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in his tracks, the smile melting from his lips. The place was a disaster. Flowers littered the floor, along with shards of glass and ceramic from broken vases. Stuffed animals lay strewn from one side of the shop to the other and water covered the floor. The place looked like a twister had touched down inside. “What the…?” Oh God, Lainey. Dev’s heart plummeted to his feet. His gaze darted around the shop as he inhaled deeply, trying to scent his mate over the heavy aroma of flowers.
    Laine was sitting behind the counter, his head in his hands. He looked up and gave Dev a weak smile, but his eyes were a little on the watery side. “Hey. How did your meeting go?”
    “Fuck that. What happened?” He walked over the debris and made a beeline to his mate. He stepped in-between Laine’s legs, pulled him up and deposited him on the counter. It was waist high, making Dev’s face level with Laine’s chin. He hugged Laine tight enough to make Laine’s breath huff out. “Are you all right? Lainey, what happened?” He pulled back to look into the teary amber eyes.
    Laine blinked. He stared at the ceiling for a few seconds then looked back at Dev. “Victor’s goons came to give us a message.”
    Dev groaned and squeezed his eyes shut. He’d known deep down something like this was going to happen.
    Laine ran his fingers against the side of Dev’s face. “It’s not your fault. I started it. I’m the one who opened my mouth to protest their plans in the first place.”
    Dev hugged Laine again. “Ah, Lainey, it isn’t either of our faults, this is not normal behavior. The man is a lunatic. He’s a power-hungry tyrant and he has to be stopped.” Dev truly believed that. People like Victor didn’t stop, they kept on bullying until someone made them stop or someone died. Dev was not going to allow this to continue. Laine was his to protect and take care of and because of that alone Dev would’ve put a stop to this, even if he himself wasn’t involved. No one was going to hurt Laine ever again. The man didn’t have a mean bone in his body. He was obviously a joy to everyone around him.
    He was a florist for crying out loud. And damn it, he was already well on his way to being the center of Dev’s world.
    Laine snorted. “He doesn’t fight fair, Dev.”
    He pulled back again, caressing Laine’s face. “Then we won’t either. He isn’t getting away with this.”
    A tear streaked down Laine’s face and he wiped it away quickly. “I don’t want you hurt because of me.”
    Dev used his thumb to mop away another tear and kissed Laine’s neck, which was the closest thing he Page 23
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    could reach. “You’re mine. Whatever affects you, now affects me too. And it isn’t because of you . You didn’t do anything wrong. Besides, they were going to jump me, remember?”
    Laine’s lower lip quivered. “If we fight back it will probably get worse.”
    Dev picked Laine up off the counter, giving him no choice but to wrap his legs around Dev’s waist.
    “You let me worry about it. I promise you, I’ll take care of it. You aren’t going to have to put up with Victor and his bunch anymore.”
    Laine nodded and put his head down on Dev’s shoulder.
    Serena came out from the back and gave him a sad grin. “Why don’t you take Lainey home? Beth and I will clean up this mess.”
    A small blonde-haired lady, who Dev hadn’t seen before, came out of the back. “Yeah, take Lainey home. We’ll close down for the day and clean up. We are getting a new shipment in tomorrow, so it’s not that big of a loss. We still have a bunch in the back too, the only stuff damaged was out here.”
    Laine turned his head, probably to protest, but Dev didn’t give him the chance. He pushed Laine’s head back to his shoulder and rubbed his back. “Thank you, ladies.” He gave them his cell number and left.
    Laine lifted his head off Dev’s shoulder, frowning at him. “I can walk.”
    “Yeah? Cause I’ve seen you walk, and—”
    Laine groaned, but his lips twitched into a faint grin. “Hey, I warned you I was a bit of a klutz.”
    Dev set Laine on his feet, kissed his nose, then grabbed his hand. “That’s all right. I have quite a fondness for clumsy redheads.”

    * * *

    “Wow, Lainey. What in the world do you need this big a bed for?”
    Laine glanced at his California king-sized bed and the man sitting on it, and grinned. “Good