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A fter the best weekend of his life, Richard was sitting in his office and hiding. It was silly, but he was overwhelmed. Things had worked out well for him and Lucas. The inspirits were thrilled for them because they could sense their soulbinding, and the announcement of their engagement allowed everyone to celebrate without any human realizing that Lucas and Richard were far more than fiancés.

A cake was produced out of nowhere. Richard stood next to Lucas as they were showered with words of encouragement and congratulatory messages. It was lovely. But Richard couldn’t spend his morning crying and basking in the glow of destiny. He would’ve liked to, and it was tempting to ignore his job, but he was the lone supervisor now.

Conferences were happening, and it was Richard’s full responsibility to ensure they were flawless. No one asked him directly why Douglas had left so abruptly, but Richard was sure gossip was flowing—especially for the humans who were unaware of the unwritten Marwood policy allowing inspirits to move freely from job to job without delay.

Richard hadn’t asked any questions about where Douglas was heading or if he’d departed Vegas yet. Not only was Richard miffed at the man, but Douglas deserved the clean break he’d orchestrated. Which was why Richard was stunned as the man currently in the forefront of his mind showed up in the doorway of his office.

Startled, Richard stared as Douglas walked in and shut the door behind him.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Douglas demanded, his eyes dark with fury and pain. “Why didn’t you mention that you already had a soulmate?”

“Because I found out the night of Gabriel and Eric’s wedding,” Richard said, refusing to speak anything but the truth. “Lucas and I decided to wait to tell my family about us until after the newly married couple left for their honeymoon. You came over to speak to me hours earlier. No one knew. Just me and Lucas.”

“Fine, you get a pass for not mentioning it then, but what about the weeks since?”

“I thought it was best. I wanted to protect you, and I believed it was disrespectful to your feelings to flaunt my relationship with Lucas. We had to work together, and the last thing I wanted was to make it awkward for anyone.”

“Was it best for me or for you?”

Richard stood and considered the man he’d thought of as a dear friend for many years. “Douglas, you can draw whatever conclusions you want. I’m not perfect, and I make mistakes. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe I wasn’t. I can’t change destiny’s choice for me. Nor would I want to.”

Crossing his arms, Douglas frowned, and his expression grew sour. “What happened to staying out of relationships? To not wanting a soulmate? Or did you forget that the moment a handsome man strolled in here? He’s your type. Tall. Gorgeous. Probably brainless and selfish too.”

Richard’s fingers curled into fists. It was fine if Douglas wanted to rage at him, but he wouldn’t stand for anyone speaking poorly of Lucas.

“I respect that you’re hurt,” Richard stated calmly, though he was sorely tempted to yell. “I sympathize. No one wants to feel pain. But I won’t allow you to walk in here and slander Lucas. He did nothing wrong. You know he’s not stupid, and he doesn’t deserve to be judged as less than anyone else because he happens to be beautiful. Now, is there anything else I can do for you? Because I have a busy day, and you no longer work here.”

“ Bitch ,” Douglas sneered as he turned on his heel, whipped open the door, and nearly collided with Richard’s assistant. “Move out of the way, Benjamin.”

“Have a good day, Douglas,” Benjamin replied, his tone a mixture of surprise and bafflement. “Sorry to bother you, Richard. There’s a man here looking for Luke, but he went to the ballroom to check on our guests. He claims to be an old friend of Luke’s, I thought maybe you’d like to talk to him.”

“An old friend? Did he give you his name?”

“Yes, his name is Foxe.”

Richard was already pissed thanks to Douglas. His grin was pure malice as he contemplated wrapping his fingers around Foxe’s neck and choking some sense into the fool.

“Sure, I’ll go talk to him,” Richard said.

Instead of waiting for his assistant to bring Foxe into his office, Richard stalked out and immediately sensed the necromancer with the shifty hazel gaze. The man’s reddish-brown hair made Richard think of a fox’s pelt, and he wondered if that was how he’d gained the name. Was that shade common in the Arwynn family? Was Foxe his real name or one he’d chosen himself later?

“Foxe?” Richard asked, stretching his hand out toward the man who’d summoned Lucas, then abandoned the man a decade later. “Hello, I’m Richard Marwood. How are you today?”

Foxe lifted an eyebrow slyly. “Marwood?”

“Yes, that’s what I said,” Richard remarked, not caring if he was being snippy. “Maybe we could talk in my office.”

“Sure, sweetie, whatever you want.”

Since Richard already knew Foxe was heterosexual, he wasn’t sure what the sweetie was about. But it wouldn’t be the first time someone tried to downplay Richard’s masculinity because he wore makeup and frilly clothing. Richard led Foxe into his office and shut the door. The last thing Richard wanted was for anyone to overhear their conversation.

“How are you, Mr. Arwynn?” Richard asked as he watched Foxe’s gaze move across the large office Richard had decorated in the same elegant black he preferred to wear.

“Arwynn, huh? I didn’t mention that. Luke must’ve told you about me.”

Richard narrowed his eyes and nodded slowly as he rounded his desk to put some distance between himself and Foxe. “Indeed. Lucas revealed several things about you.”

“I wish he’d told me a little about you, sweetheart.”

Bracing his hands on his desk, Richard leaned forward. “Cut the shit, Arwynn. I’m not your sweetheart. What are you doing here?”

Foxe’s chuckle renewed Richard’s desire to hurt the man. Maybe those kung fu classes would come in handy and Richard could kick Foxe right off the planet. “I apologize if I’ve insulted you. It’s the height of rudeness to flirt with a man with a soulmate.”

“Yes, it is. Now, answer the question. What do you want?”

“Now, Rich, that’s between me and Luke.”

“My name is Richard. Not Rich, Richie, or Rick. I’m into dick, but I don’t suggest you call me that either. And anything that involves Lucas is my business.”

“Look, I sent him here to get a job. I know your family has a little inspirit rescue or whatever, but I didn’t sign mine over. He still belongs to me. I summoned him. So, go get him and mind your own business.”

It took Richard a minute to clear the red from his vision. He’d never understood that expression. Richard hadn’t believed until now that it was possible to literally see crimson, but he had. Or maybe his rage had caused him to black out and he was hallucinating. As wild as his Monday was turning out, nothing would surprise Richard at this point.

“Lucas is a person. No one owns him. He belongs to himself. And I don’t play fetch for anyone. Especially not a selfish asshole who thought he’d send Lucas here to work forty plus hours a week to pay for your gambling habit. Now, why don’t you go find whatever rock you crawled out from under and fuck off?”

There was a heavy pounding on Richard’s door.

“Richard?” Gabriel shouted.

“ Damn ,” Richard muttered under his breath. Of course the inspirits had sensed Foxe was a necromancer and alerted security. Richard wasn’t sure why he hadn’t known Gabriel would show up, but he’d been so upset by his chat with Douglas that he could forgive himself for not having a clear head. Since he didn’t want Gabriel to bust down the door or come in swinging, Richard hurried to yank the door open.

“Who is he?” Gabriel demanded, his green gaze resting on Foxe. The intensity of Gabriel’s stare had Foxe hunching his shoulders. His reaction gave Richard a sliver of satisfaction.

“Foxe Arwynn.”

“Where’s Lucas?” Gabriel asked.

“Main ballroom.”

“I’ll have Rhonda get him. Why don’t you and Foxe come upstairs with me?” Gabriel asked.

It wasn’t a suggestion, so Richard didn’t bother to assure his brother-in-law he was on board. Instead, Richard gestured at Foxe. “Come on.”

“Why? Are you going to have this dude kill me?”

“If you don’t move your ass, I might,” Richard retorted.

With a purse of his lips, Foxe trudged closer to Gabriel, who moved out of the way to allow the necromancer to walk in front of him. Gabriel would insist on keeping himself between Foxe and Richard, so he waited for Eric’s husband to leave the office before following on his heels.

It was officially the most maddening morning of his life. The walk to the elevator took forever, and Richard knew where to put the blame for that. Foxe dragged his feet and glanced back at Gabriel a dozen times. Richard couldn’t blame the man for being intimidated, but Gabriel wouldn’t kill him. If anyone had the pleasure of smacking Foxe around, Richard would insist on the honor.

Richard nearly giggled as Gabriel greeted Clark’s assistant and asked him about his weekend. Somehow, they’d cajoled the inspirit into being more personable, and it suited Gabriel. Few people were privy to his kindness and caring. Thankfully, Gabriel was also brawny and stoic, and if Richard were lucky, those traits would cause Foxe to shit his pants in fear.

They walked through the double doors of Clark’s office, and Richard wasn’t surprised at the carefully neutral expression on his father’s face. He glanced first at Richard, offered him the briefest of smiles, and moved to embrace him as he directed his attention to Gabriel. Richard held on to his father for an extra second to calm himself.

“Are you okay?” Clark asked quietly.

“Yes. It’s been a morning though,” Richard said. He walked over and gave Gabriel’s arm a friendly squeeze. “Thankfully, Gabriel showed up. Did Rhonda find Lucas?”

“They will be on their way up in a minute,” Gabriel assured Richard.

“Where the hell am I?” Foxe grumbled.

“My apologies,” Richard remarked. “Allow me to introduce everyone.” He pointed at his father. “This is Clark Marwood. The tall gentleman behind you is Gabriel Wolfebrier-Marwood.”

“Wolf-f-f-ebrier?” Foxe stammered.

“Is that name familiar for some reason?” Richard asked, surprised.

“Apparently, many necromancers are aware of how Samael Wolfebrier died,” Richard’s father explained. “Tales have traveled somehow that it was his inspirit who fired the fatal bullet.”

“Oh, interesting,” Richard replied. “I wasn’t aware necros were so close that they shared gossip. Especially about inspirits. They are the best of our society and deserve better than to have anyone whispering behind their backs.”

“Unfortunately, not everyone is as enlightened as you, Richard,” his father said.

“Arwynns like inspirits,” Foxe defended with a purse of his lips. “I’m here for mine, aren’t I? Like I told your friend, Richard here, you might run a little rescue here, but I didn’t give Luke up permanently. You got to borrow him because we were short on cash. But I don’t like this place, and I don’t want Luke here any longer.”

Gabriel’s brows lifted. “He said that to you?”

“Yes,” Richard replied. “I barely restrained from choking him, and I expect to get full credit for my self-control later.”

“Look, I don’t know what the deal is or why you think I care that any of you are mad. Tell me where Luke is so we can leave. I’m not interested in necromancer politics or any other bullshit.”

“The good news, Mr. Arwynn, is that Lucas is already on his way up here,” Richard’s father stated as he wandered behind his desk. “But I have to warn you, he won’t leave with you.”

“You can’t keep him. He’s a person. You don’t own him.”

“You’re correct. The choice belongs to Lucas. I’m trying to prepare you for Lucas’s refusal to leave.”

“I know him a lot better than you.”

Richard rolled his eyes and wondered what was taking Lucas so long to get upstairs. He didn’t plan to enlighten Foxe on his relationship with Lucas; that was up to the inspirit to share or not. While Lucas wouldn’t be able to hide that he had a soulmate, he’d have the choice to tell Foxe that it was Richard or keep that fact private. Richard was fine either way.

He was far more interested in discovering why Foxe had suddenly showed up than anything else. Had he grown so desperate that he needed quick cash? Why did Foxe think he could waltz in after not speaking to Lucas for months to pick him up as if he was a child he’d dropped off at school? Richard was desperate for answers and eager to be there for Lucas as he dealt with the shock of being with Foxe again.