“Exactly.” Knox then continued down the corridor.

“I’ve got to say,” began Levi quietly, “I’m… well, proud of how you handled that. I didn’t think you’d be rational enough about the situation to do anything but kill him on the spot. I guess we have Harper to thank for that. She keeps you stable in more ways than one.”

“She does.” Which was good for the world in general.

It wasn’t until they were inside the Bentley that Levi spoke again. “He was very adamant that someone assigned him this mission. Do you think it’s possible that someone else is involved?”

Knox smoothed a hand down his tie. “According to Keenan, he was also very adamant that Doc wants to poison him.”

Levi inclined his head. “True. We’ll know for sure when he gets well and starts thinking straight. If there are others involved, he’ll give them up.”

And then they’d be dealt with, one way or another.

Being bold and expressive creatures, imps didn’t bother themselves with passive-aggressive behavior. If they had a problem, they had absolutely no issue with letting you know about it. Not out of spite, but because they simply didn’t believe in stewing on bullshit. And that was why Harper was listening to a full-on rant from a concerned and pissed-off Khloë.

Harper had known it was coming because she knew her family; knew how Khloë would react to the Crow vs Harper event. As such, she did what she always did when her family felt the need to let it rip: she continued with whatever she was doing and let them get on with it. And so she squatted near Khloë’s new reception desk that also doubled as a display cabinet, carefully placing jewelry and other products on the glass shelf, while her ranting cousin stood over her.

Slapping the half-price tattoo certificates on the desk, Raini growled. “Let it go, Khloë.”

The tiny imp folded her arms. “I’ll let it go when Harper apologizes for not telling me last night that Crow attacked her. I had to learn it from Ciaran.”

With a sigh, Devon slipped an arm around Khloë’s shoulders. “Sweetie, the sooner you accept that your cousin is not the ‘I’ll call my friends and offload my anger and pain onto them’ kind of person, the happier you’ll be.”

Raini nodded, leaning over the desk. “Our Harper’s not the confiding type.”

Khloë didn’t seem at all appeased. “A heads-up that she’d been hurt would have been nice. That’s all I’m saying.”

Harper stood. “So freaking dramatic.”

Khloë snorted. “Duh. Imp.”

She gave her cousin a patronizing pat on the back. “How about you sit down and chill? You’ve had a hard day,” she mocked. The imp hadn’t done anything but rant while the rest of them had worked on the preparations for the grand opening the following day.

Khloë narrowed her eyes. “Did you forgive Knox?”

And like that, the atmosphere in the room changed.

Devon’s spine snapped straight. “Why would you need to forgive Knox? What did he do?”

“Did he hurt you?” demanded Raini, eyes briefly flashing demon. “He did, didn’t he? Devon, where’s the bat?”

Harper glared at her cousin, who no doubt knew perfectly well that Harper hadn’t wanted to share the argument with her friends because they were so overprotective they might do something dumb. “You’re such a bitch.”

Khloë lifted a single brow. “Is this brand-new information?”

Devon elbowed the imp aside, planting herself in front of Harper. “What. Happened? What did the rich motherfucker do to you?”

Harper raised her hands. “Let’s just calm down, shall we? There’s no need for any rash actions.”

Devon covered her ears. “Don’t use your therapist voice, I hate that.”

“For the last time, what did he do to you?” asked Raini, though she sounded calmer.

“He didn’t do anything to me,” replied Harper. “We had a fight. Not a physical fight, but an argument. That’s what couples do. We moved past it.”

Raini drummed her nails on the glass surface. “Why did you argue?”

“He was angry about me being attacked and not calling him for help immediately and, well, he dealt with that anger in the wrong fashion.” She didn’t want to go into specifics; it was between her and Knox.

“He said she wasn’t a woman of her word,” said Khloë.

Harper shot her smirking cousin another hard glare. “I will kill you. I will. I’m not afraid to go to jail.”

“He really said that?” asked a shocked Devon.

“He apologized for saying it and assured me that he didn’t mean it,” said Harper. “He thought I was dead. He got a shock and he was scared. To be fair, I had promised I would call out to him if I was in danger. I broke that promise to protect him, but I still broke it. No, it doesn’t make what he said right. But we’ve all said crap we don’t mean when we’re mad.”

The girls exchanged looks with each other as a silence fell. Finally, Devon spoke. “Well, if you can forgive him, I’ll forgive him.”

Raini nodded. “But I’ll be watching him.”

“Me too,” said Devon. “That’s not something I’ll forget in a hurry.”

Harper turned to her cousin, head tilted. “Now about your little habit of blurting out people’s personal business… maybe I should return the favor. Maybe I should share what you did to Keenan the night he took you home when you were blitzed.”