Page 23 of Blood and Magic (RBMC: Helena, MT #2)

Maeve

I sat in meetings with bureaucratic asshats all day, listening as they whined and complained about stock prices.

I tried to pay attention, I really did. But the look in Vermillion’s eyes when he climbed on top of me last night haunted me.

I traced it on a piece of notebook paper while the corporate bootlickers argued among themselves.

I was probably supposed to have an opinion about all this, but after the way he left me last night and his subsequent ghost act this morning, my headache had reached an all-time high.

I almost took today off. I probably should have.

“Maeve?” came the sound of one of my directors. “Any concerns with moving forward?”

I came off mute to say, “No concerns,” and returned to my drawing.

The day crept by at a glacial pace. I checked in with Ava, who was busy living her best Paris life, and I finally got a return call from Guin.

“I asked Mill to watch over you,” she said. “It’s for the best.”

“You could have said something,” I replied.

“Oh, so sorry I forgot to tell you my every waking move,” she said. “I’m busy running a multimillion-dollar empire here.”

I rolled my eyes and sighed.

“How is everything going?” she asked. “Any other signs of the Scorpions?”

“No,” I replied and explained Mill’s warning. “They’re poking at the perimeter, waiting for the right moment to strike. We’re playing it safe.”

“Good,” Guin said. “How are you? How are you feeling?”

“Fine, just stressed. I’ve had a headache for a few days, and I think I might be getting sick.”

Guin stayed silent.

“It’s nothing,” I continued. “I’m sure I’ll be okay in a few days. The ranch is fine. They’re moving the cattle out to the far pasture tomorrow and?—”

“You’ll tell me if you’re not feeling better by the day after tomorrow, right?” Guin sounded panicked, and for someone who typically presented a calm and bitchy front, that made me nervous.

“Of course,” I said. “Guin, what’s going on? I know you and Sol are keeping something from the rest of us.”

“We’re not,” she said. “It’s nothing you need to worry about. Just…get some rest, okay? I’ve got to go.”

“No, wait!” But she’d already hung up, and I inhaled deeply to calm myself when I put the phone down.

“That bad, huh?” came a voice from the door to my office.

Startled, I glanced up at the tall, hulking form leaning against the entry. He was nearly as tall as Mill with dark hair and bright blue eyes, almost as light as mine.

“Relax,” the man said, holding up his hands. “I’m Fenris. Mill sent me to check in on you. I guess you missed a text?”

“Oh,” I grumbled and went back to my laptop. “Right.”

“Are you okay?” Fenris pushed upright and crossed his arms, stepping into my office. “You don’t look like you’re getting assaulted by Scorpions.”

“Completely Scorpion-free here.” I raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you have better things to do than be Vermillion’s lackey?”

He snorted and shrugged. “Comes with the territory of being his friend, I’m afraid.”

That got my attention. “Oh? I wasn’t aware Mill had any friends. He seems like the quiet, loner type.”

“He didn’t always use to be,” Fenris said, wandering around the space while he glanced at the mementos and books on the shelves. “He had a near-death experience about six months ago that stopped his heart. When he came to, he was… different.”

“Aren’t we all,” I said, under my breath, “but you don’t see me ghosting people in the cold light of day.”

“Ah, so something did happen last night.” He laughed, which sparked some nascent hint of joy in my chest. “That explains his extra surly attitude this morning.”

“No,” I said, quickly realizing my mistake. “Nothing happened. I’m just a stupid, silly girl.”

“Hmm.” Fenris raised his eyebrows and walked back toward the door. “Well, seeing as you’re still alive and in one piece, I’ll head back to work. But do us both a favor and check in with him. He gets all agitated when you don’t.”

I shook my head. “I doubt he cares that much about me.”

“More than he would ever admit,” Fenris said before turning back to face me like an idea had suddenly occurred to him. “I can prove it to you.”

I raised an eyebrow. “What? How?”

He flashed a devil’s grin, mischief shimmering behind his eyes. “There’s a party tonight at the ranchers’ quarters. Stop by, and I’ll show you.”

“A party?” I didn’t know if I was in the mood for a party, and it always dampened the mood when the boss tried to hang out with the workers.

Fenris nodded. “Yeah. It would be nice for the guys to see you. Maybe get to know you a little.”

“I doubt Mill will be okay with that.”

Fenris shrugged. “Who cares what he thinks?”

I hummed and remembered the sounds I’d heard from my balcony every few nights for the past three weeks. More than once, I’d almost put on my boots to crash it but decided against it because I didn’t want to ruin their good time.

“I mean, it’s your house,” Fenris continued. “Your property. You hardly need an invite.”

I shook my head. “I would never intrude on the ranchers’ territory. I know I’m hardly welcomed.”

“You're not intruding.” Fenris furrowed his brows. “It’ll be good for them…and for you.”

“Are you sure?” I was still skeptical.

Fenris’s smile widened. “Positive. Besides, we’re family now. It’s time we start acting like it.”

I guessed that made sense. “Okay.”

He gave me a friendly smile and a wink before turning to leave, shouting over his shoulder, “Text that bully, or I’ll have to drag my sorry ass back up here.”

After the door shut downstairs, I glanced at my phone and pulled up Vermillion’s name. He’d given me the command this morning, and I’d only sent him one thumbs-up since. Now, I sent him an emoji with the eyebrow raised, suggesting I didn’t enjoy being babysat.

He didn’t respond.

I didn’t forget about Fenris’s invitation, and when Vermillion didn’t show up for dinner, I pushed my food around my plate and made up my mind.

We were family now, and it was time we started acting like it, so I went upstairs to put on my sluttiest pair of cut-off jeans and a white tank top.

I stuffed my feet into cowboy boots and took my time doing my makeup.

By the time I was done, I looked hot. My headache had subsided enough that I figured it must have been allergies, so I grabbed a bottle of my father’s most expensive scotch and headed across the backyard.

Sounds of a party in full swing echoed from the windows, and when I knocked on the door, I fully expected whoever answered to tell me to fuck off.

But when Fenris opened it with a big grin, he stepped aside and nodded.

“Glad you could make it,” he said. “Is that Lagavulin?”

“Yep,” I said, glancing around the space.

Bunks lined the walls, one in front of me and two in the corner to my right.

A kitchen area was in between the entrance and more bunk space in the back, and I rounded the corner to a central hangout spot with a card table set up in the middle and two long couches on either side.

A flatscreen sat on top of a console at the far end of the wall, currently playing an old black-and-white movie.

The conversation stopped when I got close enough, all eyes shooting in my direction.

Vermillion turned his head, my skin burning as he gazed down my body and back up again.

“Hey, now,” Fenris said, pushing past me to take the empty seat next to Mill. “Y’all said you wouldn’t deal until I got back.”

The brunette opposite Vermillion raised an eyebrow at me. “Well, don’t just stand there. If that’s whiskey, get the shots going.”

“It’s scotch,” I said, stepping toward them. Seven other men lingered around, three at the table and four more on the couches.

“Yeah, you uncultured swine,” Fenris said, rubbing a hand over the brunette’s mop of dark hair. “That’s a sipping drink, not a shooting drink.”

“It was my father’s favorite.” I snorted. “He was such a dick, and now he’s dead. So I guess you can do whatever you want with it.”

Everyone fell silent for a second before Fenris burst into laughter, causing the others to crack up as well. All except Mill, who had gone back to looking at everyone and everything except me.

“This is Columba,” Fenris said, gesturing to the brunette.

“I’m Aquila,” said the other person at the card table, a big man with hair the same color as Columba. They looked like they could be brothers.

“Poe,” said the last person at the table. “I was at the cabin with your sister last winter.”

“Right.” Sol had said he was standoffish at first, but he became one of her favorite people. They were still close.

“This is Holden, Ricky, Travers, and Smalls.” Fenris pointed to the guys sitting on the couches, who gave me a wave or a small salute.

I looked at the cards on the table. “What are we playing?”

“Hold’em,” Poe said. “Twenty-dollar buy-in.”

I loved poker. I remembered playing with my siblings during long summers, stuck here on the ranch. Being smack dab in the middle of the lineup meant I’d gotten good at swindling my siblings on either side out of their money.

“Can I play?” I walked to the table, grabbed an empty chair from the side, and pulled up next to Mill.

“Our table’s full,” he grumbled.

“Nonsense.” Completely ignoring him, I reached into my pocket, grabbed a random bundle of cash, and plopped it down in the middle of the table. “Twenty dollars. Deal me in.”

“Woo!” Fenris laughed and clapped Vermillion on the shoulder. “I like your style, Vanderbilt.”

Smiling as I sat, I pretended the rush of being so close to the man who’d worked me up last night didn’t affect me.

His masculine scent hit me in the face, and it meant nothing.

The warmth radiating off his body coiled around me, yanking me closer, and that, too, meant nothing.

This preternatural pull in my gut, tugging me to him, was just a game. A farce.

He didn’t want me.