Chapter 12
Abel
“So this is my office,” Marcello told me as we entered the room.
It looked like a standard office to me. Fancy desk and chair.
Some overly large potted plants that probably wouldn’t last a moment outside in the winter in Montana.
A wall full of fancy bookshelves that had a few books, but mostly vases and other dust collectors on it. And uncomfortable-looking furniture.
I stepped in and stared at everything in there before I shook my head.
“No?” he asked.
“Where…you have chairs, but they look so uncomfortable,” I said as I crossed the room to the right and sat in a leather chair.
I sank a bit, but I wasn’t wrong. It was uncomfortable.
“I mean, if I was shifted, this chair would be great because it’s leather, and it would warm up and be cozy.
But it’s…where will I take a nap? Why do you not have a sofa, as you call it?
” Marcello’s eyebrows furrowed, and I grinned.
“Seriously. If you want me to spend time in here with you, at least get me one thing that’s comfortable,” I told him.
“That’s harsh. Until I had you in my life, I didn’t want anyone to be in here for extended amounts of time.” Marcello pointed to the two chairs that were on the other side of his desk. “These are soft. Why would you go to the one against the wall?”
I got up and crossed the room. “I don’t know. Maybe because it’s away from your desk, and I wouldn’t want to be too close and bother you.”
Marcello took my hand and led me to one of the chairs that were in front of his desk. He turned me before gently pushing backward. I laughed as I sat down, and the chair seemed to swallow me.
“Okay. Yeah. This. How do we get a couch that’s like this?” I rubbed the leather of the arm and felt how buttery smooth it was. “This is nice.” Marcello made a noise as he went around the desk and sat down in his massive office chair.
“I will see about getting a sofa in here for you.” Marcello reached for a desk phone and stopped with his hand on it. “Is there anything else you wish to change about my office?”
My eyes widened. “No. I didn’t mean anything by it,” I told him. “Just that those chairs are hard.”
Marcello picked up the phone and started speaking in rapid Italian.
He sounded upset, and I took the opportunity that he was busy and distracted to up and leave the office.
The last thing I wanted to do when I left the room was upset my mate.
Things already seemed to be cooling considerably between us, and sure, he’d said he was happy and excited about the twins, but I wasn’t so sure.
He hadn’t scented as if he was lying, but still, there was not much from him through our bond.
I left the office and ran right into a hard chest. Strong arms wrapped around me, and a familiar scent enveloped me. I looked up into the blue eyes of the coven master. “I’m so sorry,” I said. “I…I never meant to run into you.”
“It is all right. Accidents happen. Is there a reason you scent as if you are upset?” Master Vincent asked. “Has something happened?”
I shrugged because what else could I do?
“Abel?” Marcello called out just before he came running out of his office. He found me standing right next to Master Vincent, and his brow furrowed again.
“You know, I think that look is your new permanent one when it comes to me. You’re scowling more than you are smiling anymore.”
Marcello ignored me. “Where are you going?”
“Back to the room. You were on the phone, and you seemed upset, so I assumed it was either important or business. That doesn’t involve me, and it’s just—”
“I was ordering a sofa for you for the office.”
Master Vincent started chuckling. “If he was talking to Antonio, you have to understand that he is around eighty and very hard of hearing,” he told me.
“I was,” Marcello said. “Antonio is the best when it comes to furniture, and he had done all of the other pieces in the office.” Marcello looked my way.
“I apologize if you thought I was upset. I truly wasn’t.
Antonio does not speak English, and he can be quite difficult to get a word in once he realizes who he is talking to.
I was never upset.” Marcello reached for me and tugged me away from Master Vincent.
“Come back and I’ll talk things out with you.
I want your input on how you would like the office rearranged. ”
“It doesn’t matter to me, really. It’s your office,” I told him. “I was thinking about trying to reach Lewis and see how he was doing.” Which wasn’t necessarily true, but it wasn’t an outright lie either.
“Sure. But come back for a bit? Please?” Marcello tugged me with him, and I heard chuckling behind us.
I looked over my shoulder at Master Vincent, who was grinning.
That completely transformed his face into something I didn’t expect.
There was no denying that the man was attractive.
But I knew who he was, and that instantly made him unattractive in my eyes.
Once we were back in the office, Marcello closed the door and pushed me up against it. I smiled up at my mate, who was looking at me like he wanted to have a taste. “Umm…hi,” I said.
“Hello,” Marcello said as he lowered his head toward mine.
I grinned up at him, but my head thunked back onto the door when Marcello moved to the side and trailed his lips up my neck.
“We need to work on communication, mio angelo. Me with being more open, and you with not jumping to conclusions and running away,” he whispered as his lips moved up my neck and to that super-sensitive spot just below my ear.
I giggled and squirmed, which caused Marcello to stop, and then I realized he was laughing as well.
He moved back enough to look up at me and then kissed my lips quickly before he picked me up. I squeaked but held on as he carried me from the office to the glass doors that went outside. Marcello bent down, putting me close enough to reach the knob. “If you would, please?” Marcello asked.
I opened the door, and Marcello carried me outside.
It was gorgeous out, and I took a deep breath of the late-morning air.
“I can’t believe it’s April and this nice out,” I said.
“There was still snow on the ground when I was last in Montana.” Marcello’s smile dimmed, but I touched the side of his face, hoping to ease some of his guilt.
“I don’t regret being here with you,” I said.
“I’m trying to have an open mind and give everything and everyone a chance, but it’s just going to take some time.
Please don’t feel bad. You don’t regret the fact that we’re together now, do you? ” I asked, suddenly unsure.
Marcello set me down on my feet next to a fancy cement bench that was in front of an even fancier fountain.
“Not at all. I am upset that things happened the way they did, but no, I cannot regret that you are now my claimed beloved, and we are going to be welcoming twins into this world sometime next month. That’s quick, and I’ll have to get used to having babies in such a short amount of time, but I could never be upset to have you in my life. ”
I pulled my eyes away from the fountain and smiled up at my mate. “Will you open up to me? Even just a little? I know you’ve killed people, Marcello,” I said as I glanced back at the fountain. The sound of water spraying and trickling was soothing.
“I’ve done more than just kill people, mio angelo. Much worse.”
I sighed and looked back at the fountain.
I could certainly see myself curling up in my fox form and hanging out near here once I could shift again.
It would be a great place for an afternoon nap.
Only that wasn’t going to happen any longer.
I would have the twins to take care of. “So you’re willing to claim me, spend a heat with me, yet you won’t open up to me,” I said.
I hoped that the hurt I was feeling could be seen on my face.
I was certain he could sense it through our bond.
“You were right. You’re an asshole, and I don’t see how we can continue on with our relationship if you aren’t willing to accept and trust me completely. ”
I started to walk away, but Marcello stopped me with a hand on my shoulder. “I do accept and trust you,” he argued.
I shook my head. “No you don’t. If you did, you would share yourself with me,” I said quietly.
I glanced over my shoulder at my mate and gave him a sad smile.
“I’ve given up absolutely everything to be with you.
My home, my friends, my entire life that is on the other side of the world.
For you. For us. And you can’t even give me the decency to open up our bond with me.
How is that supposed to make me feel?” I shrugged Marcello’s hand off my shoulder and walked away.
I reentered the house through the door and left the office.
As I walked down the hallway and saw an open doorway, I naturally glanced in and saw that it was Master Vincent’s office.
His was much larger than Marcello’s, but that made sense.
He was the coven master. I offered a sad smile but continued onward.
I let my nose lead me toward the kitchen. A small snack would be nice and might help calm my stomach a bit. I was going to be having lunch with my mate and the coven master in under an hour, but I really didn’t think I could wait that long. I needed something now.
I smiled when I rounded the corner and found the kitchen. Marcello had shown it to me before, but this place was so damn big that I knew I wouldn’t be able to find anything without a map. At least not for some time yet.
“Hello, Abel. How are you feeling?” Mazzi asked. “I am just having a snack before lunch. Care to join me?”