Total pages in book: 145
Estimated words: 133975 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 670(@200wpm)___ 536(@250wpm)___ 447(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133975 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 670(@200wpm)___ 536(@250wpm)___ 447(@300wpm)
Blythe sighed. “I suppose you’re right.”
“And get a physical. You could be lacking vitamins or have some underlying problem,” Anya continued.
Lyric thought Anya was very wise and insightful. Blythe managed to put on a happy face, but Lyric felt her sadness. She was tired. She needed a break. How could Czar not see it?
“Is that going to be me in a few years? Keys unable to see me?” She hadn’t known she was going to just blurt that out loud.
“Czar would be furious that I haven’t talked to him about my feelings,” Blythe admitted. “He’s in the middle of something huge right now. He hasn’t been home with the kids, and Jimmy in particular is difficult at the moment. When Czar is doing his best to bring down a human trafficking ring, I think that takes precedence over me being tired, so I choose not to say anything to him.”
Lyric wanted to protest. Czar should see it, shouldn’t he? He should be tuned to his wife. She knew a relationship wasn’t going to be fifty-fifty, that the scale would swing first one way and then the other, but in her mind, she thought, no matter what was going on, Keys would see her. She wasn’t good at expressing feminine emotions in a relationship. She just wasn’t. Even now, when he talked to her and wanted her to tell him what she was feeling, she couldn’t always express herself. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust him…Okay, she was learning to trust him.
“Lyric, why do you suddenly look scared?” Anya asked. “We’re just hashing out how to be with these very alpha males. You have one. You know it isn’t always easy. We were all surprised that Keys came home with a woman. Not just any woman but the one. He made that very clear to everyone.”
“What’s he like?” Blythe asked. “Each of the members of Torpedo Ink is different, but I can get a good reading on them. But not Keys. He’s always been a bit of an enigma. He’s always sweet to us, the women in the club, I mean, but I don’t know a single thing about him. I don’t think anyone else does either.”
Lyric hugged that information to herself. Keys was really hers. He’d given himself to her. Shared the reality of who he was—the good, the bad and the ugly. He trusted her with the real man. She was a tiny bit ashamed that she didn’t give him that same trust back. She was trying. She wanted to. She was getting better when it came to sex. And maybe that helped. Maybe their crazy sex life was slowly instilling an ability to trust Keys because he gave her no choice when it came to sex.
He’d always been up front with her about how he was, what he needed and what he expected from her. She clearly needed to be able to reciprocate, telling him what she needed, or she would end up tired and discouraged like Blythe. She relied on her feelings when it came to people, and she sensed Blythe was a really good person. She needed a rest. Maybe a spa day. At the very least, she needed time with her husband.
Sabelia put cups and saucers on their table and added three small pots of tea, along with the layered tiers of various savories and scones.
“Enjoy,” she said brightly and rushed to get the next table’s order to them.
The doors to the back office opened and Maestro came into the main room of the tea house, closely followed by Steele and then Keys. Behind them, Savage walked with his arm around Seychelle. A tall, stunning blonde accompanied them.
Fourteen
Keys took one look at Lyric and she could tell he knew something was upsetting her. She appeared relaxed, and she wore her friendly, happy mask, but her eyes must have given her away. Or he already knew her so well he could read her even through her mask. He followed Steele to the table, and Lyric watched him come straight to her. Each step he took had her heart pounding harder.
“Seychelle is going to be fine, Blythe,” Steele assured her. “But she was slowly bleeding internally from two different places. It was a very good thing you let me know.”
Savage had started toward the door, but Seychelle stopped walking and looked up at him stubbornly. “I’d like to stay with Anya, Blythe and Lyric.” She didn’t sound overly loud, but even in the packed tea house, Lyric heard her. “I know that Czar arranged to meet someone here, which means you’ll be here with him.” Her chin went up. “I don’t want to sit alone at home when I could be sitting here with them.” She gestured toward the table.
“I can keep an eye on her, Savage,” the blond woman said smoothly. Her voice was gentle. Very soft. Compelling. “She probably shouldn’t be alone, at least for the next few hours, to ensure Steele’s work doesn’t come undone. I don’t think there’s really any danger of that, but we can keep an eye on her here.”