He should be furious with her, angry she put herself at risk, but he couldn’t help but wonder what it said about her feelings for him. He’d just about worked up the nerve to ask her when she yawned.
“Come. I’ll take you home,” he said instead.
“I can take her home later if she desires,” Michael said. He finished his drink and set his glass on the desk.
“What do you mean, ‘if she desires’?” Thomas said frowning.
“As we’ve already discussed, she’s stayed all night in my bed plenty of times before. I don’t see why that needs to change.”
Her eyes widened, but she kept her mouth shut. What the hell was Michael playing at? There was a game going on here that she didn’t understand at all.
A muscle twitched in Thomas’s jaw. “And as we’ve already discussed, she is my mate. You will not touch her again.”
“I don’t think that’s up to you,” Michael said. “I have sworn no oath to you. Or have you forgotten?”
Thomas studied him for a moment. “I have not forgotten, old friend. Nor will I forget this. Come along, Juliana.”
She glanced between them. “I need to speak to Michael. Call for a car and I’ll be down in a moment.”
The muscle twitched again. “As you wish.” He turned without another word, went down the stairs and out the door.
She rose and slid the sword back into its sheath. “‘She’s stayed in my bed plenty of times before’? Seriously? Are you trying to get yourself killed? We’ve never even kissed.”
Michael’s mouth twitched. “We know that, but he doesn’t. He’s thought we’ve been sleeping together for years.”
“And you knew this?”
“I’m the one that paid Eric to tell him.”
She pinched the bridge of her nose. “Why?”
“I thought a little competition might bring him home sooner, but apparently not. If I’d known you two were United, I might have dragged him back whether he wanted to come or not.” His voice was little more than a growl by the end.
“You know this ends now. I won’t have him thinking we slept together.”
He shrugged as if it didn’t matter one way or the other, and to him it probably didn’t. “Up to you. I’ll go along with whatever you want. But it wouldn’t hurt him to think it for a while longer in my opinion. He’s already put a bounty on Raoul by the way.”
“What did he do? Make phone calls while Ben was interrogating me?”
“Yes.”
She shook her head. Only Thomas would put a price on someone’s head while sitting in the middle of the Agency and not think anything of it.
“He’s long gone by now. You and I have pursued him, true enough, but it’s nothing like the hunt Thomas will mount.”
“Someone had to tell Raoul that Thomas was coming back,” she said. “They got here at almost the same time.”
“I’ve thought about that.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t know who it could be. Remember, Thomas didn’t even tell me he was returning until he’d done it.”
“That’s not much of an argument considering he thought you were screwing his mate.”
Michael laughed as she’d intended him to.
“I better go.”
He looked like he wanted to say something else, but instead he merely nodded once. “Take care of him,” he said.
She went outside to find Thomas leaning against the side of a limo. Not exactly what she had in mind when she told him to call for a car. He held open the door for her and she scooted across the seat so he could slide in beside her. They were quiet until they turned onto her block.
“Do you love him?” he asked, his voice so low she barely heard him.
“Not like you mean, but yes, I love him.” She glanced over to find him looking out the window on the other side of the car.
“What does that mean?”
“That means if he were to suddenly disappear from my life, I would be most unhappy with you. He’s one of my best friends, Thomas. You can’t ask me to give him up just because you’re back.”
“You will not sleep with him again. That is not a request.”
She’d been about to tell him that she’d never made love to Michael. That the only time they’d shared a bed had been in some backwoods motel when they only had one room available and she’d made Michael sleep on top of the covers. Thomas’s demand and the tone he made it in had her snapping her mouth shut. Maybe Michael was right, maybe it wouldn’t hurt him to keep thinking more had gone on between them for a while.
“You don’t get to dictate to me, Thomas. You get to ask. Nicely. If I’m in a good mood I may agree.”
He nodded but still didn’t turn to look at her. “I’ll leave, Joya, if that is your wish. It was never my intention to bring you pain.”
She blew out her breath in frustration. “This isn’t an either/or situation. I’m not picking him over you. I’m telling you that you don’t get to tell me what to do. You get to ask. Or tell me what bothers you. Period. Besides, you swore.”
He turned to her, brow furrowed. “What?”
“You swore you weren’t going to leave again and I’m holding you to that.” Her chest was tight, her breaths shallow. She prayed to all the gods for the strength to do this. To give him another chance.
A flurry of emotions flew over his face until it settled into his familiar blank mask. “I find it hard to believe you wish me to remain after what I discovered.”
“As much as I would like to blame you for everything, the only thing you did was make a stupid decision. Followed by more stupid decisions.”
He arched a brow. “Thanks, I think.”
She ignored him. “You broke my heart, but I’m beginning to realize that might not have been intentional.”
Thomas shook his head and looked back out the window. “It was an unforgivable mistake.”
“Even you’re allowed a mistake or two, Thomas. Of course, you make a lot more than you admit to.” His jaw clenched but he didn’t take the bait. “Only when one’s actions are malicious and uncaring are they unforgivable.”
He looked at her. “That doesn’t sound like you. Who said it?”
“Jeremiah says it to excuse some of my more errant behavior. It’s true though. Look, I’m not saying all’s forgiven and forgotten. You’ve got a lot to make up for.”
“What are you saying?” His voice was tired, weary.
“I’m giving you a chance. One chance. But if you hurt me again, we’re done forever. United or not.” If he broke her heart again she would never recover. She couldn’t help but think she was stupid for even giving him the opportunity.
He studied her for a long time without saying anything as they pulled up in front of her house. “I understand. There are many things I have to do to set things to rights after all of this. I’m going to need some time.”
She nodded and, after giving him a peck on the cheek, stepped out of the car.
The irony of Thomas asking for time wasn’t lost on her. She went in her house, waving at him before she shut the door. Rubbing a hand along the back of her neck, she sat on the edge of the couch. In a few days her life had gone from routine to chaotic. Thomas was back in her life complete with all his complications. Raoul was still on the loose for the time being, but with Thomas hunting him, his days were numbered. Her father informed her she was merely mortal after all and she’d been suspended from her job for doing her best to save the people she loved. On the other hand, she got rid of not one, but two demons and, contrary to the troll’s prediction, no one had killed her in the process. She guessed there was always time for that tomorrow.
* * * * *
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