“No,” he answers, glancing back at me. “Why? Who asked?”
“No one asked, I just—Well, no, I guess Colette asked.”
Now he scowls. “Colette?”
“At dinner. We were in the kitchen and Meg said Mateo won’t give her a monitor or anything, so how will anyone know if she goes into labor down there? And she sort of has a point. We can’t hear her down there and Maria only goes down for breakfast and dinner. What if she goes into labor when no one is around? What if the labor goes really fast and by the time anyone goes down to check on her, it’s too late?”
“What else did Colette say?”
“I don’t know, I don’t remember. Not much, she was just reasonably concerned about the baby. I guess she figured maybe he has cameras down there he just doesn’t advertise and he’s keeping an eye on her that way.”
Adrian faintly shakes his head, closing a camera and opening another one. “Don’t talk to Colette about security measures. Dante doesn’t live here. He doesn’t need to know about this stuff.”
“I wasn’t talking to Dante, I was talking to Colette.”
“Same difference. Don’t do it.”
“Fine. Sorry,” I mutter.
Adrian shakes his head. “This is why your husband has to torture you all the time. You need common sense lessons.”
“Well, you’re the house tutor,” I inform him, lacing my fingers together over my abdomen and leaning back, watching the screen. “Teach me your ways, oh wise one.”
“Listen to whatever people want to tell you, but never give out information like that to anybody. Speaking of people you’re probably telling things you shouldn’t, how was Rafe today?”
I roll my eyes. “I didn’t tell Rafe anything I shouldn’t. I don’t even have the security clearance to be in here, apparently, so I can’t be that much of a threat.”
“You’re the biggest threat this family has encountered in all my time with them,” he states. “Got a fucking loose cannon rolling around Connecticut, a rat in the basement, a Vegas cousin skulking around the house, Dante and Colette asking about our security measures.” He switches cameras in the library and straightens.
He found Mateo. He’s in the library with Lily, sitting on the couch with a pile of books between them. “Awesome. You’re my hero, Adrian.”
He rolls his eyes as I stand and head out of the room in front of him so he can close up behind me. “Tell your husband I need another raise.”
—
I hate interrupting them, but by the time I make it to the library, it’s nearing time for Lily to head to bed anyway. She always goes to bed early so she can read first—our resident bookworm.
When I come in, she’s wedging half a dozen books beneath her arm.
“That’s quite a haul you have there,” I remark, dangling the beige bag I brought with me. “Room for one more?”
“Maybe. What is it?”
“I’m not sure. It’s green. The cover looks cool.” I reach into the bag and pull out the paperback I bought for her. “I wanted to get you something you’d like and you know I’m not a big reader, so I called in help. Adrian actually picked this out.”
Interest flickers in her eyes and she reaches out with her free hand. “Well, if Adrian picked it out, I’m sure it’s good.”
“He picked it out for you. I doubt he’s read it, but…”
The corners of her mouth tug upward as she reads the back of the book. “You mean Adrian doesn’t read YA fairytale retellings? I am shocked.”
“Maybe he does,” Mateo remarks, bracing his hands behind his head and leaning back on the couch. “We don’t know what he does when we’re not around.”
“Awesome stuff, I bet,” Lily offers.
Mateo smirks.
Lily shoots him a dirty look and heads toward the door. She remembers her manners and tosses a quick “thanks!” at me over her shoulder before she heads out the door.
“Who knew Adrian would prove such a chick magnet?” Mateo jokes.
I smile and take a seat beside him, wrapping my arms around his torso. “We like smart badasses with good shoulders. That’s what I know about females.”
“Thank God for books and free weights,” he says, lightly.
“You should clue Alec in on this secret. He’s got the body part going for him; maybe he wouldn’t be perpetually single if he’d crack open a book from time to time.”
Chuckling lightly, Mateo says, “Alec has a good head on his shoulders. He’s not always single; he just doesn’t bring his ladies around. He’s seen me borrow from relatives a time too many. Anyway, the women he dates don’t give a damn about books.”
I shrug. “Neither do I; it still does something for me.” I follow up with a scowl. “And he could bring his ladies around. You have me now; you’re not going to borrow from him. If you ever took a shine to another woman, I’d just tell Adrian and she’d disappear without a trace.”