Chapter Thirty
ROUX
We had all morning to sleep in, and for once, my inner alarm clock didn’t go off at five a.m. I slept until six, then spent a full hour basking in bed. Bene had always claimed that counted as an activity, and I’d always scoffed. But now…
Well, maybe lions weren’t as stupid as I’d thought.
I basked and basked, thinking about the past life-changing weeks. I even glanced around, deciding where to put my few belongings. When I slipped out of bed, it was only for a quick trip to the toilet and to light a fire in the fireplace.
When I turned back to the bed, I found Gen peeking at me. She patted my ass as I slid back into bed.
“Sorry. Couldn’t help admiring my favorite view.”
I wrapped my hands around hers and locked them at my chest. “This is my favorite.”
She smiled, gazing into my eyes. “Sleep well?”
I nodded. “So well, I slept in.”
“Seven does not count as sleeping in,” she declared, pulling me back under the covers.
We spent a good hour there, and only a few seconds of that were devoted to talking.
Eventually, we forced ourselves out of bed, taking advantage of the last warmth of the fire to dash to the bathroom for a shower.
Gen held a hand under the water, testing the temperature. “Sorry. It takes forever to run warm here.”
“Not as long as it takes upstairs in the west wing,” I observed.
Gen grinned. “Number one reason to move in with me down here?”
I shook my head. “Like I said, you could live in a shack with no bed or running water, and I would be there with you, loving every minute.” Then I smiled. “But, yes. Warm water has its advantages.”
An advantage we made full use of, showering for much longer than my usual three minutes.
“What?” Gen asked, picking up on my thoughts when we toweled off.
I shot her a weak smile. “Sleeping in, then taking a long shower. I’m definitely getting soft.”
She play-smacked my stomach. “Nothing soft there, mister.” Then she glanced down and winked. “No asparagus effects either.”
I caught her in my towel. “If this relationship is going to work, we’re going to have to ban Bene’s bad jokes from the bedroom.”
“We’re in the bathr—” she started, all snarky.
I cut her off with a kiss, then mumbled, “Bathroom too.”
It was only meant to be a quick kiss, but one led to another and another, and we would have landed back in bed if the in-house bell system hadn’t ring just then — the only part of the chateau’s 1930s wiring in that still worked reliably.
I groaned. “If that’s Bene ruining a perfectly good morning with a call to breakfast, I’ll kill him.”
Gen patted her stomach. “I could eat, though.” Then she grimaced. “But I’m not looking forward to the teasing.”
“Let them tease,” I declared, grabbing my clothing.
And tease they did, especially Bene.
He cracked a huge, theatrical yawn when Gen and I entered the dining room, then made a show of checking the clock.
“Oh, look who’s last to breakfast,” he announced. “And who’s coming to breakfast with whom.”
“Oh, leave them alone, Bene.” Mina chided.
“He’s just jealous,” Gen said, making a show of kissing me.
Bene shook his head sadly. “It’s true. I’ve been secretly lusting after Roux for years, and now I’m heartbroken.”
“So heartbroken, you’ve eaten almost all the bacon?” Mina challenged.
“I’m drowning my sorrows,” he declared.
I sat in my usual place and poured myself a cup of coffee. I was going to need it with this gang.
“You need to add an item to your job list,” Marius told Mina. “Better sound insulation for the east wing.”
Gen blushed but shot back, “Finally, you noticed.”
Mina pointed to Marius. “Any noise we make is his fault.”
He flashed her a wolfish grin, not at all repentant. “Your fault.”
I buttered my toast, channeling all the Zen I could muster.
“You should add better noise insulation for the benefit of us in the west wing too,” Bene threw in.
“Which you have all to yourself now,” Mina pointed out.
Bene waggled his eyebrows. “Lots of space for company.”
Henrik looked up from reading the newspaper in his usual corner, disgusted by the level of conversation. The paper was probably a week old, but current events had a different meaning when a guy lived for centuries.
A pang of sorrow hit me — a rare thing to feel for Henrik. To live that long without ever finding your true love, or worse — finding and losing her… No wonder the guy was permanently downcast.
I put a hand on Gen’s thigh, resolving to treasure every moment we had together.
Bene studied Gen and me. “Wait. How serious is this? Don’t tell me I’ll have to share the woods with two tigers instead of one.”
“All 120 acres,” Mina muttered. “Poor baby.”
“Once our contract ends, you can leave any time you want.” Marius pointed out.
“I will, believe me,” Bene retorted.
“You can’t leave, Bene!” Mina admonished.
“Not with that coffee machine, at least,” Marius grumbled, unmoved.
“That beauty is mine, buddy,” Bene growled.
“Bene can’t leave. He’s like family.” Gen sided with Mina.
“Yes, like a really annoying younger brother,” I muttered.
Henrik nodded silently, then gazed out the window, and I wondered about the family he must have outlived by several centuries.
Another argument against eternal life, if you asked me.
“Just wait. I’ll leave a hole in your lives when I’m gone,” Bene declared, then gestured to me. “Pass the eggs, brother.”
I passed the platter without comment.
“You have another week of my fine company,” Bene said through open-mouth chewing. “Then I’ll be out of here.”
“And how terribly we’ll miss you,” Henrik deadpanned.
Mina shot Gen an alarmed look that said, Please tell me Henrik isn’t staying.
Gen frowned back, and I sensed her thinking of the pendant he’d given her. As long as she had that, she and Mina could feel relatively safe, if not free of his company.
My inner tiger snarled. Relatively safe?
Well, I would be around to make that a one-hundred-percent guarantee.
“And what are your plans, Henrik?” Mina asked, picking her words carefully.
He barely looked up from the newspaper. “Time will tell.”
The thing was, she couldn’t evict him. Henrik had rented the caretaker’s cottage on the edge of the chateau grounds — a place that had been sold decades earlier and was now in the hands of an absentee landlord.
It had been empty for years, but Henrik seemed comfortable enough there to stay for a while.
Not an idea any of us relished, even if he had saved our asses in Switzerland by alerting us to the vampires’ arrival.
“And your plans, Roux?” Mina asked in a more encouraging tone.
I looked at Gen, who blushed.
Stay. The longer, the better, she whispered into my mind.
“Better watch out,” Bene warned. “When a cat settles in, it’s hard to get rid of him.”
“Who says I want to get rid of him?” Gen retorted. “Or, wait. Are you talking about yourself?”
Bene wagged a finger at her. “Oh, I see through you, lady. You’re just after my coffee machine.”
I sipped from my mug, then nodded. So did Marius.
Bene snorted. “You know you’ll miss me when I’m gone.”
“We’ll try to,” Marius muttered.
Mina kept her eyes on me, reminding me of her question.
“Um, I’d like to stay a while,” I said as evenly as I could.
Forever, I added, saving that part for Gen’s mind only.
She flashed me a radiant smile, and Mina grinned knowingly.
“So this is a long-term thing,” she observed.
“Of course it is,” Bene filled in. “I could see it coming from miles away. But I see advantages in this for all of us.”
“Advantages?” I growled.
Bene nodded cheerily. “Like you relaxing a little, champ. Maybe even letting the rest of us sleep in occasionally.” He laughed at Gen’s expression. “If he does, you get full credit. If he doesn’t, we’ll blame it on him.”
“How is everything always my fault?” I protested.
Bene smirked. “Because you’re in charge, buddy. But not for long, so enjoy it while you can.”
Gen’s eyes sparkled. “You want to tell them, or should I?”
“Tell us what?” Mina asked.
Everyone looked over.
I finished my toast, drawing out the suspense.
“Tell us what?” Bene insisted.
I flicked the crumbs from my fingers and took another sip of coffee.
“He’s torturing us on purpose,” Bene muttered.
“Payback for all the bad jokes,” Marius commented.
Absolutely. I dragged it out a little longer, then came out with the news.
“Gen talked Gordon into ending our contracts immediately.”
Bene looked delighted. Henrik, indifferent. Marius, suspicious.
“How?”
I shrugged. “She’s just that brilliant.”
“I am — sometimes,” she agreed. Then she turned to Mina. “Oh. I told Gordon you’d help draw up an addendum to that effect. You know, since he lost his assistant,” she added snidely.
“Fucking Celeste…” Marius muttered.
Gen gave him a sharp look. “Don’t speak ill of the dead.”
“Well, rest in peace and all that,” Bene muttered, not too sincerely. “Now, back to our contracts… How did you convince Gordon?”
“Gen could convince the Pope to convert,” Mina assured him.
Gen laughed. “I don’t know about that. And as for Gordon…
He wasn’t too pleased to get Dad’s painting back without the frame, though he wouldn’t admit what he was really after.
So I called it mission accomplished and reminded him about that bonus he offered.
I even argued that everyone deserved ten thousand each… ”
“I definitely did.” Bene patted his chest.
Marius snorted. “Do you mean the moment you got zapped by the magic spell or the time you got hauled away in the back seat of a car?”
Bene frowned. “Okay, not my best moment. But that magic hurt, man.”
Gen patted his shoulder. “I’m sure it did.”
“Couldn’t you have negotiated to split €10,000 between us?” Bene persisted.
Marius shook his head. “No way would Gordon pay up.”
Gen nodded. “That’s what I figured. This way, you get a clean break without him dragging things out indefinitely.”
Mina walked over to where she’d left her laptop. “I’ll send him the addendum right now.”