78. Deacon
Chapter 78
Deacon
We didn’t make it out of bed last night for anything more than food. And now this morning, between meetings, Henri came upstairs to our home to look at the blueprints I have laid out on my desk, a piece of tracing paper over the top of my existing walls and bookcases.
“You’re serious about doing a full reno of your suite just to get me some space?” Henri looks so guilty. She chews on her bottom lip and looks around the space.
I pop down in my desk chair and open and close my hands, grabbing for her.
Henri walks over with a smile on her face, and my heart flutters.
With a sigh, she runs her hand through my hair.
“I’m absolutely positive. When I built my suite, it was custom made for just me and me alone. But it’s not just me—not anymore.”
“Correct. You are, as one would say, stuck with me.” She winks and then turns to look over at the floor plan. “Okay, so you like having your desk by the sliding glass door and your shelves of oddities in their own room.”
“I like having a window where I spend most of my time for some regulation of night and day. But it’s not necessarily a need for it to be the doors.” I shrug, moving over the floor plan of Cade’s suite from the floor below us. “Oddities can go anywhere. I can downsize my collection.”
“Well.” Henri looks at the two plans. “I’m keeping my office downstairs. It’s more accessible for everyone who needs to contact me, and I really don’t want people traipsing into our special place.” She pauses, looking at me. “I really liked when we were at the cabin in South Dakota. We got lost in our own little world. But you don’t have to get rid of your things to make room for me.”
I sit up straight and kiss her. “Best part about the third floor? Aside from cleaning and maintenance, we’re all by ourselves, and aside from the elevator and stairs, we have the whole west wing to work with.”
“Oooo. The west wing. How very royal.” Henri rolls her eyes. “So the bedrooms on both sides of the hall?”
“The other two are currently set up as guest bedrooms, but we could overtake them as needed.” I assure her.
She smirks and cocks a brow with a devious glint in her eyes. “So, if we have six kids, we could use them?”
That hits me with a jolt in the stomach. Fear and panic sink in a cool wave from head to toe. “Oh. Let’s not commit to six. I’d say two, max, so we’re not outnumbered.”
“Perfect compromise.” She smiles at me with a shit-eating grin.
“You just conned me into two, didn’t you?” I pull her down into my lap as she giggles, letting me nuzzle against her. “Fuck, it’s so easy with you around.”
“Same.” She rests her head against me. “Okay, so wish list: oddities storage, library, workspace for you, bigger bedroom with sitting area to watch TV.”
I pick up the pencil and get to work, moving around walls and spaces. Henri watches me, and I start by expanding our bedroom out, making room to sit and look out the large windows.
“Bathroom and closet are okay?” I ask.
“Yeah. You’ve got plenty of room for my stuff.” She muses, looking at her stomach like she’s expecting to see a bump. “When do we tell everyone?”
“Well, Finn knows, so Lena knows, which means Cade knows and Thalia knows.” I feel my face heat. “Finn found me kinda freaking out.”
“Awww.” Henri ruffles my hair.
Her happiness and smiles are contagious. They permeate my bones, relieving an ache of loneliness. I’m about to say something, but her phone starts going off.
It had been quiet all morning.
Dread fills my stomach, and I don’t know why.
She pulls it out, and with one glance, her jaw goes slack. Henri murmurs, “Oh no. No. No. No. No. No.”
I look over her shoulder, pulling the phone so I can read it.
Headline after headline:
James Alden, Pregnant Girlfriend?
Who is James Alden Buying Pregnancy Tests For?
Mystery Woman of James Alden?
A Cousin Grimm off the Market?
“Shhh.” I try to comfort her by running my hand up and down her back. “It’s me buying a pregnancy test. They can’t prove shit. This doesn’t have to come out right now. ”
She stands up and starts uncharacteristically pacing, running one hand back through her hair while the other holds her phone, thumb scrolling.
“Fuck,” she groans.
“What?” I stand up and move toward her.
“Ever get a message from Cade and think ‘I’m getting called to the principal’s office’?” She scrunches up her nose.
“Oh, yeah.” I sigh, not even bothering to look for my phone because whatever text she has, I’m sure I do too.
I follow Henri’s lead down the stairs.
“Library,” Cade sighs, opening the library door for us.
Henri eyes me and mouths, ‘I thought he knew.’
With a shrug, I do what I normally do when Cade’s pissed off. Pretend I care less than he does.
I pull a chair out from the table and kick my feet up onto it.
“Ew. No.” Lena scolds as she comes into the library a few seconds later, Finn barely two steps behind.
Giving her a massive eye roll, I pull my feet off the table and scoot the rest of the way into the table.
“Grabbing my computer and tablet,” Henri calls over her shoulder before heading to her office.
I move to stand, but Finn shakes his head and steps back out into the hall. Well, there goes the hope that this is about anything other than me.
My handler, Kyle, Cade’s personal assistant, Meaghan, and two of Henri’s assistants file in, and Henri brings up the rear.
Cade locks his gaze on me before he growls, “When the fuck were you going to tell me?”
“Depends on what we’re talking about.” I go on the passive defense.
“First of all, you have people openly threatening you online. Second, that you’re buying pregnancy tests.” He doesn’t cast Henri a sideways glance, but his muscles twitch like he wants to.
“First, that’s news to me.” I pause because my throat is scratchy as I swallow a growl. “Second, when it became your business.”
“Henri, how did we miss the death threats?” Cade’s voice and gaze aren’t any softer when he turns and speaks to her.
How dare he! My wolf rises at the way Cade is glaring at her.
I snarl at him, standing up from the table, my wolf ready to snap. “Don’t you fucking take that tone with her.”
The Leviathan rises in Cade’s eyes, and the look stalls my wolf, but it doesn’t curb my anger.
We could beat the piss out of him. My wolf doesn’t deny the fact that we’d probably lose, but the point would be made.
Cade is calculating. He looks between me and Henri before he softens and gives a nod.
“Apologize,” I growl at him.
“Fuck, if I knew you’d be this...” He laughs, fizzling off some of his tension.
It’s not funny, but maybe I’m being too sensitive.
He looks past me. “Henri, I’m sorry. You weren’t here when the death threats came in. You don’t deserve that. I’ll do better.”
“Accepted.” Henri’s voice is small.
I take my seat next to her and place my hand on her thigh.
She scrutinizes her staff, looking for an answer. Specifically, Kyle, and he crumples under her gaze.
He stammers, “Well . . . I was . . . You see . . . When you were . . .”
Cade’s gaze locks on him.
Poor bastard doesn’t stand a chance.
With a hard swallow, Kyle pulls at the collar of his shirt and manages to get words out. “I assumed they would stop because Deacon’s been out of the media for a while. Given Ansel’s issues, the threats against Deacon seemed like small potatoes.”
“Finn.” Cade doesn’t bother looking at his Second. “Tell Magnus I appreciate his assistance.”
“My pleasure.” Finn nods.
Lena and Finn came back from Ireland after her wedding five months ago, both sporting new black leather jackets. So it’s not a surprise that Cade and Magnus have struck some kind of deal that’s about to cover my social media manager’s issue.
The threat is going to end up terminated or, at a minimum, wishing they had been.
Since I’ve been kept out of the dark, I’m trying to piece together everything at once. Death threats against me. Magnus’s involvement in resolving them. The pregnancy test pictures leaked on the internet.
“Going forward.” Cade draws a deep breath and lets it out, calming himself down like he would instruct Thalia. “Let’s assume there is no such thing as a small death threat. I want it all logged. If you do not know how to log one, please ask for assistance.”