.
Yeah. Okay. The idea didn’t exactly repel her.
Except . . . it was Blue her mind conjured when she thought of lying in bed with a man, his hand on her swollen belly, and little white-haired, lavender-eyed half Arcadians she saw toddling around her house.
Concentrating, she applied a little more pressure. But . . . nothing. “No,” she said again, disappointed. “I think he went into hiding the moment he heard my voice.”
“Are you taking a nap, angel?” Vika asked her belly. “Mommy loves you, oh, yes she does.”
Evie scanned the room, wondering what the guys thought about the girl’s baby talk. Michael and Solo were deep in conversation, though Solo, who sat on Vika’s other side, had his arm draped around her to massage the back of her neck.
Blue was staring at Evie with a strange look on his face.
“What?” she mouthed.
He shook his head, refusing to answer.
Confusing man.
The motion caught Michael’s attention. “What was that, son?”
Without missing a beat, Blue said, “Solo, I believe you had some answers for me.”
“Right.” The otherworlder never stopped ministering to his wife. “By the time I reached New Chicago, I knew Michael was alive but playing dead. He’d paid a visit to Vika before I was able to find my way back to earth. What I didn’t know was your location, Blue. I wanted you to be alive, but . . .” He cleared his throat. “That AIR agent, Dallas Gutierrez, had a friend trapped in the circus with me. I knew he was looking into Star, and I knew Star had been at the explosion site. I started following Dallas, hoping he’d make an arrest and I could strike. Then I saw him at Evie’s, saw Evie drive to your house, and I began to suspect the two of you were working together. Then you went public, Blue, and I knew I’d been right. Then I decided to let things ride because I’d drawn AIR’s notice, and they were coming in strong. I didn’t want to put you on their radar.”
“He took care of that himself when he smashed Dallas’s nuts beneath his boot,” Evie said. “So is AIR no longer after you, Solo?”
“No. Last night Dallas tracked me down and gave me all the info he’d been able to put together on Star. Apparently, Star’s planning to host some big fashion exhibit for his daughter’s newest line. Golden Sunrise is what they’re calling it.”
Golden. Like John.
“When?” Blue demanded, his fury evident in every bulging muscle.
“Two weeks.”
The color drained from his cheeks. “They’ve already done it, then. They’ve already skinned him.”
Grim, Solo said, “Yeah. I figure she’s making the clothes now.”
Oh, John, no. According to Tiffany, two weeks was when he’d been scheduled for skinning. Not the actual show. The Stars had moved up their timeline.
Blue’s power suddenly electrified the air, and furniture lifted off the floor and hovered. Vika gasped, scrambling closer to her husband.
“Blue,” Solo and Michael said in unison, both using soft, soothing tones.
“Calm down,” Michael added.
Words weren’t going to do the job. Last time she’d used her body, and both she and Blue left the encounter satisfied—and alive. With an audience, that wasn’t exactly an option. So Evie hopped to the floor, closed the distance, and slapped him. Hard.
Solo commanded her to back off.
Michael held out his hand to stop her from doing it again. “That’s not how you handle him, sunbeam.”
She crossed her arms over her middle. “You got anything to say to me, blueberry?”
He glared over at her as he rubbed his jaw—and, what do you know, the furniture settled back into place. “What was that for?”
“Don’t act like you don’t know. Now do yourself a favor and focus,” she said, cruel to be kind. For sure this time. “I know you’re angry, but break down on your own time. Your friend needs you to keep it together.”
At first he gave no reaction. Then he nodded stiffly and said, “No probs.”
Before she could stop it, a huge smile spread across her face. “Good. That’s, like, totes amazeballs.”
Blue actually laughed out loud.
“What’s so funny?” Michael asked. “And why are you talking like that?”
“Nothing,” they muttered in unison.
“And just because,” she added.
She turned away before she made a (bigger) fool of herself and reclaimed her spot on the couch. Vika watched her with awe, Michael and Solo with suspicion.
Her heart drummed in her chest. Michael was going to be more ticked than she’d assumed, she realized. And he was going to blame Blue.
Blimey. She was going to be the dumb hobag stuck between an old rock and a very sexy hard place, wasn’t she? And one day Blue would hate her for it—and he’d have every right!
Should have resisted him.
But now that the damage is done . . . there’s no reason not to forge full pleasure ahead.
“Now, then.” She cleared her throat. “We know Tiffany works from home. We also know that home has guards stationed at her door 25-8. We assumed that was because Star was determined to protect his daughter, but what if the men are there to protect the pelt?”
“I can sneak in,” Blue said. “Steal it.”
“There might not be any need,” Evie replied. “If she attends the party, you can compel an invitation to her house. You wanted to leave with her anyway. And that way she’ll make the guards wait outside as well as turn off any alarm she has, giving you free rein and an entire night to search unimpeded.”