Chapter 4
Marcus
Griselda had a surprised look on her face when I walked into the Witch’s Brew the next day instead of Declan. I couldn’t stay away, not after seeing her up on the roof last night.
I’d worked up a sweat from lifting all the heavy equipment and thought the rooftop patio would be a great place to cool off. I hadn’t expected anyone to be up there considering it was the dead of winter, most definitely not a cute little witch wielding a metal crafting tool. The fuzzy slippers and robe had been adorable, but it was the sexy satin piece underneath that had completely destroyed any sanity I had.
I’d thought of her all night and barely got any sleep.
To be honest, last night was just the straw that broke the camel’s back. My minotaur had been ornery since that first day when she showed up with those cookies. I’d caught myself watching her through my apartment blinds every time she stepped outside, like when she received the morning shipment of baked goods.
My beast was enamored with her, which was ridiculous because he knew that we would never be able to settle down. But there I was, watching Gigi load every single box up on her arm so she didn’t need to take more than one trip. It had been everything I could do not to run down there and offer to help.
“Incoming heatwave,” whispered the man behind the counter, who probably had no idea I could hear him. I had excellent hearing; most minotaurs did.
I scanned the coffee shop, taking it all in. The decor was kitschy and eclectic, giving it a modern witch vibe, which wasn’t surprising considering the name. A photo depicting the shop’s exterior a decade ago, complete with a large tarot reading sign, was hung on the wall. Below was the explanation that Griselda had failed at witchcraft but brewed a mean coffee.
The sexy witch herself stood behind the counter, her eyes on me.
The man gave her a tiny shove before loudly exclaiming. “Oh look, we’re almost out of milk. Let me go grab some from the back.”
Something told me they had a fridge at the back but weren’t actually running low on milk at all.
“Morning, neighbor,” she said.
“Morning,” I said back.
Damn, it was awkward. I hadn’t thought past coming and had no idea what to say. If it were up to my minotaur, he’d just pick her up and carry her home. But kidnapping was a felony. It had been so much easier the first time when we met. I saw her, she saw me, we liked what we saw, and I took her home. Easy. Why the fuck was it so much harder now?
Luckily, she knew what to say. “Are you the Americano? Or the café mocha?” she asked.
“The mocha,” I said.
“Really? I’d totally pinned you for the Americano type. But I’ve been wrong before.”
“With extra whip,” I added.
“Can’t forget the whip. Just for you today?”
“Yeah, Declan actually had to go into work today.”
She reached for a to-go cup.
“For here today, please.”
I hadn’t originally planned on enjoying my shot of caffeine here, but just one look at her and my minotaur was demanding that I stay. I might as well stay anyway; there wasn’t anything I could do until those mirrors arrived. They were supposed to have arrived this morning, but morning had come and gone and it was now midafternoon. There was still no sight of them.
“Which bean?” she asked, gesturing to the two canisters of beans.
I frowned. Did that matter? “Which one do you usually use?”
“We cycle through different ones so that my customers can try different beans from around the world,” she said. “This one from Ethiopia has more fruity notes, and this Colombian one has hints of nuts.”
I leaned in to read the full descriptions. “Medium light roast. Well balanced. Citrus brightness with a hint of caramel. And this one is…” I furrowed my brows so hard that I was sure my bovine features showed through the mass-produced glamor spell I wore. “… thermal shocked? With hints of caramel and pistachio, reminiscent of vanilla cake. Okay, now I’m even more confused. You choose.”
“Let’s go with the first one. The citrus and caramel work well with the chocolate.”
I watched her intently as she made my drink, brewing a shot of espresso while she melted the chocolate before combining it all together with hot milk and finally topping it with whipped cream.
“I had no idea there were so many steps.”
“How did you think we do it?” she asked, amused.
“I don’t know, drip coffee and some hot chocolate powder?”
There were simultaneous gasps from both Gigi and her employee, whose name tag read Nick.
I put my hands up in the universal sign of surrender. “Hey, I mean no offense. Instant coffee is all I know. I can’t even make drip coffee.”
“Oh, you poor thing,” said Nick. “Instant coffee? Well, don’t you worry, we’ve got you covered. You just throw that garbage out and come here from now on.”
“Your mocha is the best I’ve had,” I admitted, which seemed to be the right thing to say.
“Welcome to the dark side,” Gigi said and handed me my drink.
“Fuck!” I slammed my fist down on the table before I could stop myself. Realizing I wasn’t alone, I looked sheepishly over at Gigi. “Sorry,” I said, patting the table and glad it was made of tough stuff.
I reread the message on my phone. The mirrors weren’t coming. When I’d called the vendor earlier asking about them, they’d sounded positively panicked, so I’d thought maybe they’d forgotten and had been scrambling to get them out. I was wrong. The mirrors had made it out of the warehouse on time; the holdup happened after.
“What’s the matter?” Gigi’s voice sounded closer than I expected, and I looked up to see she’d come around the counter to stand in front of me, concern on her face.
“I just got an email from the company saying one of their trucks was hijacked today. They destroyed every mirror in the shipment. Left all the windows, which weren’t for me, untouched.”
Which didn’t make any fucking sense. Who the fuck held up a delivery truck just to break my mirrors?
Gigi exchanged a look with Nick.
“Someone hijacked a delivery vehicle just to smash up your mirrors?” Nick asked.
“Yeah. Unbelievable, right?
“Not unbelievable,” Griselda said before they exchanged another look. “I wonder if it’s our friends from Arcane Development,” she said.
“What aren’t you two telling me?” I asked, because there was something there.
The door to the coffee shop opened with the chime of a bell, and two women walked in just as I asked the question. Griselda pasted on a smile to greet her customers, who both seemed to be regulars because Nick and Gigi already knew their orders.
“I’ll take care of this,” Nick said. “You get our new neighbor all caught up.”
Gigi looked toward the door and I took the hint. She didn’t want to talk in front of her customers.
“Why don’t you come over and see the progress I’m making to the gym renos?” I suggested.
I felt two new sets of eyes move up and down my body in appreciation.
“Oh! You must be the owner of the new gym next door,” one of the women said. “You don’t happen to be looking for a Zumba instructor, are you?” She looked hopeful.
There was a round of introductions and a quick exchange of social media accounts, and soon Gigi and I were making our way over to Bullseye Fitness.
Griselda started her story the moment we were alone.
“My last shipment of beans was destroyed en route. Basically, it's the same story as yours. The thugs held up the van and destroyed every coffee bean in it. Then they left. Didn’t steal anything and made no comments. Just fucked up the beans. It was shortly after you bought the two units.”
“I see.” That was mighty fishy.
“It cost me a pretty penny too. Ended up having to repurchase the beans, and I have it set to deliver through a private delivery service. One that knows what happened to the previous shipment. It makes it prohibitively expensive to run my business. Especially with that asshat outside scaring everyone away except for my most dedicated regulars.”
“Yeah, we need to do something about that guy. I’m guessing he’s not really homeless.”
“Nope. Nick and I call him Faux Hobo. Drives a new Lexus.”
“Does he now?”
“Yup. Saw him get in myself. Parks it around the corner.”
I nodded. “I’ll see what I can do about it.
Gigi frowned. “Don’t do anything to get yourself in trouble.”
She was worried about me? That had the bull part of me wanting to buck with happiness. Ridiculous! Because up until just two weekends ago, I was one hundred and one percent enjoying the permanent bachelor life.
“Don’t you worry about me,” I said. “I pride myself on maintaining a perfect record. You know I’ve never even had a speeding ticket?”
That didn’t mean I didn’t get things done. I was just extra creative when it came to always making sure that nothing came back to me. I hadn’t fought for my freedom just to get stuck behind bars over something silly.
“Never?” She raised a meticulously drawn and perfectly arched brow.
“Never.”
She squinted at my head. “I don’t see a halo.”
I couldn’t stop the smirk. “You of all people should know I won’t have one. Or do I need to give you another demonstration?”
A blush pinkened her pale cheeks ever so slightly, and the scent of her lust blossomed between us as she said, “I remember.”
The blushing surprised me as she’d been no shrinking violet that night. The burst of lust was a good sign. She was still attracted to me. It hadn’t been my performance, though I hadn’t thought it was. So why had she left that morning?
“Look, Marcus. I know we started out on the wrong foot, and that’s probably because of me, but we’re stuck in this together. Based the research I had done on them, Arcane has a shit ton of money and a lot of magic too. We have to work together if we want to beat them at their own game.”
She was probably right. They didn’t seem the types to back down easily.
“Can we please forget whatever happened between us and start fresh?” she asked.
I frowned. That wasn’t what my minotaur wanted. I didn’t think I could ever forget what happened.
I shook my head. “I’m afraid I can’t do that.”
Her shoulders sagged, and so did her features. I hated how disappointed she looked. Instinctively I stepped in, closing the space between us, and cupped her face in my palms. She inhaled sharply when our eyes met.
“I agree that we have to work together if we want to keep our businesses and homes,” I said. “But I can never forget what happened between us.” I inhaled deeply. Yes, she still wanted me. “And judging from your reaction, neither can you.”
I didn’t know how long I stood there staring into her beautiful green eyes. Those eyes had worked with her red hair perfectly, but now with the dark hair and brows they were absolutely magnetic. I found myself trapped in their depths.
It was the alert tone coming from my phone that freed me from her magnetic pull. There was someone at my back door. Each of the three units in the building had two entrances: the front door opened directly into the commercial space, and the back opened into a stairway with access both to the shop and to the living space above.
Since I had two combined units, I had a grand total of four doors. I had signs in front of the two doors that had once led to the antique shop asking people to use the other ones. This particular chime meant that someone was at my back door.
I stepped over to my laptop which was sitting on my freshly installed front counter, and pulled up the feed. I’d made sure to set up cameras at all four entrances, just in case.
“Fuck!” I swore.
On the screen was a woman I never wanted to see again in my life. How the fuck had she found me?
My past had finally caught up to me and at the worst of times.