“She’s always in my apartment. She comes and goes as she likes.”

“And she just happened to be there in the early morning?”

“Well, she’s been staying here until she gets a new place to live.”

“Uh-huh.”

Ric mentally shrugged. “Okay. Fine. I’m sleeping with her.”

“Have you lost your mind?”

“No.” And then, just to irritate, “But I have lost my heart.”

“You idiot.”

“I love you, too, Uncle Van.”

“She’s a Smith.”

“She’s amazing. And cute.”

“There is nothing cute about Dee-Ann Smith. What is wrong with you?”

“What can I say? There’s just something about her. I think she’s—”

“Don’t say it.”

“—the one.”

“Christ, you said it. What is wrong with my people? You’re all running around, looking for ‘the one.’ ”

“I wasn’t looking for her. She just sort of appeared. In Lock’s hallway. I knew then. And you said Aunt Irene is ‘the one.’ ”

“That was luck on her part. That she found me.”

“Then I guess I’m lucky.”

“Okay.” He could imagine his cousin trying to find a different way to approach this. “And what does she say?”

“She mentioned something about her father and a shallow grave with me in it but . . . I think I can win him over, too.”

“You cannot win over Eggie Smith. There is no winning over Eggie Smith.”

“But you told me yourself that I’m charming.”

“You’re also an idiot.”

Ric grinned. “But a charming idiot.”

His cousin hung up on him then, never having patience for his in-love brethren, and Ric finally returned to his bed.

He smiled, seeing Dee-Ann in it. She—and the gun and knife she had under her pillow—fit in perfectly. Ric just didn’t know why no one else seemed to see it. Except Blayne. Blayne saw it, but she seemed to be the only one. Not that it mattered, though. The only one who mattered was Dee-Ann and he was more than willing to work with her on this.

Ric eased into the bed and across it—it was a really big bed—until he was able to snuggle up close to Dee-Ann. He put his arms around her and held her tight.

His eyes were closing, moments from falling asleep when the bear-sized queen bed with its titanium frame—possibly one of the heaviest beds in the world—briefly went up, then crashed back to the floor. Both Ric and Dee pulled their guns, Ric’s from a holster he’d had built directly into the mattress for easy access; and Dee’s from under her pillow. They aimed directly at the foot of the bed, their fingers on the triggers, roundsalready in the chambers.

Yet the bear-lion hybrid at the end of the bed showed no fear. He gazed at them as only “The Marauder” Novikov could and said, “I need to borrow a house.” Did the mutt have any idea how close he’d been to getting shot? Dee had armor-piercing rounds in her gun that were strong enough to go through bear hide.

“You want what?” Ric asked. Poor thing. He’d been up for hours and had just gotten back into bed a few minutes ago. And her exhaustion must have been bone deep for her not to have scented Novikov before he even got into the house. That was definitely not like her at all.

“I need to borrow a house. I know you have several locally.”

“What do you want a house for?”

“Why do you care?”

Dee’s finger tightened on the trigger, her lips pulling back over her fangs. But Ric made her lower the gun, his hand firm against hers, pressing it down onto the bed.

“You have your own houses,” Ric argued. “One with a seal farm.”

“Not around here. And Blayne wants a party.”

“What’s wrong with your apartment? It’s massive.”

“And?”

“Do it there,” Ric reasoned.

“I don’t want people around my stuff.”

“But you want them around mine?”

“I don’t care about yours.”

Dee was reaching for her bowie knife then when Ric pinned her to the bed with his body.

“Why don’t I make this easy for both of us? Instead of turning my home over to you, I’ll just pull something together for all of us.”

“Here?” Novikov looked around the bedroom. “It’s kind of boring here.” Dee had nearly gotten free of Ric’s grasp by that point, but he caught her in his arms and held her tight. The fact that they were both naked, Dee’s fangs bared and her claws out, while these two strange idiots were still talking like they were having tea and cakes did fascinate the part of her brain not busy trying to kill Bo Novikov.

“It wouldn’t be here. I have my own place out on the Island. Near the beach.”

“Shifter friendly or do I have to keep my fangs in?”

“Shifter friendly, but very exclusive. Lots of room in the house, too, so we’ll all be quite comfortable. There’s even a park and beach nearby. I also have an Olympic-sized pool right in my back—”

“That’ll work.” And Dee had a feeling the hybrid would never leave the pool once he got there.

“Excellent. I’ll get everything organized from my end and e-mail you later in the day.” Ric motioned to the door with his chin. “Now go away. And if you took the door off the hinges to get in here—put it back.”