by Lisa Olsen
“Aww guys… we didn’t get a chance to have a slumber party,” I teased. “I’ve got a whole box of graham crackers downstairs and all the marshmallows you can eat.”
“I think I’ll pass, thanks,” Mason replied with a shadow of his usual good humor.
Corazon surprised me by actually smiling for once. “Don’t sweat it, peaches, all vampire hospitality requires is an open vein and a patch of dark, and you came through on both ends. No complaints here.” She stood, shouldering her pack. “I’ll catch you on the flipside, homes,” she said to Mason, and I got a reverse nod before she took the stairs. Apparently that was Corazon-speak for ‘thanks’.
“I guess it’s safe for you guys out there now, huh?”
“Yeah, hopefully we’re in the clear between your speech and Jakob’s threats. At least we’re done with that asshole Byrne.”
“True, that’s one less thing we have to worry about. So um, where are you headed now? Back down to San Jose, or are you moving back to your place up here?”
“Actually, I’m thinking about making a bigger change than that,” he said, tightening the straps on his flak jacket.
“Oh? What kind of change?” Was he following Bishop’s lead and quitting the Order too?
“I’m thinking about going back to Boston. It’s been a while since I spent any time back in the old stomping grounds, I think I’m due.”
“Boston, wow… that is quite a change,” I replied, wondering if it had anything to do with my sister’s new boyfriend. “Is that something you can wrangle? I thought the Order didn’t want you guys spending time where you lived as a human.”
“It’s been more than thirty years, I think I’m good. I can always pass myself off as Spencer’s son if I run into anyone I used to know.”
“Spencer?”
“That was me, before I joined the undead army.”
My eyes widened in surprise. “So the name you gave my sister was…”
“My own, yeah. I know, talk about a rookie mistake.”
I knew it was none of my business, but I couldn’t help meddling a tiny bit. “Maybe you shouldn’t give up on her so easily? Maybe you should stick around and try to talk to her again now that she’s had a chance to cool off.”
“And listen to her rave on about her new guy?” he snorted. “No thanks, I think that’s my cue to leave.” He straightened, strapping on his weapons. “Thanks for putting us up, we all owe you one.”
“You’ll let me know before you leave town though, won’t you? To say goodbye?”
“Sure thing,” he said with a sad smile. “I’ll see you around, sis.”
*
Felix sat beside me on the couch, his mood upbeat, almost frenetic. “Hey, boss, you wanted to see me? Is this about the Order investigation? ‘Cause we didn’t get anywhere with the bomb squad, they turned up zilch.”
“No, that’s not why I asked you over, but thanks for coming.”
“Is it about setting up some public offices? I thought it was a great idea when Maggie brought it to me, but we’ll have to pitch it the right way to Jakob over the whole security issue.”
“Maggie asked you about finding us office space?”
“Yeah… didn’t she talk to you about it first?”
“No, but it’s a good idea. Especially since I’ve promised Jakob not to invite any new people in until he gives the say so. Why, do you think he’ll nix the idea for a public office? It seems like he’d support it.”
“I’m sure he’ll go for it, boss,” he waved my concern away. “We gotta spin it the right way is all.”
“Fine, I’ll talk to Maggie about scouting some locations then. But that’s not why I asked you over here.” He opened his mouth to offer another suggestion and I held up a hand to keep him from offering up guesses. “I asked you here for personal reasons.”
“Personal reasons?”
“You’re a good guy, Felix. A good business partner, a great Warden, and a good friend. But as a boyfriend, you basically suck.”
Felix blinked, at a loss for words.
I took a deep breath, catching hold of him with my will. “No more feeding with benefits outside of Bridget. Do you understand?”
“I understand,” he nodded blankly.
“I’m not saying you can’t drink from women at all, but only blood is allowed. No transfer of any other bodily fluids from now on. And for God’s sake, try to be discreet about it, okay?”
“Okay,” he answered equably.
“And I’m not saying you have to stick with Bridget. If you guys end up breaking up, that’s your own deal. Are you happy with her?” I figured maybe I should ask while I had the chance. It wasn’t much worth it if he wasn’t into her the same way she was into him.
“Absolutely, she makes me very happy. I love her big time.”
I decided not to delve into why he’d strayed if he loved her so much, it was none of my business. “That’s good to hear. What about the rest of things? Are you happy here?”
“No, not really.”
That threw me for a loop. “Why not?”
“I miss being back in L.A.,” he admitted with a wistful sigh, his responses becoming less wooden. “I miss the clubs and my house. It’s nice up here, boss, but it ain’t the same.”
“I see. Why are you up here then? I never said you had to move because I live here.”
“Because that’s what we’re all doing. You set up shop up here, then we’re bringing the show to you.”
Damn. “That was never my intention. If you want to go back home, please do. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, we can handle most of the day to day stuff over email and Skype if need be. There’s absolutely no reason for you to uproot your lives for me.”
“It ain’t all about you, boss. Jakob’s up here, it’s where the action is. This is where all the heavy hitters will gather now.”
“I want you to feel free to go back to L.A. if that’s what will make you happy. The farther you stay away from Jakob, the happier you’ll be, believe me.”
“I believe you,” he repeated, and I remembered I still had him on the hook.
“Forget we talked about Bridget and your feeding habits, but remember what we talked about with moving,” I said, releasing him completely.
Felix gave a slow blink. “What was I saying? Oh yeah, I think we’ll be headed back to L.A. if that’s okay with you, boss.”
“I think that’s a great idea,” I smiled back.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
I felt like I was running more of a hotel than a private home. Sure, we’d lost our extra boarders in the attic, but it seemed like there was always someone underfoot. If it wasn’t Maggie with another phone call, it was Gunnar with a question about the guard. Marcus had taken to using the dining room as his office since he’d moved in and I didn’t have the heart to tell him to vamoose after seeing how well things were going with Maggie. There was a spring in her step and a blush in her cheek I’d never seen before. Gone was that girl who was frightened of her own shadow; a strong, confident woman emerging from the ashes of her former self.
Still, it gave me extra incentive to get cracking on the outside offices Felix had mentioned, and Marcus came up with a perfect solution not ten minutes from the house. We rented enough space for him, Maggie, and myself, plus a decent sized conference room and two extra offices for growth. Rob set up a state of the art surveillance system so Jakob could breathe easier about me spending time away from home.
Bonus points – there was a great coffee shop with the best hot chocolate across the street, and a lounge area for Gunnar and my red shirts to take a load off and hang out whenever I was working. Down side – I couldn’t work in my pajamas anymore, but it gave me the excuse to go shopping. Best thing ever – if I played hookie for the night, it was just me, Rob, and our troupe of security around the house. I could almost pretend we had something resembling privacy.
Rob grew a bit more relaxed with fewer eyes about. He no longe
r left me alone in my office for fear of being caught together. As long as we weren’t in a compromising position, he relented to spending time together the way we used to. We filled our spare hours sharing a hot drink in front of the fire, talking about the day’s events or me bouncing ideas off of him before I brought them up to the council. Sometimes after everyone else had gone to bed his hand covered mine, and it was nice. Not enough, but nice.
In the end I set up routine office hours a few days a week when people could book appointments to come and see me. I preferred to spend the majority of my time at my home office where I was most comfortable. We settled into a routine – Maggie and Marcus commuted together, Rob and Gunnar stuck by my side as usual no matter where the night took me.
Jakob came to visit me regularly once I was established in the office and so did Bishop, both of them still barred from my house. Maggie set up a code system for me once she spotted them on the security cameras. Code Blue meant Bishop was on his way up, and Code Red meant Jakob had arrived. That usually gave me a few needed minutes to finish up whatever I was in the middle of or come up with a good excuse why I couldn’t be whisked away.
To his credit, Jakob did make more of an effort to be patient with me in private than he did in public. Most nights he was respectful if I told him my schedule was too booked to slip out for a drink, and he was sure to stop by and see Maggie on his way out to block out some of my free time for himself.
I had promised to give him another shot, and I kept my word, letting him take me to the Café Du Nord, but it was nothing like the other times we’d gone there. For one thing, Jakob never went anywhere without an entourage bigger than mine these days. Arriving at the club was more like occupying it, as he commanded multiple tables for all his hangers on.
He was almost like a different man in public, the parts of his personality I liked least on display. Boastful, smug, demanding… I didn’t have much of a good time with him when he was like that, but he either didn’t notice or didn’t care. I felt like little more than arm candy to him, and I said so once the limo pulled up in front of my house. Jakob promised a more private venue for our next date. I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
I tried not to worry about it too much, immersing myself in work as much as possible. Happily, the violence against the Order faded, whether it was from Jakob’s declaration or my impassioned plea, peace was restored to the area and I left Jenessa a voicemail about it being safe to come home again. I really missed having her around and in particular, I wanted to know what she thought about the whole Jakob thing.
I had regular meetings with the council, drafting a new charter for the Order and working our ideas for the judicial system. Bishop was a large part of those meetings, providing essential knowledge of the inner workings of the Order. I came to see a different side of him. He had a keen, analytical mind and a talent for spotting pitfalls in implementing the changes the rest of us missed.
Together we hammered out a new set of penalties for infractions. The Order would have no right of execution except for when their lives were in immediate danger, and everyone would have the right to a review by a district representative, similar to the current magistrate structure. The districts would have their own judges and subjects would be allowed one appeal. If the council reviewed the case and found it merited more attention it could be brought before me. The new statutes started to take on shape and I focused on how best to pitch it to Jakob, who would have the final say.
My birthday was coming up and Maggie planned a party for me, something small, for family only at my insistence. I didn’t mention it to Jakob or Bishop, because neither of them were invited, and I was a little afraid of what kind of grand gesture Jakob might come up with. Mostly I looked forward to Hanna coming up to see me for the first time since I’d moved into the house, and reconnecting with her. She’d sent me a brief email on return from her trip, but had been too busy to trade more than a few lines about how great it was and how great Logan was too.
More than once, Bishop booked an appointment with me just to chat. He seemed to be making an effort to embrace pop culture, working his way through a list of movies we came up with together. I have to admit, I enjoyed our talks. I think I saw him smile more in those few hours than I had the entire time I’d known him. Debating the merits of the Underworld movies was a lot more fun than following him around to dive bars, watching him intimidate people. He never pushed me for more than the allotted hour, and he refrained from giving me those soulful stares of longing. I started to think we actually could be friends.
“I think he’s got the right of it,” Rob commented once after Bishop left for the night. “I should set an appointment if I want to get proper alone time with you.”
“Maybe you should.” I arched a single brow at him. “These walls are pretty thick.”
“Not thick enough.” His gaze held mine hostage, the air around us crackling with energy.
“That’s assuming I can do something to make you lose your control.”
“You’re the loud one,” he challenged, making me blush.
I reached over to the phone. “Maggie… hold all my calls please. I’m in the middle of an important conference.”
“Right-o,” she sang back cheerily. “You’ve got that phone call at half past, don’t forget.”
I glanced at the clock then back to Rob. “Should be plenty of time, thanks.”
“That’s ambitious,” he said, coming around to sit on the inside of my desk.
“Not for what I have in mind.”
“What do you have in mind?” His lips quirked into a half smile.
I leaned back in my chair, fingers going to the buttons of my blouse. “I have some figures I’d like to show you.” His hazel eyes glowed as they tracked my movements, making short work of the buttons and revealing the lacy bra beneath. “I’m very interested in your opinion of them.”
“I’m more of a hands on person when it comes to figures,” he rumbled, brushing my hands aside to skim over the swell of my breasts. “Stand aside and let me see what I can do with ‘em.”
My head fell back, teeth catching my lower lip as I bit back the urge to groan in delight when the rough pads of his fingers glided across my skin in the lightest of touches. It was dangerous with the others in the office, but I couldn’t stop. “That’s very interesting, but what if we were to add this?” I slid my hands across the top of his thighs, nails raking lightly.
The only sign he gave that I affected him was the pounding of his heart which quickened at my touch. That, and the look on his face, the hunger was there for anyone to see. Without a word he pulled me from my chair to his lap, his mouth silencing my gasp of surprise, one hand busy with a lace encased breast.
The phone beeped and Maggie’s voice came over the speakerphone, “Code Red.”
Frak! Talk about rotten timing.
Rob’s face buried in my neck for a heartbeat and then he settled me back into the desk chair, pulling out a handkerchief to swab at his face.
“It’s fine,” I said softly. “There’s no reason for us to worry about his visit. More than usual, I mean.”
Straining my ears, I heard it the moment Jakob stepped off the elevator. “She’s in the middle of a conference call,” Maggie said politely and Jakob took it in stride.
“I will wait.”
“We can’t catch a break.” I let out a long breath, working on my buttons.
Rob gave a single shake of the head, no longer comfortable with our light banter. He looked mostly recovered, but I could see the nervous tension in the way he held himself.
“I guess I’d better go see what he wants.”
“I’ll be out in a minute,” he replied, hanging back.
“You’re not coming?”
“I need a minute.” Rob glanced down, there were parts of him that hadn’t quite recovered yet.
“Oh.” I caught on. “Think about cricket then, or… mother England or something.” I went o
ut to the reception area where Jakob waited patiently, balancing a teacup on his knee.
“Hello, Jakob. This is a nice surprise,” I greeted him with a smile, allowing him to kiss me on the cheek. He set the teacup down with a clatter, whipping out a single red rose from under his coat.
“For you,” he said with an air of distraction.
“It’s lovely, thank you.” I sniffed dutifully. “Would you like to come back to my office so we can talk? Rob’s in there finishing up a call, but he should be done soon.”
“Yes, I should like to speak with you in private most urgently.”
Uh oh. “Great, right this way then.” I led him back to my office, gratified to see Rob behind the desk, in the middle of scribbling something down. “Are you about done? I need my office back.”
“Yeah, one sec,” he said, finishing the sentence and tearing off the paper. “I’ll get out of your hair now. Unless you’ll be wanting me for anything?” He looked to Jakob.
“Don’t go too far,” Jakob waved him off. “I might have need of you later.”
I didn’t like the sound of that. “So, what brings you by here tonight?” I asked with a note of false cheer to my voice.
Jakob ignored my question, asking one of his own. “I saw Ulrik leave. What business did he have here?”
It took me a second to process that, it caught me completely by surprise. “He came to see me, he does that sometimes.”
“Have the two of you resumed your relations?”
“No, we’re just friends and sometimes we work together on the same project.”
“Then why do I scent your arousal?”
Frak. Was that what his weird mood was about? “I can’t help it if I still find him attractive.” Not a lie.
His expression darkened. “And does he encourage this, knowing you are mine?”
I’d been silent long enough and now that we were in private, I had to speak up for myself. “Okay, first of all, I’m not yours, not like that. I agreed to give you another shot, that doesn’t mean you own me. If I wanted to see Bishop on the side, I would, but that’s not why he was here.”