As Penelope assured him that Gavin was fine, Crow let out his breath in relief. Even though he didn’t like the knight, he had meant it when he’d told Jaxon that he didn’t want the man to die. That hadn’t changed even after Gavin had confronted him six nights ago. Still, it was unnerving to know just how quickly Jaxon had sent someone to kill the knight. It seemed the other thief didn’t trust him to handle his own affairs after all. He felt a pang of frustration. Hating the way the thief leader handled his enemies, he wanted no part in the murders Jaxon was willing to commit, but it was starting to look like it would be harder than he thought to stay away from them.

He shook his head as Penelope told him that Gavin was convinced he was behind the attack. While the knight’s guess wasn’t right, he supposed he couldn’t blame him for thinking that way. He’d tried to warn the other man not to stick his nose in Jaxon’s business, but Gavin had seemed to believe he was threatening to kill him if he continued getting involved. He sighed. If or when he ran into the knight again, he was going to have to watch his step. Penelope may have believed her former suitor had calmed down, but the thief wasn’t so trusting. If there was even a chance Gavin would try to retaliate against him, he wanted to be prepared to defend himself.

“I hope so,” Crow murmured when Penelope finished speaking. He shifted to lay closer to her and wrapped one arm around her back, pulling her to his chest and pressing a long kiss to her forehead. After a moment, he pulled back to meet her eyes and offered her a melancholic smile. “Things just seem to keep getting worse, don’t they?” he shook his head. “I wish we could just stay here and forget about it all.”