by Riley Storm
Shrugging, Aaric took a sip of his coffee before replying. “Not in the same way you and Cheryl didn’t. Don’t. Whatever. But yes, there were a lot of issues to work through there.”
“How did you do it? How did you work through it?” Victor asked, eager for any advice.
“We talked about it.”
He waited, but that was all the response Aaric was giving. “That’s it?”
Aaric laughed. “Yes, that’s it. We talked. Shared our thoughts, our feelings.” He frowned. “Though I almost took too long. I should have told her earlier. The second I even suspected. But I didn’t.”
“Yeah,” Victor said quietly, looking down into the muted hazel liquid, blowing on it to cool it slightly. “What if you don’t know how you’re feeling?”
“Then talk with yourself. Figure it out, Victor. But whatever you do, don’t lead her on. Be straight with her. If she is the one, then she deserves to know.” Aaric clapped him on the shoulder and gave it a squeeze of reassurance. “You can do this.”
“Do you still think she’s my mate?” he asked, finally getting the question that had been weighing him down off his chest.
“There it is,” Aaric observed as well. “I was wondering if you were going to ask me about that again.”
“How did you know, Aaric? How did you know Olivia was your mate?” he asked, desperate for guidance, for an answer to a question he couldn’t figure out.
“I just…did,” Aaric said. “Sorry, I know that’s not really a help. But one moment she wasn’t, and the next, I knew. My heart, my brain, and my dragon, all were suddenly united with one thought. I’m not sure I could explain it any better. But when you know, you know.”
Victor nodded. “I see.”
He hadn’t experienced that about Cheryl. No lightning bolt moment of realization. And yet…
And yet, there was something there, he couldn’t deny that. There was something between them, but the question was, what was it?
And does she feel it too, or is this just one-sided again?
Another thought struck him then. What if she wasn’t his mate? There was more at stake here than just his own happiness.
“What is it?” Aaric asked. “You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.”
“What about the others?” he asked quietly, looking up. “If she isn’t…you know, with me. Then how do we wake the others? It’s not fair to them that we’re the only two awake.”
Aaric stared at him. “Fair isn’t exactly how I would word it, but it’s a valid concern, yes. For some reason, they aren’t waking up when the world needs us.”
“The need must not be great enough yet,” Victor muttered without much belief.
The fire dragon tilted his head. “I hadn’t thought of it that way,” he admitted. “But you could be right. Perhaps, then, there is still time for us to stop it.”
“I’m still not sure I buy into that theory of yours.”
Aaric fixed him with a hard stare. “They will be back, Victor. I don’t know why you doubt this. There have been signs already. Whispers. Where do you think I’ve been these past few weeks? Trying to track them down. They’re here, in the vicinity.” He shivered. “I don’t think they intend to leave either.”
“So tell them to pull up a seat, build a house and live peacefully with us,” he rumbled. “You defeated one easily enough. It’ll be easy now with two of us.”
“Now, you’re back to being the old Victor. Stupid and naïve. The vampires were the strongest, toughest enemy we ever fought. I’ve read the histories, Victor. There were thousands of us when we went after Rome. Think about that. There are what, four hundred, maybe five hundred of our kin sleeping below? Do the math. The vampires have had fifteen hundred years to regain their strength.”
“You don’t know that they’ve been doing all that. For all we know, it’s just been one who finally got bored.”
Aaric shivered. “That would be an old vampire indeed. I wouldn’t want to go up against him. I fought a youngling, a recent convert, and he was strong already. Add who knows how many more centuries to that…Trust me, Victor. You don’t want that. So just be careful until we can figure out more of what they’re up to.”
“Yeah, got it.” Victor still wasn’t sure he bought into Aaric’s worries, but then again, what harm was there in staying alert?
“Anything else you want to talk about?”
He shook his head. “No, I think that’s enough emotional vulnerability for me this morning. My brain can only withstand so much, and this epiphany has just kept expanding and expanding.”
Aaric smiled. “Well, I like the way you’re handling it so far.”
“Yeah.” Victor smiled, thinking of the woman back in his bed. Whether she was his mate or not, he didn’t know, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t enjoy it while it lasted. “I’m going to take her some coffee now. She’ll probably be stirring soon.”
He poured a second cup, frowned, then grabbed a plate and some small bowls and put some sugar and cream into them, so that Cheryl could make hers however she liked. Then he piled everything onto the plate and headed for the exit.
“Oh,” he said, pausing. “And Aaric?”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks,” he said, and left to go find his mate.
Things were looking up. But there was still a lot to do.
As he walked down the hallway, an idea formed in his head. An idea of how to start fixing things. Victor not only cracked a smile, but he began to whistle as well.
Now all he had to do was get to work…
26
Two days.
Two days had passed since she’d gotten in the car with Victor. Two days since she’d seen an entirely different side of him. Two days since her world had been changed forever.
And two days since you had the best sex of your life.
All of the above was true, she didn’t deny any of it. Things had taken a wild and unpredictable turn ever since she’d made the decision to re-enter Leblanc against Aaric’s commands. Mostly in shocking ways, but none of them were any that she could outright term bad.
One of them, at least, had been mind-blowingly good.
Unfortunately, it had also been two days since she’d last seen Victor. Only a few cryptic and unintelligible text messages had been exchanged since. She frowned even now, trying to understand what he meant by Gonna be huge. The big time. Can’t wait. You’re gonna see.
Quite obviously, he was up to something.
Just as obviously, Cheryl was terrified of what that might be. The last time Victor had started scheming, he’d been trying to scam his friend and fellow dragon shifter out of tens of millions of dollars, while also screwing over her and the town of Plymouth Falls.
I’m pretty sure I’m justified to be nervous about what he’s cooking up next. Aren’t I?
A change had come over Victor, but it was still so fresh, so new, that she doubted she could understand if she tried. Heck, it was entirely feasible Victor still didn’t understand it all.
“Boss, you okay?”
She turned to see Liz eying her carefully.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” she said. “Just…”
Cheryl fell silent. How was she supposed to explain what was on her mind? Revealing Victor’s secret was out of the question, and she had to be wary of what she said, so that she didn’t give anything away.
“I’ve just had a lot on my mind the past few days,” she finished, declining to elaborate.
“Yeah, that’s fair. Having another meeting with this asshole isn’t helping I bet, is it?” Tanya chimed in from her chair off to the left. Tapping a pen on the table, she looked back at Cheryl and the others with barely concealed anger.
“I…” Once again Cheryl stopped herself. What was she going to do, defend Victor? Say that maybe he wasn’t as bad as they thought? No, she couldn’t do that. After all, the fact was, he had downsized the Outreach Center, and he hadn’t said anything about it since she’d left his
place for work the morning after they’d hooked up.
That brought a fresh memory that threatened to leave her red in the face if she thought about it too much around the others, so Cheryl quickly moved on.
“Let’s just focus on our own parts to play in this,” she said, quieting the chatter. “That’s all we can really do anyway. For now.”
Something in her voice must have given her away, because all three heads of her subordinates turned to look at her.
“What aren’t you telling us?” Stephen asked.
Think! Think fast, before things get awkward.
“I, um—”
Cheryl was saved by the appearance of a silhouette behind the frosted glass doors of the conference room.
“He’s here,” she said, because the size of the person on the other side could only be one person. Not because she was positive that she recognized the way they moved. There was no way she had paid enough attention to him to know that.
Or so she tried to tell herself, remembering how he looked without the suit to hide his frame.
The door opened and Victor walked in, a backpack slung over one shoulder, and a piece of tubing grasped casually in one hand, fingers overlapping around the cylinder.
Cheryl heard audible intakes of breath from her team. Angry inhales. Not that she could blame them, given the shit-eating grin Victor was wearing on his deliciously handsome face.
“Hello everyone,” he said jovially.
“My, you’re happy today,” Liz muttered loud enough for everyone to hear. “Come to make more budget cuts to ruin our days?”
Victor frowned, fixing Cheryl with a questioning glance.
“Don’t look at me,” she protested. “I have no idea what you’re up to.”
“You didn’t tell them?” he asked.
To her surprise, Cheryl realized he was hurt by the anger being directed his way. As if he’d expected some other sort of reaction from a bunch of people he’d royally fucked with.
“Tell them what?” she asked incredulously.
“About the other day. At my House.”
Cheryl closed her eyes slowly, wishing she could just melt into the ground.
Why did he have to say that? And say it that way? Oh God, please, just get me out of here now!
“You went to his house?” Liz asked, slowly. “To Victor’s house? You were there?”
“Maybe,” she said, burying her face in her palms.
“Why are you so ashamed?” Victor asked, sounding genuinely confused. “All we d—”
“You. Stop talking. Now,” Cheryl ordered. “Right now. Stop talking and start explaining.”
Victor hesitated, his face bunching together. “Which one is it?”
Cheryl blinked. “What?”
“Well, do you want me to stop talking, or start explaining? I can’t do both.”
Frustration was building in her shoulders. This couldn’t possibly be happening this way.
“Talk about today. Here. Now. Why do you look so excited? What have you planned now? That’s what you’re going to talk about.”
She looked straight ahead, ignoring the looks her team was giving her.
I am not going to get out of this very easily.
“Well,” Victor began, looking around the room, hesitating at the hostile looks three of the four people were directing back at him still, their attention moving back and forth like the attention of tennis fans, flitting between their boss and the man they considered their enemy.
For her part, Cheryl just sat absolutely still, wishing they operated like the T-Rex and wouldn’t be able to see her if she didn’t move.
It didn’t work.
“I’d expected there to be a different, shall we say, atmosphere, in here today,” Victor said, continuing at last. “But it seems it’s going to be a surprise instead. So, I hope you’re all ready to put in some overtime.”
“Overtime?” Liz asked incredulously. “Why would we do that for you? All you’ve done is—”
“That’s quite enough,” Victor said, his voice remaining the same level, but somehow managing to slice through Liz’s icy tone with ease.
Cheryl knew she should be intervening, that she should be taking charge. “Both of you, simmer down,” she said, forcing the words out, knowing it would bring attention back on her.
There’s no getting away from it now. You’ve made your decision; now it’s time to live with it.
“Tell us what you have, Victor,” she said into the silence that followed as four sets of eyes focused on her. “And it had better be a good reason for wanting us to put in overtime.”
“Of course,” the dragon shifter said, putting the tube on the table finally, though he didn’t immediately open it. Instead, he unslung his backpack and withdrew a laptop. “But if it’s okay with all of you, I’d rather show you?”
She motioned him to the hookups for the projector mounted on the ceiling.
“Uh,” the big man said, looking at it blankly. “Cheryl? Do you mind?”
She got up and went over to where he was looking back and forth. “You don’t know how to do this?”
He leaned in close to her head. “Remember that part where I’ve been asleep for the past century? I learned a lot, but there wasn’t an instruction manual for everything. All I can tell you is that it appears to run on some sort of electricity.”
Cheryl suppressed a giggle, knowing that though she’d stymied any sound, her shoulders had still shaken. A massive giveaway to her team.
“Enough,” she hissed just as quietly, fiddling with the laptop to get the proper connections set up. “And stop leaning in so close to me. I’m at work. Professional.”
“Meaning you didn’t tell them about us,” he replied.
“Us? What us?” she asked, finishing connecting.
“We’ll talk,” Victor said as the project came to life and broadcast the screen of his laptop onto the far wall. “Why isn’t it visible?”
Cheryl sighed and pulled the blinds closed, motioning to Stephen to hit the lights as he was closest. The image came into crystal clarity.
“Okay, there we go,” Victor said eagerly. “Now, everyone, pay attention. They told me all I had to do was double-click here and it would do the rest. So, uh, without further babbling from me, let me introduce you, to the Drakon Family Outreach & Support Center, located right here in Plymouth Falls.”
Frowning at his enthusiasm and the name change, Cheryl slipped into a seat next to Liz once again.
“What is this all about?” her subordinate asked.
“I have quite literally no idea,” she returned, staring at the screen as the program came to life.
No, not a program. A video, she realized almost instantly, an artist’s rendering of the Outreach Center by the—she inhaled in surprise at the same time as the rest of her team.
“Victor,” she started to say, but he hushed her down, just pointing at the screen.
“It’s huge,” Liz mumbled as the entire team from the city stared at the video, stunned.
Cheryl understood the messages now as she watched the video pan back to encompass the entire building. It was huge, easily the size of a city block, and five stories high, with one section arcing up to half again that height. Glass was everywhere, windows and panes, along with sleek metal and silky-smooth stone finishes.
Though she was watching the video, it was hard to stay focused. “You did all this in two days?” she asked, incredulous over what she was seeing. This… “This is bigger than the original.”
“By about ten percent or so, yes,” he agreed. “Aaric’s design was…dull. About ten percent bigger, but the budget is about twenty-five percent larger.”
“Why?” Liz asked. “From one extreme to the other? How do we know you’re not just pulling our chain?”
“He’s not,” Cheryl said, going out on a limb for him.
Victor met her eye and she saw an appreciation of her faith buried there, below the normally cool exterior.
There was a tiny nod of his head in thanks, then he flicked his eyes back to the video.
Cheryl smiled and sat back in her chair.
At least this should distract them from the fact I was at his house. I really don’t want to deal with those questions.
Then there was the matter of the ‘us’ Victor had referred to. Did he think they were an item now?
Cheryl’s smile slipped as she realized she didn’t know how she felt about that. Didn’t know at all.
27
When the meeting concluded, her team broke up, each one of them taking a set of the thick plans with them. As Victor had said, there was a lot of work to get done, and the lawyers alone were going to have a field day as they went over yet another new contract between the town and the Drakon Family.
Everyone was excited, however, and that was a good thing. Cheryl nodded in dismissal, knowing each one of them would want to get to work reviewing it, learning the new design, layout, and seeing what their specific sections would revolve around, and how they would need to change the plans to suit regulations and the like.
It was the first time since meeting Victor that one of the meetings had concluded on good terms, and Cheryl felt a smile crease her lips as everyone got up to leave.
On her way past, Liz bent down to whisper in her ear. “Don’t think I’ve forgotten about the fact you went to his house. You’re going to spill the beans about that one,” she said.
“I doubt it,” Cheryl chuckled as Liz pushed the door open and disappeared, leaving her with Victor.
Alone, with Victor.
Almost immediately, he came over to her chair, stepping up behind it, fingers sliding down the back to find and massage her shoulders. A mild euphoria came over her as her muscles reacted to his touch.
“Why didn’t you tell them?” he wanted to know, digging a little deeper as she sank back into the chair.
“It hadn’t come up,” she said. “And I don’t know how. I’m still processing this all myself, Victor. What you…showed me,” she said, careful not to speak of it directly. “That’s a lot for someone to take in. A lot.”
“Do you regret what we did?” he asked, the pressure from his fingers fading tentatively for a moment before resuming.