Chapter Six
Eudora got out of Sern’s car, and he took her hand again. The house was enormous, and she knew something Sern might not be aware of, but knowing him, he knew who owned the house.
They walked up the steps, and the door opened. A man, whom she recognized as Magnus, met them. “Sern, Mrs. Chyris, please come with me.”
They walked inside, the door closed, and she saw familiar faces as they moved through the house.
Sern kept his warm grip on her fingers, and she tried to wiggle loose once, but he flexed his fingers around hers, and she huffed.
The reason for the contact was obvious when they walked into a sitting room, and Likon saw her.
He took in her features, and his gaze moved across her body until it stopped on their hands. He slumped.
Clever lawyer.
Magnus smiled. “Please have a seat.”
Sern helped her to a loveseat and settled next to her.
Magnus nodded. “Right. We are here to see to the dissolution of the union between Likon and Eudora.”
Eudora raised her hand. “Point of order.”
Magnus smiled. “Yes?”
“There was no union. None of the documentation was ever filed with the court. This was a roommate agreement with a formal escort clause.”
Sern calmly placed his hand over her lips.
Magnus grinned.
Sern said, “She doesn’t understand that this has already been settled, and we are here to calm Likon before he does something stupid.”
She really tried to comment.
Likon paused and said, “She wants to say too late. I already did.”
She nodded and glared at Sern.
Magnus smirked. “I am surprised she didn’t lick you.”
“She knows that would escalate things.” Sern chuckled. “Ready to just sit and listen?”
She nodded.
“Right. Thanks for not biting.” He removed his hand from her.
She stuck her tongue out. “It was a near miss.”
He chuckled. “Right. Magnus, it is your home. Please proceed.”
Magnus smiled and explained that while nothing formal had been filed, they had engaged in a mutual agreement.
“With common law as a basis, the prenup was invalid due to the deliberate deception involved. When Likon broke the contract, the payout to Eudora should have been enacted. For example, her gowns and the jewellery will go to her.”
Eudora looked at Sern and cleared her throat.
He grinned. “She doesn’t want them. They should be donated or liquidated.”
Likon blinked. “Why? They are worth thousands.”
Sern smiled. “They were not her choice and do not suit her. You will understand if you run into her in the next few weeks.”
Likon blinked. “What?”
Sern smiled. “You will be seeing her on my arm at any number of events in the next few weeks. Since she has experience with these events, it will be an aid to my appearance at these balls and auctions. It will certainly make them more fun.”
Likon looked at Eudora. “Isn’t there any way we could...”
“I will forever see Nessa astride you on the embroidered cushions.”
He covered his face. “I am so sorry. Nessa thought it would be fun, and I wasn’t thinking.”
“Yeah, I could tell when she was smirking at me. She wasn’t expecting my comment. That was hilarious.” Eudora nodded. “Well, she got what she wanted.”
Likon looked up at her. “I didn’t.”
“Dude, you had three years to make any kind of move, but you were content to have a roommate that made dinner.” Eudora looked at Sern. “Cover your ears and hum.”
He grinned and did as she asked.
“Right, I get more out of holding his hand in a restaurant than I ever did curled up against you at an event. Don’t even get me started about what happens when he pulls out my chair for me.”
She elbowed Sern, and he had mischief dancing in his eyes. “The ears work really well, huh?”
“Really well.” He took her hand and kissed the back of it. “There is an opera house of chairs being held for you in your future.”
She blushed hard. “Yeah. Really well.”
Likon looked at them. “I have never seen that expression on your face.”
She looked at him sadly. “That’s because it was never for you. Just as yours was never for me.”
Likon flexed his tanned jaw. “It could have been.”
“If it could have been, then it would have been. I am receptive every twenty-eight days, and your nose didn’t even twitch. Dude, what does that say to you? To me, it says sibling bond.” She sighed. “And no sibling wants to watch anybody screwing Nessa.”
Likon sighed. “She’s just so persistent.”
“Yup. Don’t worry. Anybody who wondered knows that you were in rut, and she was on top of you. That’s why we broke up.” She beamed. “You are welcome.”
Likon’s jaw opened. “You said what?”
“I told the truth. It is a lot less to remember. Just say you were hot, she was willing, and in your distracted state, you invited her inside.” She shrugged.
“Or she invited you inside. Whatever. Everybody knows she’s an alpha hunter.
You are just one of her trophies. And she got to break up what she thought was a marriage, so extra points. ”
Likon winced. “Is she that bad?”
“Carl, Mark, Tony, Keller, and those are just since I have been around your circles. Oh, maybe she’s trying to collect an alphabet.”
Sern and Magnus snorted.
Likon sighed and grimaced before smiling. “You aren’t mad at me?”
“I am rather disgusted. You didn’t tuck in when you came after me. That is a memory that is going to haunt me. I had no idea you had piercings.”
Likon paused and then burst into laughter.
Magnus smiled, and he and Sern got to negotiating because neither Likon nor Eudora really cared.
Eudora was dismissed to go get snacks because she kept refusing everything. The guys booted her out of the office, and she followed the smell of hot chocolate.
Rhymbia was sitting with Kern, eating cake with their butler-housekeeper standing in the kitchen. Eudora looked at Rhymbia and said, “They kicked me out for laughing and rejecting Likon’s efforts to make himself feel better.”
Rhymbia got up and hugged her. “Eudora, I missed you at the Thorne gala.”
“I was working and going through a divorce. I just got my bank account back this afternoon, and it has just enough in it to buy a serving uniform. Maybe jeans and a sweatshirt.”
Rhymbia blinked. “But...”
“They are all Likon’s. It was in our agreement. I keep nothing that was purchased as a prop. That included my phone and everything else. I went with what I came in with. Thrifted office wear and some jeans.” She smiled and held up her hand. “Two sets of sneakers.”
Kern frowned. “Why didn’t you call?”
“Yeah, why didn’t you call?” Rhymbia put her hands on her hips.
“Because you have a new baby, and I didn’t want to disturb you.” Eudora smiled.
Rhymbia narrowed her eyes. “He’s not that new, and we have a houseful of babysitters.”
“Yup, and I didn’t want to haul my mopey self into a happy family. I was a major downer. There were complications that I didn’t anticipate, and we have had to deal with them. Fortunately, one of my coworkers has a brother who’s a lawyer.”
Kern asked, “Who?”
“Sern Copperwell.”
Kern’s lenses lit with a green glow. “He’s here?”
“Yup. Debating the contents of my panty drawer.” She grimaced. “They all seem very invested in the outcome. I tried to tell them I didn’t have anywhere to put all that stuff, but they stopped listening when lingerie came up.”
Rhymbia nodded. “That tracks.”
Kern chuckled. “Well, the law is a mysterious and detailed place. Do you think I could get a meeting with Sern?”
“Sure. I mean, he’s not leaving without me.” She smiled. A cup of hot cocoa with little marshmallows was slid onto the table. “For me?”
The housekeeper grinned. “Yes, miss.”
“Cool.” She slid onto the chair and slurped at the cocoa beneath the marshmallows. “So, Kern, what do you need Sern for?”
“Legal stuff,” Kern smirked. “So, Eudora, work on any interesting projects lately?”
“Uh, the parkour challenge in the islands? We have gotten some cute ads for the open broadcast.”
“And the other project?”
She cocked her head. “Which one? I get footage and music and go.”
He snorted and tapped at his phone. Familiar music belted out of the phone.
“Oh. That one. Yeah, that was fun.”
“Where did we get the footage?”
“It was all live recorded, and all releases are signed.”
“The powerlifter is familiar. Is that five hundred pounds?” Kern raised his brows.
“Probably. I just keep loading until it looks right.” She chuckled. “I always forget I work for you, and then you look at me with that exacerbated expression on your nose and jaw, and I remember.”
Her boss grinned. “And I remember why you and Rhymbia get along so well.”
Eudora grinned at the other woman. “Do we?”
Rhymbia shrugged. “I don’t see it. Oh, maybe it’s when we relocated that ice swan to the pond and set it free.”
“Yeah, I lifted, and you navigated.” She chuckled. “It was a well-operated heist, and that was one ugly swan.”
Kern sighed. “Were you drinking?”
“I was. She was seven months along.” Eudora chuckled.
“And now you are back in our circle.”
“Well, it’s mainly an oval or a half circle. I am only going to be attending six events with Sern, and then we are even. I mean, probably not, but he made the rules.”
His voice murmured from behind her. “You left without your underwear?”
“I had the cotton stuff left over from before I lived there.”
He put his hands on her shoulders as she sipped at her hot cocoa. “Never leave your underwear somewhere unless you want an alpha to use it to track you.”
She blinked. “It was all clean.”
“I can currently track you via my car seat. Don’t mistake my manners for indifference.” His hands were warm on her shoulders.
Unable to bear the intimacy of that statement, she looked up at him. “Do you trim your nose hair?”
He grinned down at her, his teeth flashing white. “Trying to deflect the moment?”
“You know me so well. Seriously? The nose hair thing? Those are some great genes if you don’t need to.”
He chuckled. “You know I am angling to have you test to see how those genes work with yours.”
“I was getting that impression. You aren’t subtle, and you are so very old.”