Chapter Twenty-Eight #2
I gulped. This had all seemed like a good idea a few weeks ago. Now, I wasn’t so sure. But at least they weren’t here to arrest me.
Hopefully.
“We have to go,” I ordered Gen, propelling her outside with me.
“But—” she protested.
“But—” Bene and Roux mourned at the same time.
What a fool I’d been to imagine my life might regain some semblance of peace and quiet. Instead, I was facing a potential love triangle.
I whirled back to leave the guys with one last order.
“Not a peep from any of you. Now, please, please get to work, and please don’t ruin this.”
With that, I slammed the door.
Gen stared. “Ruin what?”
I sighed. “I’ll explain in a minute.”
Behind me, the door opened a sliver, and Marius handed me my clipboard.
“Thank you.” I grabbed it and blew him a kiss.
He gave me a thumbs-up and closed the door.
Gen went bug-eyed.
“Oh my God. You’re sleeping with a dragon shifter?” she squealed exactly as Clem drove up.
I put my face in my hands, wishing for a hole to crawl into. If only Gen didn’t share the supernatural genes that allowed us to identify all kinds of supernaturals.
Then I took a deep breath and faced Clement.
His face was stony, as it had been ever since I’d come home with Marius.
“Good morning, Clem,” I said.
“Good morning.” His dejected murmur suggested all light had been sucked out of the universe and darkness had swallowed the galaxy.
Wolf shifters did not take rejection well.
I’d tried to let him down gently, but no go. Now, I really, really needed to find him a new love interest.
Then I brightened because, oh. As it so happened…
I motioned toward Gen. “You remember my sister, Geneviève.”
Clem removed his hat and nodded politely.
“Good to see you,” he said unenthusiastically.
“Good to see you,” Gen breathed, like her world had just exploded with sunshine, unicorns, and rainbows.
I cringed, rethinking my logic. What was a love triangle with four parties called?
I greeted the other officers and led them away from the house, along with my sister. There was no way I was leaving her unsupervised with three shifters and a vampire.
“So, the arrangements…” I started, bracing myself for a very long day.
***
Soon, the grounds were inundated with athletes and spectators, most of them members of France’s finest.
Clem only had eyes for me, while Gen couldn’t take her eyes off him.
Luckily, he left us quickly, having duties as a marshal of the cross-country running competition.
Also, Gen had worked enough events to make herself useful.
The event organizers had sworn they could handle everything, but the inevitable issues arose, from desperately needed extension cords to garbage bags and — as I’d guessed — toilet paper.
“Wow. This looks amazing.” Gen stopped in her tracks when we entered the stables.
Rackets blurred and balls flew. We turned our heads, watching them pinging and ponging.
“Table tennis is one of three events we’re hosting today,” I explained.
“I mean, the stables,” Gen said.
I looked around. Weeks ago, junk had filled the place from floor to ceiling, and cobwebs had shrouded the windows.
Now, everything had been cleared and cleaned, and the fairy lights I’d strung up helped inch the space past functional toward stylish.
I’d even had flyers printed, optimistically listing all kinds of events the chateau could be hired for, from weddings to anniversary parties and even car shows.
(Roux’s idea. The man had high hopes for our vintage Jaguar.)
Being involved in the nitty-gritty of that work had blinded me to the big picture, but now, I looked around with fresh eyes.
“You’d done so much!” Gen enthused.
“We have,” I whispered, proud and amazed. “All of us.”
I yearned to share the moment with Marius and the others. To celebrate what we’d accomplished, and to seeing the grounds brought to life again.
In my grandmother’s day, the chateau had always been a lively place, hosting parties, concerts, and soirées. And while the police championships were a far cry from teatime and games of croquet, it was a step in the right direction.
“Grandma would be proud,” Gen decided.
My heart swelled as I looked around. I thought so too.
“This just shows how much more we can offer, and not just here in the stables.” Gen pointed to the gazebo where the officials had set up tables, then to the tiny chapel out by the duck pond. The roof had caved in, but that didn’t stop Gen’s vivid imagination.
“Either of those would be perfect for weddings, and receptions can take place in the stables or in the ballroom.”
My thoughts went there. With any luck, the guys were feeling cooperative and working on it at that very moment, spackling cracks in the plaster.
“Guests can book suites in the west wing…” Gen went on.
Yes, but we would have to figure out where to put the guys first. Marius had moved in with me for good, but the others…
My mind spun. So much to do, and we’d only just gotten started. But for once, the scale of it didn’t discourage me. I had my man now, and he wasn’t going anywhere. Neither were the others. So maybe, a year or two from now…
“We should be able to host our first guests next spring!” Gen announced, as happy and ignorant as I had once been.
I decided not to burst her bubble. Not on her first day anyway.
Shortly after, I slipped away from the event to check on the guys. The ballroom was empty — but wow. Every crack had been smoothed over, every wall prepared for a fresh coat of paint once the plaster dried.
I checked the dining room next, then the drawing room, finding no one. Where were they?
My mind filled with doomsday scenarios, like Henrik sucking the blood out of a spectator or Bene out flirting with female police officers.
But, whew. I eventually found them on a rooftop balcony, overlooking the action.
Marius swept me into a kiss worthy of a movie poster, while the others rolled their eyes and went back to critically micro-analyzing each athlete’s performance.
I broke away from Marius long enough to chastise them. “Like you could do better.”
“I could,” Bene declared, and Roux nodded too. “Running — easy. Mountain biking — I could cover the same terrain faster without a bicycle.”
I pictured him bounding along in lion form. Okay, maybe he had a point there.
“What about table tennis?” I challenged.
“How is that a police event?” Marius chortled.
“Maybe they use rackets to subdue very weak criminals,” Bene joked.
“Well, it requires quick reflexes,” I tried.
“There is a lot of back-and-forth, like an interrogation,” Roux deadpanned.
Bene collapsed into chuckles, while Henrik groaned.
“I don’t see Officer Dulaire competing,” Marius said a little snidely.
I smacked his arm. “Be nice, please. He’s officiating.”
Marius opened his mouth, caught my look of warning, and closed it again. The man was definitely learning.
“Ah, yes. Officer Dulaire,” Roux mused. “I’ve been wondering about him.”
I frowned. “Wondering what?”
“Oh, you know. How it is that he happened to get posted to exactly this little town?”
I shook my head. “Nothing unusual about it. Clement grew up here.”
Roux snorted. “So he ought to know how dead this place is on the weekends.”
“Even deader, when you consider Henrik,” Bene threw in.
Henrik flashed his fangs, but Marius thrust out a hand. “Don’t start. Either of you.”
I stuck my hands on my hips, facing Roux. “What are you getting at?”
“I’m getting at the question of why an ambitious alpha wolf would accept a transfer from Marseille, where he can make a name for himself fighting real crime, to a dead-end post like Auberre? And why with that particular timing?”
“You mean, the same time I arrived?”
Roux shook his head. “No, I mean the same time Gordon sent us here.”
That’s ridiculous, I nearly said. But maybe it wasn’t.
“You think he’s here to bust us? Or Gordon?” Bene asked.
Roux shrugged. “I don’t know. But we need to be careful around that guy. All of us.”
My gut dropped to about the level of my knees. Just when I thought I was on my way to living a quiet, normal existence…
But Clem would never snoop on me. He would never deceive me.
Would he?
A cheer went out, pulling my attention to the scene outside.
The first runner had just crossed the finish line, and I spotted Clement step over to congratulate her.
More people milled around them, and he slowly separated himself from the crowd.
Smiling, he turned and fixed his eyes directly on us, up on that rooftop balcony.
His smile melted.
I gave a meek wave, while Marius muttered, “Is he keeping an eye on the event or on us?”
Clement waved back stiffly, gritting his teeth.
Then Gen skipped up to him, gushing enthusiastically about something, and Clem turned to face her.
“Thank goodness for Gen,” I murmured for maybe the second time in my life.
I loved my sister, but she tended to be high-maintenance. Right now, though, I cheered her on. After all, I’d misjudged Marius at the beginning. I could be just as guilty of misjudging Clem. And if he and Gen found happily-ever-after together… Well, that would be nice for everyone.
Hopefully. Probably. Maybe?
“Back to work, everyone,” Roux grunted.
Footsteps sounded as the men followed. All except Marius, who wrapped his arms around me and kissed me softly.
“Back to work now, but later…” he murmured.
I grinned, turning in his arms to kiss him.
Our lips moved in tandem, and soon, the police championships, Clement, and other worries faded away, leaving just my mate to focus on.
Because the later Marius referred to didn’t just mean tonight or next week or next year. It meant a lifetime.
* * *
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