Chapter Eleven #2
All of her ex’s appeared to want only segments, part of Gigi, not the whole woman. Dating a billionaire had been exciting for half a moment until it became apparent Jordan really only wanted her recipes to shore up the failing dessert division of his food empire.
And here Nico was, clearly a big supporter and appreciative of all her hard work and planning. But seemingly at the expense of the woman. Why, just once, couldn’t a man see and want the whole package?
The effects of cupid’s arrow should be wearing off soon. Especially when the cupid got it wrong and there was no real attraction to base anything upon. The man was anti-love. And Gigi had sworn off any man who failed to appreciate every aspect of her, even the occasional screw up.
Yeah. Any old minute the arrow’s effects should be dissipating.
Still, she found her gaze dropping to his lips, recalling the kisses they had shared.
They had been good. Hot even, on her personal scale.
But just goes to show that two wrong people can bring the heat but not in any way be right for each other.
Although, passing the time kissing would be much more preferable than listening to Nico spout on endlessly about her planning and marketing skills.
So sue her, his lips, that chest, all those muscles and for some unknowable reason, those darn bare feet of his, they made her want to explore other options with Nico than talking to pass the time.
Which made her a very bad person indeed.
Here he was, trying to be true to his own personal code of conduct, being a gentleman even and not laying a finger on her, and Gigi found herself tempted to discover what would happen to his impressive self-control if she just leaned in and pressed her lips against his.
Thankfully, before she could make a complete idiot of herself, the heavy double doors burst open, the sneering security guard that had greeted them upon their arrival rushing in, followed by a pixie clean-up crew.
Oh, thank Heavens, the cavalry had arrived to prevent Gigi from making a complete fool of herself.
* * *
Walking into the living area, fresh from the shower, dressed in a cream sweater and matching lounge pants, because she just couldn’t seem to get warm anymore, Gigi gave a brooding and glaring Nico - who was staring out at the gathering rain clouds above the ocean as if they were a personal affront to him - a slap up the side of the head.
Swooping up the waiting glass of red wine and taking a seat on the lounge across from him, her back to the ocean view.
“Hey.”
“Snap out of it, Yanez. No, do not apologise again. You have nothing to apologise for.” That dark glare now directed Gigi’s way. She found herself smiling. “Let it go. Nothing happened. You said nothing untoward. Though if I ever need a business referee, I know who to ask.”
“If you hadn’t wielded my fly shut I would have stripped naked.”
“But I did. And you didn’t. We’ve been through this.” At least three times now. “You did a bit of light stalking, gave me the heated come hither look and waxed lyrical about what an awesome small business owner I am.”
“I just.” Nico couldn’t seem to let it go.
“I hate being manipulated emotionally. You have no idea of how wrong that arrow felt. Forced love, it kind of makes my blood boil. Yes. Yes. I need to let it go. The thing of it is, being under the arrow’s influence, it reminded me what it felt like being with Kristiah. ”
“How so?”
“She was very driven, and take charge. When we first met, I’d just turned twenty-one, she was older, beautiful, her interest in me was heady stuff.
Looking back it’s hard to know whether she seduced me because she was bored or just wanted an inside edge with the family.
I realise now that she was constantly pumping me for information on how my mother’s research into the wreck of the Maria Rosa was progressing.
Or querying how much more time my father would be willing to devote to the search. ”
“Just because she was using you doesn’t mean… oh.” Gigi smiled ruefully, she really couldn’t finish that sentence.
“Yeah, I don’t believe if you really love a guy that you would happily slaughter his closest friends and parents.
I was useful to her, plain and simple, that’s why she strung me along for so long.
Manipulating and distracting me with sex.
Constantly seeking confirmation of my feelings. That I adored her. That I loved her.”
“You were very young, I think you need to cut yourself a break.”
“No. Because if I’d only stopped for one second to look behind the facade, to question why I was the one always declaring my feelings, never her, perhaps that final day would never have happened.”
“Good Goddess. It must be in the Yanez bloodline. I’ve never met a group of people more determined to wallow in pain and take on responsibility for a tragedy that was set in motion by the Gods themselves.
Fate put your family in the crosshairs of Cum Hua, Ixchel and the rest of their buddies who make up this Cabal of idiots intent upon taking over the Earth. ”
“You get feisty when you drink red wine.” Nico pointed out, the edges of his lips lifting in a wry smile.
He couldn’t remember the last time someone had called him on his shit.
It was refreshing. Not pleasant, but maybe something he needed in his life.
Someone to point out when he was wallowing in the should haves.
“You’re welcome.” Damn, though she couldn’t blame Nico for his trust issues.
After all, Kristiah had turned out to be a half hybrid Jaguar minion, working as an agent for nefarious Gods and an asshole human-sacrificing priest. A woman who’d killed his parents, his friends, and set in motion Matias’s decade long mental health issues, along with sending Copper time travelling, trapping her in the past.
Yeah, his ex really did have a lot to answer for.
But for Nico to still give Kristiah so much influence over his actions and potential happiness, that he intended to avoid even a hint of love in his life, that was wrong in so many ways.
Understandable though. But it was important to remember he wasn’t Gigi’s responsibility to fix.
But she could be his friend, couldn’t she?
Slap him up the side of the head when he got too broody and focused on the past.
“We need to discuss the events of the party. Decide if there’s anything useful we saw or heard and pass it on to Cullen.”
“Well, those cherubs for a start. They were all being controlled by one person. The way they came after us. Turned their heads. Blinking in unison.”
“I overheard one of the guests comment on how extra sparkly gold they were looking. And the two I sprayed with taffy, both were rocking a little gold earring. I don’t know about the others.”
Nico clicked his fingers. He always noticed precious metals. “Yes, all of them, in their right ears. Shaped like carnations. Which have long been considered the symbol for adoration.”
“You’re thinking whoever sent Aploonius, and the other formerly golden dude was also the one controlling the cherubs?”
“The extra gold makeover. Their actions. The earrings. It makes sense. You know, more and more I’m thinking these trinkets are some kind of shackle or handcuff.”
“Yes, some type of conduit through which our curse maker transforms and controls their subjects.” Gigi frowned. “Do you think the cupids were at the party just to cause chaos?”
“How do you mean?”
“Well, they’re the ones that started the fight. Riling up the Gods and Goddesses. Shitting hyped up pure glittery love with a capital L over everyone. Basically they instigated that fight, since it seems even Gods aren’t immune to the darker aspects of love.”
“So? That’s what cupids do. Although I stupidly thought they only fired off arrows. Hit by cupid’s shit doesn’t really have the same Hallmark ring to it, does it?”
“No. You don’t understand. Their arrows only open the door to true love, producing endorphins and a heap of other feel good emotions.
If there’s a genuine lasting attraction involved people can choose to build on that base or ignore it.
But the liquid excrement they were strafing everyone with, that was all-consuming dark Love.
The kind that people wage wars over. Or happily hand over all their life savings with no questions asked.
We’re talking jealousy, desperation, rage, devotion, worship. ”
“Bloody Gods. How do you know this though?” Love, it always came back to fucking love. No good ever came of it.
“Canary. He ate some of the droppings, pulsed crimson red and then promptly exploded.”
“Well, shit.” It seemed an appropriate response.
“There’s something else you should know. You’ve been infected by it, dark love. Twice now I’ve seen you touch Canary and he’s glowed the same vivid crimson colour for just a nano-second. The first time was at the meeting with Aunt Lucy. The second time in Gaia’s kitchen.”
“That cursed ring. It’s typhoid Mary. So we have confirmation that everything is connected. But why did the cherubs blow up the party? Were they hoping Copper would get caught in the crossfire when they sent everyone insane with love?”
Nico was raising some good questions. Staring at him over the rim of her glass, annoyingly aware that the deepening shadows of the coming rain storm only made him look that much more erotic cover book hottie material, even in plain denim jeans and a white shirt.
Hmmm, how had he managed to get out of those trousers of his she’d ruined? Nope, not going there.
Gigi pondered instead the cursed ring, if it was a handcuff and a control conduit, it was failing to deliver on Nico. That had to be frustrating for the controller.
“With Elijah and Apep hovering over her the entire time it seems foolish to hope Copper might get hurt or dead in the general melee. Kind of a waste of some assets, if you ask me.”
“Maybe Copper was never the target, maybe you are.”
“Me? I’m no one.”
“Not true. You and I both had our businesses targeted by someone who wants to distribute a deadly toxin. All those attempts to infiltrate have gone awry. But the door is still open, with you, because of the ring. Especially if whoever is behind this knows you have it, but haven’t buckled under to its call yet.
What if they’ve switched things up and are now actively trying to recruit you? ”
“By getting a cherub to shit high powered crazy love on me?”
“Yes! Think about it. What if whoever is using the jewellery as control conduits knows you have the ring. You’ve been infected by it, we know that much.”
“But thanks to your presence I haven’t succumbed it.”
“True. But whoever is behind all this doesn’t know about my muting affect.
Maybe they think that all you need is a little push to send you over the edge.
But…” Gigi tapped the side of her wine glass in thought.
“That still doesn’t tell us why they let the cherubs flutter about harmlessly for a good five minutes or so before they activated them.
Unless a more overt attempt failed.” Gigi pulled her phone out her pocket, tapping on the link to the camera footage from the party.
“First attempt?”
“Hold on. Just let me…” She fast forwarded, then backtracked, frowned, and then rewound fast. Finally hitting the pause button, passing her phone over to Nico. “Do you recognise this woman?”
“No. Should I?”
“She doesn’t seem familiar? You don’t recall her trying to hit on you?”
Nico shrugged. “Not especially. I was kind of distracted. Those server nymphs kept making a bee line for Dionysus and Bacchus. I had to keep a pretty close eye on them ensuring they didn’t ignore the other guests.”
“Hit play.”
Nico complied, frowning down at the screen, watching as the dark haired Goddess, dressed in an almost diaphanous toga style dress tried to get his attention.
Thankfully he’d been polite, but clearly distracted as he cut her short.
Hhhmmm, watching as she reached out, trailing a finger across the back of his hand.
Him turning away abruptly, focusing on refilling a tray for a returning nymph.
A micro look rippling across the dark haired beauty’s features.
Nico paused the feed, rewinding it, this time concentrating purely upon her expression just after she touched him and he turned away. There, a ripple of shock.
“She expected something to happen when she touched me.”
“Yes. Also more interesting. When she arrived at the party, the cherubs arrived in her wake. I’m thinking they were her back up plan.
Maybe the fight was incidental and you were the cherubs’ shit target all along.
If her touch didn’t produce the desired results, she intended for the cherubs to love whammy you with their tainted shit.
Opening you up enough to the darker side of love for her to get her controlling hooks into you once and for all. ”
“Who is she? Any ideas?”
“No. But I’m sure Aunt Patricia will be able to find out. I’ll send her a screenshot and copy in Darcy and Elijah.” Gigi sent off the photo, raising her glass in Nico’s direction. “Cheers. I think we just found our first lead.”
“And yet it doesn’t feel like a win, does it?
The party was a disaster. We almost got our brains fried by some love bug infected cherubs.
And your pet bunny went kablooey. What’s up with the rabbit anyway?
The exploding? Coming back from the dead?
Is he like a zombie bunny or something? And that stuff he sprayed the cherubs with to bring them down, what the hell was that? And where did it come from?”
It wasn’t a secret, so Gigi filled Nico in on how Canary came into being and how the two of them could link and that she could retrieve anything he had previously digested with a thought.
“That is the coolest thing I’ve ever heard of. But having looked into the bunny’s mouth, it’s also the most disturbing.”
“You know what they say about looking into the abyss.”
“Yes. So, what’s our next step, partner?”
“We wait to hear back if anyone can identify our mystery Goddess. And I suppose we contact Faleph to find out if we’ve been fired. The next party is only four days away. That’s not a lot of time.”
“Fingers crossed then that we’ve been fired.”