“This is the one,” Layla called as she exited the fitting room to stand before her sisters. A hush
swept over the room
as they took her in
—
even Grac
i
e
was
smiling
,
and agreed it was perfect.
“It is beautiful, Layla,” Paige said.
“I can’t wait until
I’m
the one to be mated,” Eloise spoke as she smooth
ed
the skirt on the go
wn
.
With another hour taken up with measurements and fitting her sisters with matching ivory silk gowns, the sun was setting. Yet Layla was in no rush to leave her sisters.
“Coffee?” she asked.
“Definitely,” her sisters answered in unison, as so often happened with them.
*
*
*
*
Sitting in the coffee shop with Stefan and Tomas positioned outside the front door was awkward
,
but
it was
something Layla understood she’d need to get used to.
Blushing at her sister
s
’
questions, Layla knew their interest was solely based on the unknown
f
or each of them understood it was their fate to walk this path someday.
“You all might think Mating is the perfect life. But what if I
don’t
want to mate?” Grac
i
e
asked so innocently that Layla embraced her.
“It is nothing to worry about until it happens, Gracie,” La
yla
quietly
assured her, “and then you will simply know
what’s
right.” She hoped her confidence comforted Grac
i
e. She had a strong sense that Grac
i
e was more discontent than she shared.
“Well, I cannot wait to find my mate. I just hope he’s as handsome as Layla’s Madden
.
”
R
aising her eye
brows, Eloise winked at Layla and laughed.
“And her Anton as well,” added
Sadie.
Much to Layla’s relief, Gemma chi
med in then.
“I’ve been researching the
Valendite
Breed. I was just curious
after we learned Anton was your
Tre Adoro
. I found this Breed history
book on one of mother’s bookshelves in the den. Had you read it, Layla?”
Gemma asked her.
“No
,
but
I don’t recommend going into this as blind as I was. It was very disconcerting not understanding anything.”
That got a round of laughter from her sisters.
“Anyway,” Gemma continued, “the
Tre Adoro
is actually translated directly as the third love.
H
is talents are only unlocked when he meets the female in the mated couple he is meant to serve. He could be up to three hundred years old
. Can you imagine? T
hey wait in limbo, serving, until their destined female comes along.”
“That is abso
lutely beautiful,” Paige sighed and Layla roll
ed
h
er eyes at her sister, the hopeless romantic.
“You unlocked his love, Layla,” Eloise said with a dreamy glaze to her words.
Why
was it
everyone else was smitten with this idea of Claiming
when she had never been
?
It had taken finding her mate to appreciate it. Perhaps that would happen for Gracie too.
“What else did the book say about the
Tre Adoro
?” Layla suddenly craved t
he knowledge Gemma had to share
.
She
hop
ed
to learn more about Anton. He talked so little about himse
lf, Layla was infinitely curious about his life before her
, o
r even how he hoped to fit with her and
Madden
.
“The book indicated that the
Tre Adoro
has special talents to soothe and comfort, the ability to alter emotional states and giving balance to an otherwise unbalanced mating.”
Layla smiled. It was everything she had learned first-hand with Anton. He truly was her comfort, her gentle partner while Madden was energy
and
power personified.
The three of them together were a more solid unit th
an she and Madden could ever be alone.
“Did you also know that he was the one to sustain Madden prior to your mating?” Gemma continued.
“No. I’d never asked,” Layla answered as she saw the slightest twitch in Stefan’s jaw, suddenly aware he could likely he
ar everything they spoke with his extraordinary hearing.
What must he think of her limited knowledge?
“It makes perfect sense. Certainly explains why they are close enough for it not to bother Madden when he touches you,” Sadie, the logical one, said.
“True enough. He growls at his brothers for looking at me
,
but with Anton, it is a completely different dynamic. Anton makes us whole.” Layla realized the truth as she spoke the words aloud and suddenly ached to get home to her men. “I need to get home.”
The sudden intake of breath and stricken look on her sisters’ faces had Layla replaying what she’d just said. “I called
Madden’s house home. Goddess
, that’s the first time I did that.”
“
It’s
what’s right, Layla. It just took us by surprise to hear it,” Paige reassured her as they all
were
up to put their coats
on,
grab their pur
ses and head home
.
Her sisters would return to their home and Layla would return to her new home with Madden. Everything was as it should be.
Chapter Seven
“
Layla, can we talk?
” Grac
i
e’s voice penetrated her thoughts.
“
Yes. Would you like to ride with me? I can have Stefan and Tomas take you home after they drop me off?
” Layla responded in Grac
i
e’s mind, aware she was trying to keep it private by the walls she felt around their conversation.
“
Please
.”
One simple word and Layla took her by the hand and led her to the waiting car where Tomas was holding the door open for her.
“Paige, Grac
i
e is goi
ng to ride with me for a bit. She’ll meet you at home,” Layla called out to Paige before she turned her attention to Grac
i
e.
Seated inside the car
with the privacy window closed to the front
, Layla continued to hold Grac
i
e’s hand. It
was just as she’d always done since they were
children. It seemed she and Grac
i
e
were
the sensitive ones
,
the ones needin
g more affection than the others.
“What is it?”
“
I’m
fearful and I
don’t
know
who
to
talk to
.”
“Then
talk
to me, Gracie.”
Grac
i
e
wrung
her fingers
,
strok
ed
her nails and focus
ed
all of her energy inward. Layla fe
lt
her apprehension like a solid object in the room and wait
ed
silently, watching her sister struggle.
“
Will it help to speak in our minds?”
Layla
encou
rage
d
Grac
i
e to use their telepathy to spare her the words.
Grace
shook
her head and look
ed
directly at Layla before taking a deep breath and speaking.
“
I don
’
t feel an attraction to men. I
’
m
supposed
to crave in abundance and yet I feel nothing.”
“
Oh, Gracie,” Layla reassured her, “I did
n’t
feel lust until I set my eyes on Madden. It can work either way
—
our soul sins
—
and you could feel an incredible craving, insatiable even, once you meet your mate.”
“You don’t understand
—
” Grac
i
e
had
beg
u
n but was cut off by a terribly high-pitched screeching noise and the shattering of glass. Lay
la remembered thinking
it was impossible
to break
shatterproof
glass
.
A cloud of smoke
fell
over them
and the shouts of Stefan and Tomas abruptly stopped. A
heavy silence des
cended
and
she remained confined in the back of the car, stunned, and listening to her phone ring, ring, ring…but she couldn’t move to answer it. Nor could she seem to open her eyes to see Grac
i
e. She heard footsteps slowly approaching
and
knew she should be running but she was just too tired. She only wanted to rest.
*
*
*
*
“Fuck. Something is wrong,” Madden grabbed his cell as he ran for the compound
’
s communication room.
Layla wasn’t answering and her feeling of panic he’d sensed just drained from him
, as if it had been turned off suddenly
. His knees nearly folded as he pushed the door open to t
he communications room.
“She’s not answering her phone. And something is wrong.” His attention turned to Caedon who was waving his hands across keyboards faster than Madden could follow. “Caedon, what do you have for me?”
“I’m looking. Her location sensor
tells me she’s in the vehicle with the boys
e
n route. The stream from the video seems jammed. I’ll need a few minutes to pull it up.”
Gage and Gra
nger came running in. “We got the call
that
something’s wrong.”
“It’s Layla. She was on her way home but something has gone wrong. Caedon is trying to get more
intel
.”
“Where the
fuck
are
Tomas and Stefan? Weren’t they her security detail?” Gage asked as he sat himself in front of a monitor and pulled up the locating radar on all Santucci employees.
As
if on cue, Madden’s phone rang. Looking down, he saw Layla’s number and
answered it,
sigh
ing
in relief. Too soon
.
“
Layla
.”
A very masculine chuckle came across the line. “I’m afraid she cannot come to the phone now. But I am willing to make a trade.”
Caedon switched the call to speaker so the man’s deeply accented voice filled the room.
“I’ve conference
d
Lucas in,
”
Caedon mouthed.
“
To w
ho
m
am I speaking?”
“
Ah, the mighty Madden has found he does not in fact know everything.” The man laughed again and Madden took deep breaths so as not to punch the nearby wall. “Let’s just say that I want
Nassir
returned before we discuss the return of your female.
”
“
Done.
Where and when?
”
“
That was too easy
.
I think you have not given it enough thought yet. Tell me, which of these pretty girls is your female? I took them both. Perhaps I will keep one for myself. You wouldn’t mind,
no
?”
Madden pointed to Caedon who was running the tape back from the car to see who was with Layla.
“Shit.
It’s Gracie, her sister,
”
Caedon mouthed
—
now having the answer
after performing a facial recognition scan.