Page 13 of Blood and Magic (RBMC: Helena, MT #2)

Maeve

T he next morning, I showered and dressed before I went downstairs for breakfast. Which was fortunate because I rounded the corner to see Mill sitting in the same spot as the day after the wedding, his hat on the table, his hands around a mug of coffee.

“Morning,” he drawled, raking his gaze over my jeans and boots and back up again.

I’d planned to go riding before my first appointment. My rides with Molly brought me the only solace I’d managed to find in the days stuck here. Despite being sober for over a week now, my head still pounded like I was hungover. I figured the fresh air and the wind in my hair would do me some good.

“Breakfast again? Lucky me.” I blew out a pretentious whistle and sat at the place opposite him. “Should I plan to have you join me tomorrow, or do you enjoy the spontaneity of surprise intrusions?”

His stoic expression almost cracked as he took a drink of coffee.

I ignored the pang in my chest at the sight of his tousled dirty-blond hair and those dark eyes capable of piercing even my strongest attempt at apathy. This strange pitter-patter in my chest that always happened around him didn’t mean anything. It was just some deranged holdover from childhood.

Ellen poured my coffee and asked what I wanted to eat. I ordered the same thing I always did before returning my attention to the Bastard on the other side of the table.

“To what do I owe the great honor of your dour presence?”

“Our perimeter was breached last night,” he explained. “It seems your sister’s former fiancé didn’t appreciate being stood up.”

That got my attention. “The Scorpions were here?”

He nodded and leaned forward, putting his elbows on the table. I glanced down at his hands—such strong hands, likely capable of terrible, delectable things.

“We picked them up on the security cameras around seven yesterday,” he explained. “We need to take extra precautions.”

“Such as?”

“Well, if you’re planning on riding”—he gestured to my outfit—“you’ll need to take an escort. And stay out of the woods.”

“Volunteering for that position?” I grinned at his scowl.

“I’m supposed to be preparing the cattle drive next week,” he said. “But your safety is a higher priority.”

That surprised me, and a quick pang of alarm went down my spine. “My safety? What exactly is going on?”

Mill cleared his throat. “The president of the Bloody Scorpions threatened you. He seems to think he’s owed a Vanderbilt daughter, and it doesn’t matter which one.”

The text.

Realization dawned on me, hitting me square in the chest.

“I got a random message from a number I don’t know,” I explained, reaching for my phone. I unlocked it, pulled up the message, and placed it on the table between us. “Do you think this is him?”

Mill read through the messages, his eyes darkening as his eyebrows dropped into a deeper scowl. “You shouldn’t have responded to him.”

“I didn’t know who it was,” I said. “I thought it might have been Sol or Galahad or…”

He made a noise that sounded like a growl before tapping the screen.

“Hey! Stop that. What are you doing?” I stood to snatch my phone, but he twisted away, causing me to nearly fall across the table. “Give it back.”

“Who’s Lennon?” he snarled.

I finally grabbed it and yanked it away from him. “Just some guy.”

“Some guy?” He didn’t sound pleased about that, and I wondered what else he’d seen when he’d been nonconsensually fingering my data. “Why does he think it’s okay to ask you to send him nudes?”

I scoffed and locked my phone, placing it face down. “What’s it matter to you?”

“I don’t like the thought of random men traipsing through here,” he said. “If you’re going to have company, you need to let me know.”

I balked like he’d slapped me, opening my mouth in shock. “That’s none of your?—”

“Your safety is my business,” he said. “Do you plan to have company anytime soon?”

I hadn’t seen Lennon in almost a year, and his incessant request for nudes said more about him as a fuckboy than it did about whether I’d actually sent him any.

I was Maeve Vanderbilt. All it would take was one doxxing accident for those photos to be plastered all over the internet. I wasn’t an idiot.

“No,” I said, crossing my arms. Ellen chose that moment to return to the dining room with my breakfast, setting it down on the table in front of me.

She glanced at Vermillion before looking back at me with a questioning glance, perhaps silently asking if I needed help. I shook my head and waved her away.

My confirmation that random men didn’t just come traipsing through my house seemed to please him, and his features softened.

“I’ve already moved my things into the guest room next to your bedroom,” he said. “Per Guin’s insistence.”

That astounded me, a surge of both exhilaration and frustration rattling through my nerves. “What?”

“We agree that you need protection,” he said. “She can’t make it up here for a while, and we can’t have you alone in the house.”

“Don’t I get a say in this?” I didn’t like that my sister had decided the best course of action for me without my agreement or involvement.

He tilted his head to the side and narrowed his eyes. “Is there a problem?”

I shifted my shoulders, ignoring the anticipation brewing in my gut.

Part of me relished having him so close, all to myself, for the foreseeable future.

The other part of me, the side very aware that he didn’t like me the way I’d once adored him, revolted.

When I couldn’t sleep, I liked to relieve my anxiety in ways that would be very audible to someone in the next room.

I should have taken more time to argue with him. Instead, I wanted to show him up, to prove that I didn’t care for him or any of this business, that it didn’t impact me in the slightest. I was above it all.

“No,” I said. “Fine.”

“Fine,” he agreed. “For now, you stay by my side. Or rather, I stay by yours.”

“Don’t you have work to do?” I gestured to the field out behind the house. “Aren’t you supposed to be Orion’s replacement?”

“Precisely. But Sol and Orion work side by side all the time.” He nodded, stood, and put his hand on his head. “If you have business, I suggest you bring your laptop to the barn.”

“The barn?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. How did he expect me to get anything done out there? “I’m running an empire here. I can’t have the sounds of bleating sheep and whining horses in the background of my meetings.”

He licked his lips and grinned, a rare sight for someone normally so withdrawn and angry. “You’re a smart girl. You’ll figure it out, won’t you?”

Mill rounded the table and headed toward the front door.

“Eat your breakfast,” he said. “If you want to ride, I’ll meet you in the stables in thirty minutes.”

When the door shut behind him, I tried to ascertain if it was his audacity or his commands that bothered me more.

You’re a smart girl.

You’ve been a naughty girl.

Baby girl, you deserve to be punished.

The versions of him bled together and, as I choked back my eggs and nursed my headache with caffeine, I told myself my subconscious was playing tricks on me.

It was only because of the proximity that this sudden fascination with him had reemerged.

I’d known him for nearly two decades, but he was a relative stranger now.

“Get yourself together, girl,” I murmured, shaking my head as I finished eating. “He’s just a man, just a stupid, stupid man.”

Annoyed with the whole thing, I grabbed my phone to call Guin. She didn’t answer, so I left her a voicemail.

“What the hell is this about Mill staying in the house with me?” I said. “Just because you and Sol have made nice with the local motorcycle gang doesn’t mean I want him sleeping six feet away. Call me back.”

I knew my sister. If she deigned to return the call, the argument likely wouldn’t go in my favor. She’d inherited our father’s stubborn, bullheaded attitude, and the rest of us had to live with the consequences.

But when I met him in the stables, I had difficulty reminding myself of that. He stood next to Molly, scratching her favorite spot behind her ears while she whinnied and chuffed in pure bliss.

No, I would not be jealous of my horse…even if I did want him to itch some of my most desperate scratches.

Enough.

He wore his Royal Bastards MC cut and a pair of denim jeans that rivaled the ones I’d seen him in while breaking the stallion. He had on a black flannel underneath with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows, exposing his muscular forearms and hands.

Such masculine arms—veiny and long and... I cleared my throat to stop that train of thought.

“Don’t let it go to your head,” I said. “She’s an attention whore.”

Vermillion turned to face me and smirked. “Like her favorite human?”

I put my hands on my hips and pretended to be offended. “How dare you? I’m an attention slut. There’s an obvious difference.”

He laughed and went to the stable next to Molly’s, retrieving a gelding named Rusty, who had been rescued from a horrible human who left him alone to starve.

My father may not have had many admirable qualities, but he did have a soft spot for animals, especially if he thought he could rehabilitate them and eventually make a profit.

Fortunately for Rusty, my father had died before he could be sold, and now, the horse was a permanent fixture on Vanderbilt Ranch.

I hooked a foot in the stirrup and climbed into the saddle, adjusting my hips to sit the way I preferred.

“Hey, girl,” I cooed to my horse, rubbing the same spot. “Don’t go getting attached. He’s a Bastard, and we only tolerate them, okay? We don’t actively like them.”

“Hmm,” Vermillion said when he strolled out, already on top of Rusty. “After you.”