Free Maggie Lee (Book 10): The Hitwoman's Act of Contrition by JB Lynn

decide.” She thrust a piece of paper into my hand and hurried out of the kitchen.
    I carefully carried the paper, coffee, cheese, and grapes down the stairs into the basement.
    I’d reached the bottom when it occurred to me that DeeDee wasn’t beside me panting “Gotta! Gotta!”
    “Everything okay?” I called out, suddenly worried.
    “Everything’s just fine, Sugar,” Piss purred contentedly.
    I looked in the direction her voice was coming from and found Patrick sitting on the couch, watching me. The cat was on one side of him, the dog on the other.
    It was a good thing I was at the bottom of the stairs or I might have taken a tumble, I was so shocked by his presence.
    “Hey, Mags,” he said quietly, amusement dancing in his gaze.
    “Maggie, hi,” DeeDee panted.
    I hurried over to them. “What are you doing here?”
    “I came to see you,” Patrick replied calmly.
    “Why? Is there something wrong?”
    He shook his head.
    “But it’s daylight.”
    He grinned. “Were you thinking I was vampire all this time?”
    “I think you’re asking to get caught if you try sneaking in and out of here during the day.” I offered him some cheese and grapes. “This is a busy place.”
    He took a piece of cheese and immediately fed it to the dog. She scarfed it up as though she hadn’t eaten in days. He took a couple of grapes and DeeDee looked at him hopefully.
    “No grapes for you. They make dogs sick,” he told her. He looked up at me. “Did you know that?”
    “They can’t digest the skins.”
    “I’m impressed.”
    I rolled my eyes. “I looked up everything that was toxic for dogs when she moved in.”
    “This conversation is toxic to my brain,” God complained from my chest.
    I jumped, startled. He’d been so quiet I’d forgotten I was still carrying him around.
    Patrick just shook his head at the squeaking sound.
    I held up a finger. “One sec.”  Putting down the food and paper, I hurried over to the lizard’s terrarium, reached down my shirt, and carefully placed him into the enclosure. “Warm enough?” I whispered.
    “Let there be light,” he commanded.
    So I turned on the terrarium’s overhead lamp before rejoining Patrick.  The animals were splayed out on either side of him, which meant there was no room on the sofa for me. I walked past him toward an empty chair, but he caught my hand.
    I glanced down at him questioningly.
    He tugged, knocking me off balance and pulling me into his lap. Wrapping his arms around me, he squeezed. Enveloped in his comforting embrace, some of my tension seeped away. Covering his arm with my own, I snuggled closer, enjoying his warmth.
    We sat like that for a few minutes, not speaking, just enjoying being in one another’s arms. Finally, he raised a hand and gently cupped my chin. I tilted my head back to welcome his kiss, but was surprised when his fingers hovered over my cheek.
    “What happened?” he asked, his voice strained as his eyes searched my face.
    “What?” I sensed anger in him, but didn’t understand why.
    “Who hit you?”
    I tried to dip my chin so I wouldn’t have to meet his eyes, but he anticipated my reaction and gently immobilized my head with two fingers.
    “Who, Mags?”
    “My mother.”
    He blinked.  “Why?”
    I batted his hand away and jumped off his lap. “How the hell should I know?”
    Patrick waited, silent and patient.
    Filled with an uncomfortable energy I paced. “She does that, you know.”
    “Does what?”
    “Has bad days. I’m supposed to understand and forgive her.” I glanced in the direction of the terrarium, but God had his back to me. “She’s good for a while and I get lulled into thinking that maybe, just maybe, we can have a semblance of a normal relationship and then today happens.”
    I realized I’d raised my voice when DeeDee jumped off the couch and went and hid behind it.
    “I’m sorry.” I took a shuddering breath. “I didn’t mean to yell.”
    DeeDee eyed me distrustfully as