Page 60 of Restless Ink

Then she fell to her hands, looking over her shoulder with such a fierce look, he knew she was close to the edge. With one more push, they’d both fall into the abyss. “Deal.”

He thrust into her hard once more, and she came around him, sending him over the edge, as well. He shouted her name, gripping her hips so hard, he was afraid he’d leave bruises, so he let go but hovered over her back, needing her touch, her heat, her everything.

He needed her.

And now that he had her, he was never letting go.

And if he were lucky, she’d never want him to.

Chapter 23

The next day, Thea was sore in all the right places and wanted to go back to her house and get back into bed next to Dimitri. She’d left him there since she had to wake up so early, and he had planned to head back to his place to shower and grab some things before coming to the bakery.

Later, they would go and pick up Captain and possibly confront Molly. The idea that it might feel as if they were ganging up on the other woman had occurred to both of them, but they needed to be a united front against what had been happening under their noses.

Molly was not a nice person.

And that meant she wasn’t going to be in their lives.

Even if it hurt.

And, hell, it already hurt, and it was going to hurt more. But there was something unhealthy about the way Molly was in their lives at the moment, and they had to fix that. Yes, they. Not just Dimitri, who wanted to break ties completely. He’d already tried with the divorce, but between Captain and Thea, he hadn’t been able to.

Now, it was Thea’s turn.

Because Thea could finally see beneath the veneer of the woman to who Molly might have always been. And if she and Dimitri thought things were complicated now, well….it was just going to get worse once they spoke to his ex.

Maybe it was all a misunderstanding. Maybe everything that had happened recently wasn’t connected at all, and it was all just a huge error.

Or maybe it was something far worse.

“Thea?” Carter reached out over the counter and gripped her hand, startling her. “What’s wrong? You’ve been standing there watching your coffee cup for a few minutes without saying anything.”

She blinked up at her brother-in-law and tried to smile. “I didn’t realize I was lost in thought that much. Usually, I can multitask when I think.”

Carter studied her face, his eyes searching. He was such a quiet man, though he could make her laugh. She didn’t know him well because he was hard to get to know, not because she didn’t want to. She knew he loved her sister, saw it in the way he moved around Roxie as if she were his everything, but Thea didn’t know if that was enough.

Considering that she hoped Dimitri looked at her the way Carter did with Roxie—albeit with a little less sadness she didn’t understand—she hoped that love was enough.

After a moment, Carter sat back and gave her a nod. “Well, usually if you’re thinking, you’re dealing with dough and kneading or mixing ingredients you know like the back of your hand. Dealing with hot liquid might take a little more attention, hence the standing still with coffee. Either that, or what you have on your mind needs more of you than just the part.”

“You sound like you know a lot about thinking on the job.”

Carter shrugged before taking a bite of his croissant. He chewed, swallowed, and wiped his mouth before answering. “Lots of time to think when you’re under a car. Most of my attention is on my hands, but there’s always a part of me that can think about what needs to be done or what hasn’t been done yet.”

For some reason, she didn’t think Carter was talking about a to-do list at the shop, but she didn’t pry. The fact that he was talking so freely to her just then surprised her.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked after a moment. “I’m not the best with answers, but I’m a decent listener. Sometimes, you just need to talk, you know?”

She almost asked him what was onhismind but stopped. What was going on between him and Roxie was between them. And Thea wanted her sister to talk to her, not Carter. Not because she didn’t care about her brother-in-law, but because she didn’t want to betray her sister by getting any news from another source. Loyalty and love went hand in hand, but it made things tricky when there could be secrets that needed to be kept…or spilled.

“I’m okay.” He gave her a look. “Iwillbe okay.”

“So, I don’t have to punch Dimitri for you? Because I know Shep and Mace could easily do it, but Shep got to be all big-brotherly toward Mace, and I haven’t had my chance yet.”

Thea couldn’t help but smile. “You want to act like my big brother?”

He shrugged again. “Of course. I might not be a Montgomery, but I married one. We stick together, right?”