1. Ava #4
“He’s still infatuated with you,” Lycan said, reaching across the divide between us to gently brush my index finger, sending a quiver through my body. I shouldn’t like his touch on me as much as I did.
“No, he’s not,” I said. “He’s married with three kids and—”
“His wife was your best friend,” he said. “And the way he looks at you…” Lycan cleared his throat, his gaze turning distant, his thoughts seemingly drifting off. “Trust me, I know the feeling.”
I forced a smile before looking out the window. “In any case, I’ll wait until he sends me his proposal before we schedule time with him. He needs this as much as we do.”
By the time we finished the endless meetings and agreed the CEO needed to go, we were back in the limo on our way to the hotel.
I could barely hold my eyes open, and I thanked the fates we had the night off.
Lycan escorted me back to my room, Locust did his security sweeps, and then we parted for the evening with plans to regroup tomorrow.
A few hours later, I still hadn’t heard back from Maeve.
I started to think I should call off the rest of the trip and head home early so I could see her myself.
I sat in front of my mirror to do my skincare routine, debating whether to call Guin before deciding to give Maeve one more shot. She answered on the second ring.
“Finally,” I said. “I’ve only been trying to reach you for days.”
“Sorry,” she said. “I’ve been busy.”
I froze, that nauseating suspicion creeping up my esophagus.
For the few weeks before I left, Maeve and I believed our sisters, Sol and Guin, were keeping something important from us.
Perhaps it had to do with why Sol had married the vice president of the Royal Bastards so quickly after meeting him.
Maeve had thought she was pregnant. I thought she was being young and dumb.
Whatever it was, they communicated in knowing looks and hushed tones that set off alarm bells in my mind.
Now, Maeve’s tone and clipped response raised a red flag. What the hell was going on while I was here? Could she have had another episode? Was she in the hospital right now and didn’t want to worry me?
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Nothing,” Maeve said—an obvious lie. My twin telepathy sounded a fire alarm, and I ached to locate the source. “It’s just this corporate hellhole I’m drowning in.”
“Okay.” I was not convinced.
“How are things with you?” Maeve asked, clearly shifting the attention to me. “How’s Lycan?”
She said his name like she thought we’d spent the last few weeks in a lust-crazed stupor.
“Lycan is perfectly professional.”
He was, even to the point of my own embarrassment. I shouldn’t have invited him in. I shouldn’t have allowed him to hint that things were more between us, even if it flustered Scott and beautiful, pregnant Bea.
“Uh-huh.” Now, Maeve was the one unconvinced. “Have you found a French lover?”
She knew me better than that, but she never hesitated to tease me about it.
“Maeve.” I laughed, chiding her insistence that I loosen up and take life by the horns.
I asked about the ranch and how things were going Stateside.
The company was in shambles, and despite our close ties with the local PD, they were starting to circle us like sharks.
Twelve missing people raised alarm flags, even if they’d never found their bodies.
It made my work here even more important.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” I asked again, certain I’d heard a twinge of agony and regret in her voice.
“Yes, don’t worry about me. Just do us both a favor and get laid, okay?”
I scoffed and rolled my eyes. “Yes, I’ll move it right to the top of my priority list.”
“Good. Love you.”
“Love you,” I replied before I hung up. I sat back in the seat and drummed my fingers on the armrest. Yes, she was definitely keeping something from me, and her insistence that I not worry about it only increased my concern.
My skin itched with something else, like it was too small for my body, and my head ached as a chill wracked my muscles. I chalked that up to an exhausting trip on no sleep and decided to get ready for bed.
After applying my moisturizer, fixing my hair, and slipping into silk pajamas, I stepped into my slippers and poured lotion on my hand.
I’d used the same brand for years, but that night, it hit me differently.
It swam through my nose and pierced the space between my eyebrows, almost like a lance had stabbed me in the forehead.
I winced and placed it on the dresser, waving the air in front of me to clear it out. I almost jumped into the shower to wash it off, but I didn’t want to do the whole process again, and it didn’t matter anyway.
Just as I was about to crack open a new bottle of wine, three knocks echoed from the door.
Knowing I had a security detail for a reason, I grabbed my phone and padded lightly to the entry, peering out the peephole to see Lycan standing there with his hands in his pockets, now dressed casually in jeans and a T-shirt.
I snorted and opened the door. “Well, hello.”
“Hey.” His answering grin made his eyes sparkle. “How about that rain check?”