I leaned over on the railing. “That’s the deal Stafford gave you?”
“Yep.”
“That’s really fuckin’ great.”
“Yeah, no shit, but my father says that he didn’t pay for him to go to the University of Chicago Law School to use his degree to help drug addicts and prostitutes.”
“What?”
“I know. He’s living in a bad seventies police drama—who does he think does drugs, just poor people in the ghetto?”
“Lorcan should be kissing Stafford’s ass.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“And so, what, you and Stafford are buddies now?”
“‘Buddies’ is pushing it, but I think we’re gonna work together, yeah.”
“Huh. The marshals and the DEA,” I said, grinning. “Lookit you already building bridges and shit.”
“That’s what Kage hired me to do, jackass. Build fuckin’ bridges.”
“Oh, you diplomat, you.”
He flipped me off and went back to the kitchen, and I heard him talk to Chickie. “Oh, you do not need to go out, it’s like twenty degrees out there, you stupid dog.”
And it was nice, after the craziness my life had been over the past two days, to hear the normalcy of Ian arguing with our werewolf.
“I love my life,” I yelled down to him.
“That’s lucky ’cause you’re stuck with it.”
“And I love you.”
“Same principle applies.”
Lucky.
IT HAD to be early in the morning when I woke because it was still dark outside. The sheet and heavy quilt were tucked around me, and I realized the temperature had dropped and my skin was icy. Ian had gotten up to turn off the lights at some point, and it was nice, serene in the quiet and dark. I heard the toilet flush, and then he was back in bed, diving under the covers, snuggled to my back, his face in my hair as it started to rain outside. I could hear the drops pelting the skylight, and my sigh was long.
“What?”
“I’m having a perfect moment.”
“Jesus, you’re easy to please.”
“Shuddup and go back to sleep.”
He made a contented noise and fell silent.
I had almost drifted off.
“Hey.”
I grunted.
“I love you too. Marrying you was smartest thing I ever fuckin’ did.”
“Oh, you romantic, you,” I said, turning my head to kiss him over my shoulder.
He made sure to find my lips in the dark.