“Talia!”

Sebastian’s voice bleeds through and I jerk my worried gaze from the blood on the floor to his blue one.

“Walk over to the nurses’ station with Den so he can have them call security. Don’t leave his side. Got it?”

My heart’s racing so fast, I feel lightheaded, but I swallow my worry and nod.

Sebastian shifts his gaze to Den. “While the nurses call security, call Calder. Tell him we need at least two more men here ASAP. Then take Talia home.”

“I’m not going anywhere!”

“I don’t have time to argue,” my husband grates, his expression scary calm.

“Then don’t!” I snap. “My aunt’s in there and we don’t know where Theo is. I’m safe with Den.” I wave him on. “Just go. We’ll do our part.”

“She’ll be safe, Sebastian.” Den looks at me, his tone focused but urgent. “We need to call security now.”

Following him, I hate that the nurse’s station is around a slight turn from the hall where my aunt’s room is located. I tell myself to keep taking steps and not let worry about whose blood is on the floor, or that Sebastian might be attacked paralyze me.

To save time, I call Calder while Den gets the head nurse to call security.

“Hey, Talia,” Calder says, sounding upbeat. “I got your aunt’s phone. I’ll get it to you tonight—”

“Something has happened in my aunt’s hospital room, Calder,” I say quickly. “Sebastian’s investigating the blood we saw under the door. He wants more security here immediately.”

“Blood? What the hell—consider it done. Is Theo backing Sebastian up? Den’s with you, right?”

“We don’t know where Theo is.” My voice starts to shake. “Yes, Den’s with me at the nurse’s station, calling security.”

“Stay with Den. I’m on my way now,” he says, the sound of a car starting up in the background. “I’ll call more men in from the car. Be there in ten.”

“Get a fucking doctor in here right now!” Sebastian’s bellow down the hall makes my heart rate vault.

“Den!” I call and thankfully he’s right with me, because I can’t hear the worry in my husband’s voice and not be there for him.

Den’s steps are brisk beside me, and once I reach my aunt’s room, it takes all my willpower not to scream at the sight of Sebastian’s hands covered in blood. He’s kneeling in the doorway with his hand over Theo’s forearm, holding his gaping wound together as best he can.

“Move out of the way, please,” an older man with wiry gray hair and a white coat rushes in to kneel beside Sebastian.

“He’s not breathing,” Sebastian says.

Quickly assessing Theo, the doctor starts barking out crisp orders to the three nurses who rushed to the sound of yells for help. “He’s in respiratory distress and bleeding out. We need to intubate him now!”

I grab onto Den’s arm and shake my head to keep from falling over. Den folds his big hand over mine as Sebastian says to one of the nurses, “Check on Mrs. Granger. Make sure she’s unharmed.”

Two security guards come rushing down the hall. They try to tell us to clear the hallway, but Den looks at them, his voice commanding. “We’re not going anywhere. This unit needs to be locked until the police arrive.”

“We’ve got it covered,” the taller one says, speaking into his walkie-talkie to another guy. “And you need to listen or you’ll be escorted out.”

“By you?” Den snorts his annoyance. “Locked means unable to open. Why did a nurse just walk through one of the doors?”

The tall guy grunts and gestures for the shorter guard to make sure the doors are actually locked and only opened if necessary for emergencies.

I release Den and press my hand to my lips as the medical staff rolls a gurney over, and the three nurses and the doctor lift Theo up onto it. As they turn the gurney and start to rush Theo down the hall, the doctor runs alongside issuing orders, “Get O negative ready. He appears to be in a paralytic state. We need to find out what drug was used on him.”

A nurse in her forties, with dark eyes that matches her hair, has stayed in the room. I tense as she moves to my aunt’s bedside, then let out a breath as she leans over her and lightly shakes her shoulder, saying, “Mrs. Granger, I’m just checking on you. Are you feeling okay?”

My aunt’s eyes flutter open and she sighs, then nods.

The nurse smiles at my aunt and lifts her limp arm, folding her fingers around her wrist. “Close your eyes and go back to sleep. I’m just going to take your pulse.”

I’m amazed that my aunt slept through all that, but then she’s on some pretty heavy pain meds. “You’re going to move my aunt out of this room as soon as possible, right?” I say to the nurse after she releases my aunt and steps past Sebastian, who’s bent down staring at all the blood on the floor.

Moving into the hall, the nurse addresses a much younger blonde nurse who’s hovering nervously outside the room, her tone no-nonsense. “Please call a custodian down here to room 457 to clean this blood up.”

“No one’s cleaning anything up,” Sebastian says from his squatted position, his gaze never leaving the floor.

What is he looking at? Yes, it’s a lot of blood. God, I’m so glad we found Theo when we did. We must have just missed the person who did this.

“This is an active crime scene and until the police arrive, nothing is going to be touch—” Sebastian jerks his gaze to the the dark-haired nurse, his expression intense. “I need a glove right now, please.”

“Yes, of course. I’m just used to following hospital protocol.” The nurse turns to the wall station, pulls a glove out of the box and hands it to him.

Sebastian takes the glove and leans over the wide bloodstain to lift something completely submerged in the thick puddle of blood Theo left behind. As I wonder how he even saw that buried in all that blood—I certainly didn’t see it—my husband holds his hand out toward the two nurses. “Get this syringe to the doctor who just left here. This is what was used to drug the man they just wheeled away.”

After the nurse takes off down the hall with the bloody syringe, Sebastian addresses the two guards standing near Den and me. “The police will be here soon. You’ll be asked for the security camera tapes from tonight. I want copies too. Get them now.”

The taller, balding guy puffs his chest out. “We will follow procedure and only give that information to the police once they ask for it—”

“If you had followed procedure, my family wouldn’t have been put at risk tonight. You chose not to do your job and patrol this floor after you were told to be extra diligent,” Sebastian says in a deadly tone. “If you want to keep your jobs, you will get me the information. I’ve got the means and give no-fucks about tearing your lives apart.”

The shorter one with a round face and spiked dark hair visibly pales, then grumbles, “I’ll get the video feeds.”

My husband lifts his chin toward the other guy. “Get to the main door of this unit and guard it until the police arrive. What happened tonight never should’ve happened.”

Once the guards mumble their apologies, then head off to do their jobs, Sebastian looks at Den. “Did you call for backup?”

Den glances at his watch. “The police should be here in five minutes.”

“Calder’s on his way,” I say. “He’s bringing extra men. God, I’m so worried for Theo.” My stomach churns as my gaze strays to the door the medical team wheeled him through.

Sebastian starts to reach for me, then looks at all the blood on his hands. Stepping over to the antibacterial dispenser, he pumps a ton into his hands, then takes the wad of paper towels a nurse hands him. Snapping his gaze to Den, he wipes the blood from his hands, his face set in determined lines. “Get Talia out of here now. I’ll follow with the videos once I’ve dealt with the police.”

“I’m not leaving my aunt and I want to know about Theo—”

“I fucking am security!”

We all look over at Calder with a couple of BLACK Security guys behind him, who’s clearly having a harsh discussion with the tall security guard posted at the main door.

“I need you to leave right now, Talia.” Sebastian’s sharp tone cuts off any argument. “I can’t focus on getting your aunt moved into a safe space if I’m worried about you and our child too.” His blue eyes hold mine. “You know you’re too exposed here.”

My heart thumping hard, I press my lips together and try to ignore the painful knotting in my stomach. Taking short breaths, I will it away. It subsides just as Den puts a hand on my shoulder. “I’ll go. Keep us updated on Theo and my aunt, Sebastian. There has to be a reason she wasn’t harmed. Was the killer interrupted? We have to assume that was his goal.”

“I hope the security cameras will provide that answer along with his identity,” Sebastian says, then shifts his gaze to Den. “I want you and Calder to escort Talia out of here. Once you’re in the clear, send Calder back up to help me deal with this clusterfuck.”

Den releases my shoulder and looks down at me. “Let’s go talk to the guard so the guys can get in here and help Sebastian.”

* * *

“Talia!” Cass says from her kneeling position on the living room floor among an explosion of ribbons, wrapping paper, and tissue. Open boxes and packaging litters our sofa and side chair, spilling over onto the coffee table. Colorful toys and fully assembled baby paraphernalia are scattered throughout the apartment: including a highchair in the far corner of the kitchen, a bouncy chair next to the table, a swing near the side chair. Sippy cups, baby plates and utensils line our island, along with diapers, formula and everything in between.

“Indeed, very entertaining,” Den mutters as I walk in and stare, completely speechless.

“Please tell me your aunt is okay? Calder didn’t fill me in on any details. His text just said he had to get over to the hospital.”

I slowly nod and Cass exhales a breath of relief. “Whew, okay that’s good. I hope you don’t mind that I took the initiative. I started with the baby monitor. I just thought I’d get it set up for you guys and well…” She spreads her hands wide, a sheepish look on her face. “Surprise? Calder’s been gone all day with Ben, and I was going crazy waiting to hear something.” Cass scrambles to her feet. Kicking paper, ribbons, tissue and packaging out of her way, she approaches, but then stops and takes off the baby backpack she’d obviously been adjusting on her shoulders. Grabbing up a notepad from the back of the side chair, she moves closer and speaks so rapidly I blink and try to keep up.

“Holy crap, some of this stuff was hard to put together. It’s almost like you need a Master’s degree in assembly or something. I know the crib is Sebastian’s domain, so I left that, but I prevailed! My goal was to have all the trash cleaned up before you got back.” She holds the notepad toward me. “Here’s the entire list from the shower of who bought you what. I’ll be happy to help you stuff, lick, and stamp the ‘Thank You’ notes if you’d like.”

I’m so out of it from everything that’s going on, all I can think to do is reach out and slowly pull the short screwdriver Cass had tucked in the front pocket of her jeans. Cass looks at Den’s somber expression, then drops the notepad and pulls me close, folding her arms around me. “What’s wrong?”

“Why don’t you take Talia into her bedroom to talk, Cass.”

“Yes, of course.” Lowering her arm around my shoulders, my friend leads me to my bedroom and sets me down on the bed.

Facing me, she crosses her legs and takes my hand. “I’m freaking out here. You said nothing is wrong with your aunt. God…” Her hand squeezes mine tight. “Has something happened to Sebastian?”

I shake my head and put my free hand over hers. “No, Calder and Sebastian are at the hospital.” After I explain everything that happened, Cass links our hands together and whispers, “Holy shit! I hope Theo’s going to be okay.”

As I nod my agreement, my phone pings in my purse, but when I don’t reach for it, Cass’s gaze snaps from me to my purse. “Aren’t you going to check it?”

“I don’t think I can handle it if Theo didn’t make it.” Tears misting my eyes, I shove my purse toward her. “Check the message for me.”

Cass takes a breath, then pulls out my phone. Smiling, she turns it toward me. “Good news!”

My gaze drops to Sebastian’s text.

They’ve stabilized Theo. He’ll have a hell of a scar on his arm, but he’ll live. Vanessa has been moved to the critical floor under an anonymous name. Room 215. There’s less traffic there, but she’ll also have BLACK Security watching over her. She never knew what happened. Slept through most of it and was probably too groggy to remember being moved. As far as we can tell, she’s fine. Will review video at home. Police to do the same tonight.

Crying my happiness, I take the phone and text him back.

I’m so happy Theo is going to be okay. Thank you for taking care of my aunt. I’ll let Charlie know her new room number. Please be sure he’s on the approved visitor list.

Already done. Be home in a half hour. Wrapping up with the police now.

Get home sooner.

Miss me?

I miss you the instant you walk out the door.

My father calls just as I start to set my phone down. I instantly pick up.

“Hey!”

“Hey, Talia. How’s Vanessa doing? Did she get my flowers?”

I decide to keep the answer as simple as possible. “Yes, thank you for the flowers. She’s slowly getting better.”

“That’s wonderful news. I’m so glad to hear that. I just wanted to say I’m sorry for not seeing you yesterday. They wouldn’t let me come up.”

“Yeah, they were being pretty strict, but she really appreciated the flowers.”

“I’m glad to hear it. How are you feeling, Tally-girl? Make sure you’re taking care of yourself and my grandchild.”

“I’m taking care of both of us. Don’t worry.”

“I’ll try. Please be sure to tell Vanessa I hope she heals quickly.”

“Will do. Talk to you later.”

Once I hang up, Cass brushes my hair back from my face. “How are you really feeling?”

“Less anxious and a bit tired. And, yes, I didn’t tell my dad everything. It’s just easier to make sure he doesn’t worry.” Smiling, I rub my hand over my belly. “As for how I’m feeling…when we first discovered Theo, my stomach felt like it was full of knots. I had to take several deep breaths to make it go away. Now that I’ve heard from Sebastian, I feel so much better.”

Cass frowns. “Your stomach was in knots? Are you sure it wasn’t the baby? Were you having early contractions? What do they call those?”

“Braxton Hicks contractions. I’m not due technically for two weeks, but I think it’s more like one. I’ll see what the doctor thinks at my next check up on Monday.”

“You don’t know your exact due date?”

I laugh. “Well, the doctor gave me one date based on my last period, but the baby is measuring a bit bigger, hence the date swing.” Just then, the baby starts moving around. I quickly grab Cass’s hand, putting it over the spot. “Do you feel it?”

“Finally! That’s so amazing,” Cass says, her gaze full of wonder. “It feels like a little alien moving around inside you. Does it feel that way to you?”

“Ha, it does feel like an out-of-body experience at times.” Tilting my head toward the play yard and the bouncy saucer with squeaky table top toys and colorful thingy-ma-bobs she’d placed in the corners of our bedroom, I tease, “Is that what happened to you today?”

“Are you mad?” Cass bites her lip, looking embarrassed. “I’m sorry. I honestly was trying to be helpful and put everything away for you so you’ll be ready to go when the baby comes.”

“I’ve had our hospital bag ready to go for two weeks now, but that’s as far as I’ve gotten,” I say on a grimace. “The idea of opening all those presents and putting them together would be so overwhelming to me right now, so…thank you for being your crazy can’t-stop-once-you-start self. I love you, Cass.”

Grinning, she hugs me once more. “Love you too.”

As her arms fold tight around me, I moan and pull back. “The baby’s putting an elbow or something in my pelvis,” I say, gasping at the sharp pain.

“Didn’t you say that moving helps the baby reposition herself?” Cass hops off the bed and tugs me to my feet. “Let’s go into the kitchen and I’ll make you a cup of decaf tea. That should help relax you some, while I clean up the mess I made. By the time I’m done, hopefully the guys will be back.”

As we step into the living room, Cass gapes at the pristine place, then says excitedly, “Den, will you marry me?”

“What the hell!” Frowning, Calder steps into the living room and instantly glares at Den who’s leaning against the counter in the kitchen, a mug to his lips.

“Don’t worry, Calder. All Den’s guilty of is cleaning up Cass’s mess.” Laughing at the confused look on Calder’s face, I walk straight into my husband’s arms as he steps off the elevator behind Calder. “I’m so glad you’re home.”

Sebastian quickly takes in all the new stuff set up in the apartment as he presses a kiss to my forehead. “Someone’s been busy.”

I gesture to Cass, who’s pulling two mugs down from the cabinet. “You can thank Miss I-Can’t-Stop-Myself.”

Dropping tea bags into the mugs, Cass shrugs and lifts the electric teakettle, shakes it to see if it needs water, then turns it on. “Whether you guys are ready or not, that baby’s coming. I just made sure the apartment was in order for you.”

As Den chokes on his drink, I burst out laughing. “Oh, Cass. I can’t wait to clear all those crazy, twisted paths for you.”

Cass, Calder, and Sebastian all look at me like I’m talking nonsense, but Den lifts his cup in salute, a smile tilting his lips. Setting his mug down in the sink, he approaches Sebastian and me. “I take it the hospital is secure?”

“As it can be,” Sebastian says. “According to Theo, the person slit his arm on their way out—the demented fucker. He never did see his attacker’s face. The police will conduct an investigation, but we’ll be doing our own, starting with going over the camera angles. Cass and Calder will scan one video and Talia and I will take the other. I’ll let you know what we find, if anything.”

Den looks at me. “I’m assuming we’re going to the hospital tomorrow to check on your aunt?”

I nod and Sebastian says to Den, “Two guys from the office will already be at the hospital first thing tomorrow. Talia and I will meet you there at nine. Go get some rest.”

Once Den leaves, Calder shrugs out of his jacket, then pulls my aunt’s phone from his pocket, handing it to me. “I cleaned the case, but haven’t had a chance to get this to Elijah. I know you said you wanted to check her phone for any additional info she might have about being stalked. Maybe you could try to get past her security code first before Elijah has to brute force his way in.”

“Thanks. I’ll try.”

I follow Sebastian and Calder into the kitchen, where Cass hands me a mug of tea, ordering softly, “Drink, Talia.”

“Are you feeling okay?” Sebastian reaches under my hair and massages the back of my neck as a I take a sip of the warm tea. “Have you eaten yet?”

“I’m a bit tired, but I haven’t eaten since brunch. Lets have an early dinner, then we’ll dive into the videos.”

After we all eat together, Sebastian insists that I go lay down and he’ll come watch the video feed with me.

While he, Cass and Calder clean up the dishes, I make sure the blinds are fully open so we can enjoy the last bit of natural light of the day, then open my top dresser drawer and pull out the gift I’d gotten him.

Sebastian winces against the sun when he walks in a few minutes later. Picking up the remote to the blinds, he pushes the button to close them completely. “How are you supposed to rest with sunlight in the room?”

“I find it relaxing,” I say, tucking his present under my pillow.

Turning on his nightstand lamp, he says, “Calder and Cass are hanging out on the couch to watch the other feed on his laptop.” Pausing, he asks as he opens my laptop on the bed, “Did you have any luck so far?”

I pick up my aunt’s phone and shake my head. “The code is six digits. I tried winery, dinner, supper, Charlie without the ‘e’. I know my aunt and she would use words, not a word with numbers.”

“What about 825426?”

“What’s that?” I say, punching it in for kicks.

“TaliaM.”

“Ah, M for my maiden name. Nope, that didn’t work.” I try once more and fail. “Penname TALone didn’t work either.”

“Keep trying.” Sebastian queues up the video feed. “Okay, ready to watch this?”

As I lean on my elbow to fluff the pillow behind me, my locket slides across my chest. When I reach up to make sure the black and red entwined hearts on the front are facing outward, another thought hits and I quickly type in a different password on my aunt’s phone. “Got it!”

Sebastian lifts his finger from the fast forward button. “What was it?”

“Amelia. Aww, she misses her as much as I do,” I say, then grip his thigh at the blurred image that pops up on the screen once the password’s accepted. “I think my aunt might’ve caught her attacker on video.”

Rewinding the saved video back to the beginning, I hit Play.

At first all I see is the outside door and my aunt mumbling about needing a flashlight and not knowing how to work hi-tech smart phones. Then the viewfinder lifts and we’re looking at the inside entryway with street sounds in the background.

The door closes, cutting off outside noises and my aunt quickly walks forward, obviously heading for the stairs. Knowing what’s coming, my heart twists and I grip the phone tighter.

The camera suddenly tilts to the right. I wince at the sound of something hitting my aunt and her subsequent gasp of pain. The viewpoint wobbles as she swings the light toward her attacker. “Stay back,” she orders and you see her purse swinging in the air as she tries to hit, defending herself.

The camera’s light shines on a set of surprised brown eyes right before a gloved hand holding something metal covers the lens. Grunts ensue, like they’re struggling, and then the phone goes flying, the imagery all blurred. A loud clunking sound—probably the phone hitting the radiator and falling inside—drowns the background noise. But when it settles and only blackness remains, the sound of my aunt getting hit over and over while her muffled cries beg the person to stop, are clearly heard. Tears in my eyes, I look at Sebastian and continue to listen for any clues until the phone goes dead.

“Talia.” Sebastian cups my jaw. “I know that was hard, but try to separate your feelings and stay focused. Now we know that her attacker was holding some kind of weapon, like an expandable baton, and had brown eyes. Too bad he had a scarf around his mouth and the eyebrows were in the shadows. Did this person’s eyes look familiar to you at all?”

“I don’t know.” I furrow my brow, thinking. “A little, I guess, but I don’t know why. Of course, now everyone I see with brown eyes could be guilty. Ugh!”

Kissing my nose, he pulls me close and tucks me against his side, then leans back against our propped pillows with the laptop on his lap. “Let’s take a look at the feed from the hospital. We may finally get a look at this bastard.”

Thirty minutes later, after tons of fast-forwarding, he rewinds the feed after he sees that Theo went from standing outside the door, to not there at all. Yet he never saw him walk off.

Hitting Play, we watch once more.

Several people walk through the hall. A few nurses pass and a couple of doctors too. Then a group of older men and women, some pushing IV poles, and a couple in wheelchairs leisurely stroll down the hall together. There’s at least thirteen that I can see.

“What are they doing?”

Sebastian looks at me in surprise. “You mustn’t have seen this yet, but apparently, there is a group of senior citizens who come down from an upper floor to get another view during their daily walk of the hallway. It’s technically against policy, but no one has the heart to stop them.”

“I think that’s how the guy got one over on Theo,” I say. “He had to have shuffled in as part of that group. They took up most of the hallway, which allowed him to get very close to Theo.”

Sure enough, once we rewind and stop focusing on the crowd, we see Theo starts to crumple as the group passes. Then the person hefts Theo into the room and closes the door with no one the wiser.

Sebastian’s phone rings and he puts it on speaker.

“Did you see it?” Calder says. “It happens right around four p.m.”

“We’re watching it from our angle now, Cald. Were you able to get a picture of his face?”

“No, our camera angle was from their backside. Saw the black jacket and navy hoodie. That’s about it.”

Sebastian frowns. “Keep watching. Maybe we’ll see his face once he comes out.”

I hold my breath and squeeze his arm. “There he is. Damn, another hoodie and scarf! He never looked in the camera’s direction. Instead, he went the opposite way after he left the room.”

“This bastard’s slippery, but at least we’ve got a description of what he was wearing.” Picking up his phone, Sebastian dials a number. “This is Sebastian Blake. Can you put me through to Bill Danvers.” As he waits, he mutes the phone and looks at me. “Bill and I have worked together before. Hopefully that’ll make for a smooth collaboration.”

A man speaks and he takes the phone off mute.

“Hey, Bill, it’s Sebastian Blake. I know this hospital case isn’t what you normally investigate, but I’m glad you’ve been assigned it. To save your people some time, I’ve got a description of the guy who attacked my man from BLACK Security.”

Bill speaks and Sebastian shakes his head. “We don’t have his face, but we know what he was wearing. The description should make checking the other camera feeds in the hospital go much faster. The hope is he shows up in one of those and we’ll be able to ID him.”

I hear the cop’s deep voice rumble, then Sebastian says, “He appears to be around five ten or so. Slight to medium build. He’s wearing a thick puffer coat, a hoodie over his head and a scarf around the lower part of his face. The coat is black and the hoodie is navy blue...”

Sebastian looks at me, and mouths, “What color was the scarf?”

Why is he asking the scarf color? It suddenly hits me why. He must not be able to see red now either. Why didn’t he tell me? “The scarf was red,” I say, my heart aching for him.

“The scarf was red.” Sebastian slides out of bed and walks into the living room still talking. “Thanks, Bill. Yes, I’ve got my team covering my wife’s aunt and my man who was hurt. You’ve got my number. Let me know what your team finds.”

While Sebastian speaks to Calder, updating him on his conversation with an old police colleague about the case, and then Calder tells him about interviewing the vets at his gym to see if any of them go to Ben’s clinic or know guys who do, I pull my husbands’ gift from under my pillow and stare at the special sunglasses I’d ordered in hopes that they might help improve his severely limited color vision. I knew there wasn’t any guarantees, but I’d hoped anyway.

As I hold the glasses, unshed tears blur my vision. If Sebastian is no longer able to see red now either, leaving him living in a whole world in shades of gray, this is the last gift my husband would ever want. Instead, it would be a painful reminder of everything he’s lost and his inability to get it back. Taking a deep breath, I start to put the glasses back in their original box, but then I hear Sebastian saying goodnight to Cass and Calder. With no time to make it to the dresser, I quickly shove them in the side zipper pocket of the hospital bag next to the door. Tomorrow, as he’s taking a shower, I’ll put them in the packaging they came in and ship them back to the company. I’ll just have to think of another present to give him.

Sebastian steps into the doorway just as I stand and push the bag closer to the wall with my foot. “I thought it was all packed?” He wraps his arms around me, teasing, “I honestly don’t think you can stuff anything else in there, sweetheart.”

“Night,” Cass calls to us from the living room.

“Night,” I reply, resting my hands on his chest. Once Sebastian pushes our door closed, I wrap my arms around his trim waist to keep him from walking away. “Is losing your ability to see on the red spectrum the reason why you haven’t always been present even when you’re here?”

He holds my gaze for a couple seconds, but before he can say anything, I continue, “I remember you telling me that if you ever lost the ability to see all colors, you wouldn’t be a fit man to live with.”

Giving me a wry smile, he kisses my forehead. “I’m sorry, Talia. I never meant to make you feel like I wasn’t present. For a while, reds had turned to the reddest black, but now…I think I’m just imagining the red because I know that’s what it used to be. I have to accept it’s going.” He glances toward the bouncy seat, his gaze lingering. “I can tell by the crazy designs that springy contraption is probably so bright it looks like a paint factory puked all over it.” I snort, nodding, and his mouth sets in a grim line. “I hate that I can’t share in the vividness of her colorful world. That I won’t be able to fully appreciate her crayon drawings or play colored blocks with her or fucking teach her about colors, period.”

My heart aches for his pain and I fall a bit more in love that he called our baby a girl. “You haven’t forgotten what colors look like, or the emotion they evoke, Sebastian.” His jaw works, but his gaze stays locked on the toy. “You can always speak to what they mean to you, like the colors red and black, for instance.”

His attention instantly snaps back to me, and I give a secret smile as I touch his jaw. “What you can teach our son is how to focus his senses so he can learn to do what you did today once you saw that wolf in the woods. That animal was completely camouflaged to my eyes, yet you saw him clearly. And if it weren’t for your ability to see detail where the rest of us just saw a pool of blood, you wouldn’t have found that syringe. Thanks to you Theo survived. You will teach our child things no other father can. In doing so, you’ll broaden the world around him, and for that I’m very grateful.”

Sebastian cups my face, his thumbs tracing along my jawline. “I don’t know what I did to deserve you, Little Red, but thank you for seeing exceptional instead of broken.”

Smiling, I fold my fingers around his strong forearms. “It’s all perspective, Mister Black. And from where I’m standing, you’re pretty darn perfect.”

His mouth covers mine and I sigh, then press closer for a deeper kiss. When his tongue slides past my lips, and a low feminine moan echoes in the room, Sebastian lifts his head, frowning. “Either you’ve suddenly acquired ventriloquist talents or—”

A masculine groan follows, the deep rumbling echoing in our bedroom, and I cover my mouth to keep from laughing out loud. Pointing to the baby monitor on our tall dresser that Cass had set up, I snicker quietly. “Um, I don’t think Cass remembered that she left the other half of that on in their room.”

“I love my cousin like a brother, but this shit’s not going to fly.”

Sebastian picks up the handheld monitor from our room and starts to open the door, but I grab his hand and have to take a deep breath to stop giggling. “You can just turn it off in our room.”

Frowning, he opens the door and the monitor in his hand goes on the fritz for a second as he looks at me. “I seriously doubt Calder wants their entire evening broadcast across the airwaves to whomever happens to catch the show.”

“Ah, good point,” I say, sobering.

Halfway across the living room, he turns to face me and with an evil grin turns the monitor on full blast, then he pivots and continues until he’s holding the monitor up to their closed door.

The sexy sounds inside suddenly stop and Calder jerks open the door. Half naked in a pair of jeans, he glares at his cousin. “What the fuck are you doing?” His own voice echoing in his face, Calder looks at the monitor in confusion just as Cass joins him in the doorway wearing his T-shirt. With her hair a tangled mess, she begins to giggle uncontrollably behind her hand, but the instant her eyes meet mine and she sees the tears of laughter left behind on my cheeks, she drops her hand and openly cackles.

As the guys finally join in the laughter, Cass continues to chuckle as she unplugs the monitor in their room, then Sebastian and I say “goodnight” to them. Once we walk into our room, Sebastian reaches up to turn off the monitor, but then frowns and steps back through the doorway once more.

“What?”

Shaking his head, he puts his finger to his lips, then motions for me to go get Calder.

Heart racing, I quickly re-cross the apartment and knock lightly on their door. The second Calder opens it, this time I whisper, “Sebastian wants you. Something’s wrong with the monitor.”

Cass joins me and we watch Sebastian walk past the doorway once more with the monitor.

Calder jerks his head up at the crackle sound, then pulls his phone out of his pocket. Turning on the flashlight, he starts scanning. Thirty seconds later, he points to the edge of the doorjamb on the living room side.

Sebastian turns the monitor off and his expression hardens as he enters the kitchen to fill a glass halfway with water. Returning to the doorway, he uses his car key from his pocket to pluck the bug Calder found from the doorjamb. Once it drops into the water and hits the bottom of the glass, he walks back into the kitchen and twists the tap, running the water.

Once we all join him in the kitchen, Sebastian lifts a livid gaze to Calder.

“Tomorrow I want a full sweep of this place.” Shifting his gaze between all of us, he continues. “Until then, we only talk about the case in low tones and only when water’s running or the TV’s on near us. Got it?”

Once we all nod, he inhales through his nose, then grates in a low voice, “How did that sonofamotherfucker get in here?”