“I don’t know what that is,” Cayenne admitted softly, “but he’s everything to me. I want to learn how to take care of him. To make him a home. I don’t think he’s had that, and I want to do that for him.” She turned back toward the older woman, leaning forward, meeting her eyes. “I want that a lot. I’m hoping you can help me.”

“Keepin’ your man happy isn’t difficult, Cayenne. Neither is makin’ a home for him, not if it’s important to you.”

“I didn’t have parents,” she blurted out. “I have to learn everything out of a book or on the Internet. Cooking is especially difficult. I can get all the measurements right, but I make the worst messes. Half the time, Trap has to come in and help me get everything cleaned up. I don’t want that. He works hard and the work he does is important. Eventually, I’m going to help him in the laboratory, but to do that, I have to be organized so everything else gets done. I don’t mind him helping me with the laundry – which by the way I screw up almost every time I do it. But I want to do the cooking. I don’t know why, but it’s important to me.”

Nonny studied her face. “It was difficult for you to ask Wyatt if he’d ask me, wasn’t it? But you did. That took courage. A little thing like cookin’ isn’t goin’ to be hard for you after that.”

Cayenne hadn’t realized how tense she was. She forced air through her lungs and sank back. “I’ve never even talked to other women, not like this. Not Pepper, no one. I’ve never gone into a grocery store or paid for groceries. I don’t know how to do those things. Trap’s friends have been getting our groceries for us. He wants everything in place before we go out in public together. I think he actually wants us to be married.”

Nonny didn’t take her gaze from Cayenne’s. “I don’ know a lot about Wyatt’s business. I do know that somethin’ bad happened to Pepper and the girls. I know that same somethin’ must have happened to you. You have no cause to be worried about makin’ friends with me. You already did, just by puttin’ the soft in Trap’s face and meltin’ the ice in his eyes. The way he picked up that youngin’ was beautiful. He never did that before. Not once. Not slow and easy and natural. You gave him that.”

Cayenne felt her eyes burn. She liked hearing what Nonny was saying to her. Movement in the doorway nearly had her spinning around in her chair, but the scent came to her and she knew it was Pepper, Wyatt’s wife. She could actually smell Wyatt on her, their combined scents. She forced herself to turn slowly with a small smile on her face, even though she was back to being tense again.

Two people. Two women. Cayenne pushed down panic and smiled through the introductions. “I guess I have you to thank for telling Trap that I was imprisoned and awaiting termination,” she said.

Nonny made a small sound in the back of her throat. “What did you say, child?”

Cayenne nearly bit her tongue. Clearly Nonny didn’t have all the details about her. She glanced nervously at Pepper, looking for direction.

“Nonny, just like the girls, Whitney and Braden put out a termination order on Cayenne.”

“It’s still in effect,” Cayenne said. “So in coming here, I may have put you both in danger. If you…”

“Don’ even say it,” Nonny warned. “We’re all in this together. I think it’s time those boys earned their dinner anyway. They’re hanging around here, pretendin’ to work, eatin’ every chance they get. A little guard duty will keep them sharp.”

Pepper laughed softly. “Nonny’s very good at handling all the men. I tend to hide sometimes, but she knows exactly what to do with them.”

“I had me four boys to raise,” Nonny pointed out. “Now I got me three little girls, Pepper and Flame, Gator’s wife.” The faded eyes went to Cayenne’s face. “And you. ’Bout time I had me daughters what with all these boys I’ve got now. Gives a body a reason to keep goin’.”

“What are the girls’ names? Triplets, right?” Cayenne asked, her stomach settling a little more.

Nonny conveyed such warmth it was impossible not to feel welcome in her home. Pepper was more reserved; like Cayenne, she didn’t have much experience with people. She’d had four months of being with Wyatt, Nonny, and the members of the GhostWalker team so she had a jump on Cayenne gaining experience. Clearly being around Nonny gave her advantages. She was already taking on Nonny’s natural friendliness and warmth. Cayenne envied her just a little.

“Ginger, Cannelle and Thym,” Pepper answered. “You know how Braden wanted us all to be spices. He was such a jerk.”

“Whitney determined that those of us in France would be spices. He had two other labs that I heard rumors about in other countries, and if he has women or children there, you can bet they have a different category name. As I understand it from what Trap told me, those in the United States have flowers or seasons,” Cayenne said.

“Flame’s real name is Iris,” Nonny said, “but no one calls her that. Whitney gave her the cancer – repeatedly. I know Trap and Wyatt are workin’ as hard as they can to come up with a cure, at least for the type of cancer Whitney gave Flame. He wanted it to keep comin’ back so she would have to go to him for treatment. Lily Miller is helpin’. She’s Whitney’s daughter, and she put Flame’s cancer in remission, but we’re all afraid it might come back again.”

Cayenne was surprised that Nonny knew so much about Whitney’s experiments. Although once she gave it thought, it stood to reason. Nonny had lived a long life and she was smart and observant. She had two grandsons who had joined the GhostWalker program and were married to other GhostWalkers. She hosted an entire team in her home. She had to see their differences and hear them talking.

“Whitney didn’t want to see any of us as human,” Pepper said. “He can distance himself from us so it’s easy to look at us as experiments and he can terminate us, or do anything else he wants without feeling guilty.”

Cayenne shivered, a cold chill creeping down her spine. Her hands ached. She rubbed them on her thighs, suddenly wishing Trap were there.

She felt Nonny’s sharp gaze and forced her hands into her lap, threading her fingers together to keep from trembling. She didn’t ever feel like this unless she was alone at night and couldn’t shut out the memories of being pinned to a table like an insect with several men in lab coats poking and stabbing with needles and knives. Bile rose, and she felt like she might choke.