"I could kill him for her," Fury offered.
Vane cleared his throat.
"Well, he could have an accident," Fury tried again. "Humans have those all the time."
Patrick gave an evil laugh. "I have a shovel."
"Screw that," Paul said before he sipped his wine. "I have a gator in the backyard."
They all laughed.
Joyce returned and sat back down. "Sorry about that."
"Is she okay?" Bride asked.
"She will be. It just takes time."
Vane sensed Bride's sadness. He squeezed her thigh comfortingly.
"I probably shouldn't have brought Vane. It was insensitive of me."
"Oh bah!" Joyce snapped. "You didn't do anything wrong, Bride. We wanted to meet him." She smiled at Vane. "This is Deirdre's issue, okay?"
Bride nodded.
They finished their meal in peace while Patrick and Paul bantered back and forth. Then Joyce brought out a pecan pie and a four-layer chocolate cake.
Bride cut a small piece of pie.
"Don't you want any cake?" Vane asked. "I know chocolate's your favorite."
She stared at it longingly. "No, I better not."
Before she could pass it over, Vane set a slice down on her plate.
"Vane!"
"You wanted it. I know that look."
She rolled her eyes at him and picked up her fork. "Thank you."
Vane nodded. He felt her mother watching him. Glancing over, he received a grateful smile from Joyce, who reached over and gently patted his forearm.
It sent the strangest sensation through him. Was that what it was like to have a real mother's touch?
After dinner, Bride decided she had tortured Vane and Fury enough for one day. "We probably should head back," she said.
"What?" her father asked. "No game?"
"You and Patrick can watch the game, Dad."
To her utter shock, her father actually pouted.
Bride gave him a hug for being so kind to Vane and Fury. "I'm going to go say goodbye to Deirdre. Be nice to the guys until I get back."
Bride headed up the stairs to the guest rooms. She found Deirdre in the last room on the hall.
"Hey hon," she said, pushing open the door. "You okay?"
Deirdre's eyes were rimmed in red as she sat on the bed, clutching a pillow to her stomach. Her plate of food was still untouched on the nightstand. "I'm fine. I guess."
Wishing she could do something to help her sister, Bride walked over to the bed. How she sympathized with Deirdre's broken heart. She'd felt the same until Vane had come her way and made her smile. "I'm so sorry."
"Don't be. I'm glad the asshole's gone, but you… you should let go of Vane."
It wasn't so much her sister's words that shocked her as the rancor in Deirdre's tone. "Excuse me?"
"C'mon, Bride. Don't be stupid. Look at him. Look at you. The two of you don't belong together."
Bride gaped at her sister. "I beg your pardon?"
"Taylor was a great guy—you should have held on to him with both hands. He was reliable and stable. Most of all, he was well respected in the community. But instead of doing what he wanted, you refused to lose weight and he left you because you're fat. Now this guy comes along and you jump all over him like Taylor never existed. Not that I blame you. He is prime, but don't be a fool."
Oh, that was a low blow and, quite honestly, Bride was tired of being the "smart" one while Deirdre was always known as the "pretty" one. "Just because you married a snake doesn't mean that Vane is a dog."
Bride hesitated at that. Actually Vane was a dog, kind of. But not like that. "Vane would never cheat on me."
"Yeah, right. Look at me, Bride. I was the first runner-up for Miss Louisiana and would have won had I not been so young at the time. I'm still damn attractive and yet my husband ran off on me. What chance do you stand?"
Angry at her "perfect" sister, Bride refused to look at her. Instead, she moved to the window that faced out onto the backyard where she saw Vane and Fury with her father.
"You married Josh for money, remember?" Bride said as she watched them with the dogs. "You actually told me that the night before the wedding."
"Oh, and I suppose you love Vane for his personality? I'm not stupid. You love him for how nice his ass looks."
And yet as Bride watched her mate, she knew the truth. Vane wasn't human. He didn't think or act like a human. Unlike Taylor and Josh, he would never leave her because she wasn't what he wanted her to be.
He loved her just as she was. Not once had Vane tried to change her or alter her in any way. He just accepted her, faults and all.
Vane would never cheat on her. Never lie. But he would kill anyone who hurt her.