Chapter 30
RAINE
“We need to talk” is never, and I mean never, a good phrase. A teacher says it, you’re flunking. Your parents say it, they’re getting a divorce. Your boss says it and . . . I’m getting fired. I’m. Getting. Fired.
“What is that look?” Evander asks.
“Nothing . . .” When I was seven, I admitted to breaking a window.
A window I didn’t even break. My dad’s putter flew out of the bag when he took it out of the trunk, and it smashed into the glass.
I had parked my bike in front of it without noticing it was already broken. I stewed over it for a week.
I have a face I make when I’m guilty. Or think I’m guilty. I’ve tried to get rid of it, but it’s apparently permanent, so I know what Evander sees. “Nothing?” I repeat.
“Let’s sit down.” Evander takes my hand and leads me over to the desk chair in the alcove.
I sit under the sunny painting with the mushrooms and the amazing mountains. At least I’m going to be fired in a nice setting. I’ll have to get some pictures of this painting, NDA be damned. I want to know who painted it. And why it’s here in a room full of masterpieces by well-known artists.
“I’m getting canned?” I ask.
“Fuck, no. No . . . no, no . . . That’s not what I mean, Raine.
Damn, it’s happened. I’ve been around Kieren long enough to turn into him.
I’m sorry, love. No, quite the opposite.
This is fantastic.” He waves his hands at the large room behind us.
“Honestly, I can’t believe we’ve waited this long to do something with our art.
What you’re doing is superb. Thank you.” He reaches for my hand but stops short.
“And how you handled Kieren? Chef’s kiss.
Although he’s going through some shit. But it’s good for him to be reminded that he’s not always the one in charge. Well done.”
That makes me feel better, but still . . . what would we need to talk about? “So . . . what is this about?”
The door in the main room jerks open. “Evander,” Roark says, his tone deep.
I want to flatten myself against the wall. This is about what happened in the car. Then Roark moves and Kieren appears from behind the wall of dark-haired male. He’s not small, but anyone compared to Roark . . .
“I’m sorry. I know you said tomorrow . . . I wanted to see the— Whoa. This is amazing,” Kieren says.
“I didn’t do much. It’s the installers, not me.” I cross my arms over my chest. I want to stand, but Evander’s knees are inches from mine, so I’d be standing against him.
“I’d love to see what you’ve done so—” Kieren stops and stares at the painting above my computer.
I look from him to the painting that’s holding his attention. “What do you know about this artist?”
“Um, nothing. I . . . That painting was here when the three of us moved in. It used to hang in the—”
“—hallway,” Evander says.
Roark’s frowning. Kieren and Evander are lying. I have no idea why. Why would I care where it was hanging?
“It’s interesting. I like it. The mountains are so realistic. But then the mushrooms in the valley are so whimsical, it’s like I expect to find a gnome walking through the mushrooms.”
“Gnome.” Evander slaps his leg. “You have a really good imagination. That’s funny—gnomes.”
Now Roark’s scowling.
“I don’t know everything, do I?” I ask Roark.
There’s a grunt from him. “There’s lots of interesting things hidden in the universe, Duchess.”
“Gnomes?” I stare up at the painting. “Really? I . . .” My hands are clasped over my upper thigh.
Part of me wants to show them my tattoo.
But that’s not really something you just whip out and show your bosses.
It’s not exactly in the most demure location.
“I love gnomes. My grandmother had this book of drawings that I spent hours looking at . . . gnomes. That would be cool.”
“Fucking cun—” Roark mumbles under his breath.
“What?”
“Not you, Duchess.” Roark looks away from the painting. “Raine’s sister is coming to visit. When did you say again?” It’s a not so clever ploy to change the subject.
“Friday night. She’ll have to leave Saturday night to head back to Zurich,” I say while getting sandwiched between Evander and Roark.
Personal space has gone out the window. Actually, I don’t know that it ever existed in the first place.
Kieren though? He’s standing back, his serious blue eyes glued to me.
He’s serious, so serious. “Right. Well, she wants to explore the village with me. I hope you don’t mind.
Leo said I could take some time off. I worked all of—”
“You should take all day off. Actually, you should take off tomorrow morning and scout out what you want to show your sister. I’ll come with you. I know a thing or two about the village,” Kieren says.
“Are you sure? You must have a lot to do.” And the townsfolk, or at least the rideshare driver I had, seemed to be terrified of Cloud Rift. But now I’m guessing it’s not the castle but its owner he was afraid of.
“I would love to. I owe it to you.”
I run my hand over the cabinets. I’d really like to be here when the rest of them go in. But what’s here is done perfectly. “I suppose I’d just be in the way here. And it would be nice to know where to take Wren for the best things to see and do.”
“Wren?” Kieren asks.
“Yeah, my parents like being original with names. Just names, though. They gave us names you could never find on keychains and then expected us to be nurses and accountants. Nothing wrong with either. I have a good friend from high school who’s an accountant, but she’s always loved numbers.
Me? I was good at math. I didn’t like it, but I was good at it. ”
“Evander’s good at math,” Roark says. “Best in the class at the academy.”
“Really?” I don’t mean to sound shocked, but I do.
“What, love? I know it’s hard to imagine: good looks and brains.
But what can I say? I’m the full package.
” Evander breaks out into an easy smile that has things firing around my body.
Normally, when a guy is that cocky, it turns me off.
But there’s something about the way he says it that comes off so genuine, it’s endearing.
“You’re full of something.” Roark smacks Evander’s arm. “Good night, Duchess.” Roark bounds out of the collection hall.
“All right. I need to get some sleep. I’ve got a lot of supervising to do in the morning.
” Evander leans in to me and kisses my cheek and then the other.
He smells of almonds and musk, and I want to hold my cheek against his.
“Come on, Kieren. If you’re going to be a tour guide in the morning, I need to chat with you for a few minutes.
” Evander loops his arm through Kieren’s and pulls him out of the room.
“See you in the morning,” is all I get out before the door closes behind them.
It leaves me empty and full at the same time.
Empty because they are such a trio. I’ve heard of yin and yang before.
Two sides. But they are such a trio. Roark’s hard but empathetic.
Evander’s funny but smart. Kieren’s serious and .
. . methodical. Methodical is the part that I’m not sure of .
. . It could be a good thing or not. I guess I’ll find out in the morning.
I close the cabinet. A morning off before all the real work starts doesn’t sound like such a bad thing. Then I glance at the stack of paintings I was cataloging and had moved off to the side last night. I could do a little tonight . . .