Page 28

A n inspirit stood nearby as Richard raced into his cousin’s arms. While Maribeth was nearly three thousand miles from the Marwood mansion, neither Clark nor Gabriel allowed her to live without security. Her building was owned by the Marwoods and housed inspirits who worked at nearby properties.

But Richard didn’t care about any of that as he hugged one of his best friends.

“I was half expecting to see Lucas with you,” Maribeth said, kissing his cheek.

“I didn’t invite him, this trip is about us.”

“And?”

“And he would’ve said no if I asked because he won’t even let me call him while I’m here,” Richard complained. “I can text. Can you believe that shit?”

“What surprises me is that my dramatic cousin allows such behavior from their partner. Since when do you let anyone tell you what to do?”

Richard glared. “Maybe I’m not as awful as you think.”

“Give me your carry-on and say hello to Kevin,” Maribeth ordered.

With a roll of his eyes, Richard introduced himself to Kevin and refused to allow the man to get near his suitcase. The inspirit had been hired for his ability to guard people, not to cart luggage around an airport.

“We have a car waiting outside,” said Maribeth. “The minute we get to my place, we’re ordering food. I’m starving. What’d you have on the plane?”

“Chicken and rice, it was fantastic. But I can always eat.”

“We’ll have wine too.”

“Of course we will. I assume you have some.”

“Purchased just for you earlier today,” Maribeth said. They wove through the busy airport and, after stowing Richard’s things in the trunk of the car, piled into the backseat together. Kevin rode up front with their driver, which was probably for the best since Richard didn’t want to bore the man with their chit-chat. “So, how is our hunky Lucas?”

“Gorgeous. Sweet. Hung.”

Maribeth cackled. “He must be for my dear Richard to travel all this way and not immediately fill my ears with every reason he can’t be someone’s soulmate. You’ve spent years actively avoiding such a fate.”

“Lucas and I are building trust and growing our relationship.”

“Are you hopping on his dick?”

“We have sex.”

“Answer the question, Richard.”

“No, I haven’t hopped on his dick. He’s gentle and kind, but I don’t know. Nothing about being with him scares me, but I guess I’m not ready. Are you having sex?”

“Yes, I’m actively pursuing my soulmate again. Perhaps not with the gusto I did in Vegas, but I’m not chaste either.”

“As long as you’re trying, I won’t complain.”

“Has Lucas griped about the fact that you haven’t sat on his sausage?”

Richard rolled his eyes. “You have such a way with words. Seriously, what do you know about man sausage?”

“Not a damn thing, I’m a big fucking lesbian. Now, answer my question. Is Lucas complaining?”

“Lucas? No way. Like I said, he’s kind. Caring. Tender. Good with his hands. Even better with his magical mouth.”

“You’re blushing.”

“Shut up. It’s fantastic, okay? I took a hot man to bed, and it’s wonderful. No complaints.”

“Good. You deserve to have a gorgeous man playing with your man meat.”

“Why are you like this?”

Maribeth cackled as the car pulled to a stop in front of an elegant row house. She had sent Richard pictures, so he knew it housed a few condos. They exited the car and assured Kevin they were staying in for the night. Richard followed Maribeth up a flight of stairs, and she unlocked her front door.

Although Richard hadn’t known what to expect, he wasn’t prepared for Maribeth’s space. His cousin—with her love of fashion, interior design, and beauty in general—had a beige couch with a nondescript floor lamp next to it. Along one wall was a low cabinet with a TV.

“Mari, what the fuck is this? Did you call Gabriel to decorate this shit?”

“No, I haven’t focused on shopping for stuff. Follow me, put your stuff in the guest room.”

She led him to a small space with a double bed. The coverlet was black, and a set of matching towels were resting on it.

“There’s only one bathroom, so we’ll have to fight over it,” Maribeth said. “Closet is here. I bought hangers for you.”

Without prompting, she hauled his suitcase onto the bed and unzipped it. Richard didn’t fight her as she grabbed a pair of slacks, slung them onto a dark hanger, and put them away.

“Babe, what is going on?” Richard asked.

“Don’t bitch at me for helping you out. I don’t have an ironing board or an iron. The last thing I want to do is listen to you complain for the next couple of days that you have to live with wrinkles.”

“That’s because you refused to let anyone fly out here and help you get this place set up. It’s been four fucking months, Mari. This place looks like you moved in an hour ago.”

“Do you know how many houses I’ve lived in? How many times I worked with decorators to create something I hoped my father would like?” Maribeth asked. “I lost count. On purpose. That was the old me. Now it’s about pleasing myself.”

“Hey, if it makes you happier to have less, you know you have my support. Unconditional, babe.”

Maribeth embraced Richard, and he held on tightly. “That’s because, despite your dramatics, you’re a fantastic, caring person. Which is why Lucas probably already adores you.”

“We can talk about Lucas as much as you want. I’m happy to tell you every detail I can remember about each moment we’ve spent together, but don’t use my life to deflect from yours. I’m worried about you. Talk to me. Is this what you want? Has moving made you happier?”

Pain filled her brown eyes. “I wanted it to.”

“But?”

“But I discovered it doesn’t matter where I am. I’m the problem. No matter where I am, I hurt.”

Richard brushed tears from her cheeks. “Of course you do, you’ve been through it. All your life you wanted a relationship with your father. No matter how many times I wanted to shake you and tell you that you had a family who loved you, it wasn’t enough. Then that asshole turned into the worst kind of evil person by kidnapping Eric and trying to shoot him. I hate that for you. I fucking hate it. You deserved better than that dick.”

“I remember how excited we were to get our tattoos. We were so proud of ourselves. From the time Eric was born, we wanted to protect him. Now we finally had a way. A visible way we could confuse people hunting him. Do you remember how he smiled when he saw them?”

Weeping along with her, Richard tugged her so they both sat on the bed. “Yes. One of my favorite pictures in the living room is the three of us with our hands together. Our tattoos were fresh, and my hands hurt so badly. But I loved that for us.”

“I didn’t get my other arm done because the first one was so painful.”

“So what? Destiny-touched only have it on one hand. I went with both because you know how I feel about symmetry. It would’ve driven me crazy not to have two matching arms.”

“You’re really weird.”

“I know, but you love me anyway.”

“Right in that room, Richard. I was there. I watched my father raise that gun and aim it at our Eric.”

“You did everything—literally everything —you could to keep Eric safe. You have the scars to prove it. Both inside and out.”

Maribeth squeezed her eyes shut and bowed her head. “Is it wrong that I’m happy he’s dead?”

“No. He was evil.”

“I wish I’d realized that sooner.”

“Mari, none of us knew,” Richard stated firmly. “Not one of us doubted your father. Not even Dad, and he takes pride in acquiring information about everybody. They were best friends forever, but Dad suspected nothing. How were you expected to know?”

“I’ve never called Clark Dad , but he was one to me. I didn’t want to think of him or Rosalind as my parents because that was replacing my biological father. How stupid was I?”

“I hate hearing you beat yourself up over this stuff. Do you think they blame you or think less of you because you don’t call them Mom and Dad? They love you and want you to be comfortable. Names or titles don’t matter. Not to them. Not to me.”

Maribeth rested her head on Richard’s shoulder. “Look at me. You’ve been here five minutes and I’m already bawling. This was supposed to be a fun trip. For us to catch up. I’ve missed so much in the past four months. You have a fucking soulmate.”

“Which I found out while you were in Vegas, so you didn’t miss that.”

“Clark and Rosalind laughed so hard telling me about your date. They had so much fun putting that together for you and Lucas.”

Richard couldn’t hold back his smile. “They were so wonderful. Gabriel even took Lucas to a florist.”

“Eric was probably the most surprised man in that house when Gabriel showed up with a bouquet for him.”

“I think we have to finally agree that my brother is easy.”

Maribeth laughed as Richard intended. “People do all kinds of wild things if they love someone.”

“I guess they do.”

“You guess?”

“Uh, yeah?”

“So, you aren’t in love?”

“Honestly, I don’t know. I’ve never fallen in love before. I imagined it was this scary thing. Maybe because the word falling is so often associated with it. Like I’d stumble into a street, scrape a few knees, and suddenly have to sacrifice my wants and needs to please someone destiny decided I should be with. We’re given no choice in the matter. That upset me. I hate ceding control to anyone or anything. Turns out destiny knows what they are about.”

“No scraped knees?”

“A little carpet burn one night, but that was because I was overzealous and my bed is too high to properly suck Lucas off.”

“Kneel on a couple of pillows next time.”

“You give the best advice.”

Maribeth grinned. “I definitely do.”

“So, if you were being fair and impartial, what kind of advice would you give a woman like you?”

“Let’s give it some context and figure it out,” Maribeth said, standing to resume her efforts to hang Richard’s clothes up.

Knowing that Maribeth preferred to keep herself busy as she thought about weighty matters, he sat and allowed her to draw her own conclusions. He wasn’t there to talk her into anything or persuade her to abandon her plans. What he wanted was for Maribeth to be happy, and only she could figure out how to find that for herself.

“I’m healing,” Maribeth remarked after a full minute of silence. “I’m also at a crossroads. Before everything happened with Eric, I’d already quit my job.”

“You’d lost your initial spark for human resources.”

“Turns out the human resources department isn’t nearly as juicy in a Marwood resort as I imagined. We have human turnover, but Clark and his staff work with the inspirits to facilitate transfers. The inspirits in the office are so competent, I wasn’t tasked with much. Those duties hardly varied, and I was bored. While my best friend chose a field that vitalizes him.”

“I love my work.”

“Especially since you can moon over the sexy inspirit that you dirtied your knees for.”

“That definitely doesn’t hurt.”

“I bet your knees did though,” Maribeth said with a grin.

“Burned like a bitch. So, you’ve looked into other job avenues?”

“Not as much as I should have because I had this crazy idea that I should separate myself from Marwood completely.”

“You didn’t tell me that!” Richard exclaimed.

“Because Clark told me it wasn’t an option. I thought I could convince him, given enough time. You weren’t supposed to know because you would’ve taken my side. The last thing I wanted was for you to fight with your parents about it.”

“Why would I take your side? It’s not safe, Mari.”

Maribeth’s mouth dropped open. “You’ve always taken my side.”

“Because you usually make practical, intelligent decisions. But what you’re suggesting is none of those things. You’re a necromancer. How can you work for humans? Who is going to transfer you the minute someone notices you don’t age? How will you explain your birthdate as you get older but you lack a single wrinkle? Dad takes care of that shit for us.”

“I eventually figured that out, but I was already here. Plus, Clark didn’t budge. Not one fucking inch. Threatened to cut off my money if I tried to live somewhere besides a Marwood property. My father didn’t leave a will. Except for that awful house in California where my father brought Eric, all his assets were held jointly between him and Clark. Your father inherited everything. I couldn’t even get mad at him because I understood he was doing it because he loves me. Because I was scaring the shit out of him. When that hit me, I realized what an ass I was being and stopped. Damage done, Richard.”

“Dad was totally lying. There is no way he’d ever cut you off.”

Maribeth threw her arms up. “I know that, Richard, but I’d pushed him to his limit, and he was doing whatever he could to stop me from making a mistake that could hurt me.”

“Stop giving yourself reasons to be furious with your own damn self.”

“All I have time to do is think.”

“Give Maribeth some advice to help her out of her predicament!” Richard yelled, hoping he could stop Maribeth from spiraling into another round of heaping abuse on her already beleaguered spirit.

Maribeth lifted her chin and cast her wet gaze to the ceiling. “Maribeth Marwood should’ve stayed at her beautiful home in Nevada to allow her family to aid her as she dealt with the trauma of her father nearly killing her cousin, then shooting himself in the fucking head.”

“Don’t forget that she took a damn bullet herself and has to heal emotionally from that too.”

“I know,” she whispered, grabbing her shoulder where she carried the outward scar of that day. “I know it, Richard.”

Standing and hauling her close, Richard petted the beautiful glossy hair she’d inherited from her mother. “We’re packing your shit, and you’re coming home with me on Thursday.”

“Thanks for coming to get me.”

“I would’ve been here sooner, but you refused to let me. But I’m here now, and we’re going to spend a few days catching up. We’ll eat ice cream, get drunk, and tell old stories. Have some good old-fashioned Richard-and-Mari time. On Thursday we’ll go home, and you can make my Lucas one of your very best friends.”

“I don’t care what anyone says, you’re the fucking best, Richard.”

“Excuse me, did someone say I wasn’t?”

Maribeth laughed and rubbed his back. “Not anyone I like or trust.”