Trey’s smile of agreement was strained. “And since she’s just given birth, I can’t even play Hiding Pedro with her to calm her down. Damn.”

“Dante, thank you so much for letting me stay.”

Dante looked down at his brother’s mate. “It’s not me you should be thanking. If Jaime hadn’t assured Trey that she could deal with you being around, you’d be gone.” Before she could say anything else, he trailed after Jaime, following her scent to their room. He wasn’t surprised to find that she had locked herself in the en-suite bathroom. He got the hint. She wanted time alone. Surely she’d learned by now that Dante didn’t accommodate the “time alone” thing for long.

He waited until he knew she was immersed in the bath before picking the lock on the door. She didn’t open her eyes when he crouched down near the bathtub, but he knew that she was aware of his presence. He dipped his hands into the water and stroked her bubble-covered arm. “I’m sorry, baby.”

“It’s not your fault.” In a way, she wished it was, because then she’d have someone to take it out on. But she’d sensed what Dante felt when he was around Bitch Face…nothing. He’d felt nothing.

He’d been suspicious and frustrated with her. But for her? Nothing.

Even so, it was freaking hard to be around someone whom her mate— her mate—had once loved enough to imprint on. Making the whole thing worse was that she and her wolf already felt insecure because the mating bond wasn’t fully developed.

“I hate knowing you feel like this.” So did his wolf. A dizzying concoction of anxiety, infuriation, jealousy, unease, and dejection was coursing through her. “It doesn’t mean we have to hold off with the mating ceremony, does it? I don’t want her presence to affect things.” Jaime’s gaze shot to his. “You want a mating ceremony?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” The answer quickly came to him. He slid a hand around to hold her nape and squeezed. “Stop thinking of yourself as broken and no good.”

“I am broken. And I’m a bitch.”

“You’re not broken. Your wolf is traumatized, but she can heal. You are strong and caring and kind and, yes, a bitch. You’re my bitch. I’m proud that you’re mine, and I want everyone to know that.” Leaning over, he fused his mouth with hers, licking along the seam of her lips, coaxing her to open for him. When she did, he swept his tongue inside and indulged in a thorough tasting of her.

“You’re not going to leave me for her?” Despite feeling that he meant every word and that he felt nothing for Bitch Face, she needed to hear him say it.

He cupped her face and stared right into those smoky-blue eyes. “Nothing and no one could make me leave you. You made your choice that night when you tried to run from me and your tin can broke down. You’ve been irreversibly mine since then.”

“Choice,” she echoed, snorting. “Like you would have accepted a no.” He smiled. “Of course I wouldn’t have. I’d already decided you were mine.” He kissed her again before skimming his nose along the crook of her neck. Nothing and no one should smell that good. Searching out her gaze again, he scrutinized her face. “Are you sure you can deal with her being here? If you think it will be too much for you and your wolf, just say the word and I’ll make her leave.”

“I’d make her leave myself if it wasn’t for Leif.”

“If I thought he’d be willing to stay here without having his mom with him, I’d ask Trey to send her to stay with one of her relatives and keep Leif here until her parents are back from wherever they are. But although I’m his uncle, I’m still a stranger to him.”

“And we don’t know for sure if there’s some truth in what she’s saying. We know what Blane’s capable of doing, and we know that he’d have no problem with hurting a kid.” It made no sense to her that people like that existed. What importance could they possibly have to the world?

“Even so, if you can’t deal, we’ll tell her to find an alternative. You come before everyone else and everything else. You’re more important.”

Knowing he truly meant that almost brought a lump to her throat. “I can deal. For the kid’s sake, I can deal.”

He kissed her gently. “Ten days and she’ll be gone.”

“I can’t guarantee the bitch will still be alive in ten days,” she said, curling her upper lip.

“Especially if she touches you again. Skank.” A groan of annoyance escaped her when she sensed a vibe of heat through the bond. “I can’t believe you’re horny right now.”

“Baby, I’m always horny when you’re around, especially when you’re all naked and wet like this. But seeing you all assertive, possessive, and protective of our mating gets me instantly hard. Want to play gynecologists again?”

That pulled a reluctant smile from her. “Only if you make me scream so loud that there’s no way she won’t hear me.”

He flashed her a cocky smirk. “Oh, that won’t be a problem.”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

The next morning, Dante smiled as Jaime announced to everyone at the table—Laurie in particular—

that they had set the date for their mating ceremony as a week from now. He knew she was hoping that Laurie wouldn’t want to be around for the ceremony and would give up on her game and leave. He had yet to figure out just what that game was. Right now he was more concerned about finding a way to get that damn cat away from his mate. The ugly, furry thing gave Dante the evil eye each time he touched Jaime. As he sat on her lap being petted, he actually looked kind of smug.

“Is he yours?” Leif, who was sitting opposite Jaime, asked.

“Yep.” She smiled. Jaime liked the kid; she was surprised that he was so centered and friendly given who his parents were. “His name’s Hunk.”

“Hunk?” echoed Bitch Face with a snicker. Jaime decided to ignore her. She’d quickly learned over the past hour that paying the woman no attention ticked her off.

“What happened to him?” Leif’s eyes took in all the scars.

“We’re not sure exactly. All we know is that he was badly abused.”

“My gran has lots of cats.” His face lit up. “She loves them, but my grandfather hates them.” It was clear that he cared deeply about his grandparents.