Page 24 of Fae-King It (Mystical Matchmakers #5)
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Two weeks later
Dominique fidgeted with the items on her desk.
“It’s going to be fine.”
She shot a glance at her cell phone, seeing her husband’s face on the screen. “That’s the third time you’ve said that in the last fifteen minutes.”
“Well, I wouldn’t repeat myself if you would listen the first time.”
She rolled her eyes at him, which made him chuckle.
The past two weeks had been…incredible. They spent the first week in her apartment, packing up her life. Then, Ronan had contacted Jessel, who arranged a team of brownies to move all her things into his home while she was at work the following Monday.
It had been a week since she moved into his house and there were times she questioned if this was reality or if she was dreaming. Because the past seven days had been nothing short of blissful.
Now, she was about to meet with her grandmother for the first time since their last conversation. She still wasn’t sure what kind of relationship she wanted with Zephira, but she did want one.
Her parents were dead. Ronan had shared the news with her the day after they arrived back in the human realm, though he hadn’t given her details. Her sisters were banished from Magic and were living in Europe. Neither of them had contacted her after their interrogations and subsequent banishment. She honestly hadn’t expected them to, but a small part of her had hoped she was wrong.
She had no blood relatives left, save her grandmother. And Zephira wanted to be in her life. Over the past weeks, Dominique had come to realize that her grandmother had done the best she could at the time to survive and to protect her. Just as Dominique had done the best she could with her own circumstances.
So, over the weekend, Dominique had called her grandmother and asked her to come to the Mystical Matchmakers office on Monday afternoon. Ronan wanted to be in attendance, but Dominique insisted that she do this on her own. The argument about it had gotten a little heated, but he’d given in to her in the end.
Still, he’d video called her a half hour before the scheduled meeting.
“I love you, Wife,” he said, capturing her attention once again.
The ball of anxiety in her stomach melted at his words. He said them at least twice a day—before she left for work in the morning and before they went to sleep at night. That wasn’t the only time he used the words, but he always said them then.
“I love you too, Husband,” she replied.
“Call me when your meeting is over,” he demanded, his tone bossy.
“Yes, Your Majesty,” she retorted.
“What did I tell you about calling me that?” he growled.
“To save it for the bedroom?”
It was Ronan’s turn to roll his eyes, which made Dominique laugh. “You’ll pay for that later,” he muttered.
“Looking forward to it.”
With that, Dominique disconnected the video call, feeling much more relaxed than she had earlier. She knew that was why Ronan had called. He instinctively seemed to know when she needed him. Their soul deep connection assured that.
She would strive to do the same for him when he needed her. She only hoped she could do it as well as he did.
Dominique heard the bell for the front door ring and took a shaky breath. Without looking, she knew it was her grandmother. She got to her feet and walked to the door of her office. Veronica had gone to lunch with Jasper, so Dominique was alone in the office. She didn’t want to risk spewing her emotions all over her empathic employee if this meeting didn’t go well.
She took a deep breath before she placed her hand on the doorknob, and blew it out slowly, trying to calm her suddenly racing heart. It didn’t help, but she didn’t have time to do anything else.
Dominique opened the door and saw that Zephira had stopped next to Veronica’s desk, her expression hesitant. Now that she’d had a bit of time and distance, Dominique could see that this was actually her grandmother’s true form in the human realm. Without the constant flow of magic in the fae realm, fae creatures looked different here. Unless they wore a glamour. Even then, there were some humans with fae heritage who could see straight through the magic anyway.
“Good afternoon,” her grandmother said, clasping her hands in front of her.
Dominique could see the slight tremble in Zephira’s fingers as she laced them together and her nerves began to calm. They were both anxious and worried about how this meeting would go. Which meant they were both off balance.
“Hello, Grandmother,” Dominique responded.
She’d used the term without thinking, but she could see the shocked pleasure on Zephira’s face at her greeting.
“Why don’t you come into my office so we can talk?” Dominique invited, gesturing for her grandmother to enter. “Would you like some coffee or tea?”
As she moved forward, Zephira shook her head. “No, thank you. I don’t think my stomach could handle it.”
Dominique was glad to hear that because her stomach felt the same—simmering with nerves and a faint hint of panic. She shut the door when her grandmother entered.
“Please have a seat,” she said. Instead of moving toward her desk, where things would be formal, Dominique walked toward the sofa on the far side of her office.
Zephira moved to the sofa as well and perched on the edge of the cushion, her spine straight and slightly stiff.
Dominique sat on the opposite end of the couch and found herself mimicking her grandmother’s posture. She wondered if her tendency toward aloofness in the face of conflict was something she’d inherited from Zephira or if the defense mechanism was her own creation.
“How—”
“I’m—”
They both paused since they’d begun speaking at the same time.
“Please, go ahead,” Zephira invited first.
Dominique took a moment to gather her thoughts before she began again. “I’m going to get straight to the point, if that’s okay with you,” she said.
Zephira nodded, her hands clutched together in her lap.
“I would like to get to know you,” Dominique stated, her words slow as she chose them carefully. She’d already decided what she wanted to say, but she wanted to make sure that they came out correctly.
“I can’t promise that we’ll have a close, loving relationship,” she continued. “But I do want to know you and I want to see what we can build as time goes on.”
Zephira’s answering inhale was sharp and a little shaky. She pressed her lips together hard before she nodded. “I’d love to have whatever sort of relationship you’re willing to give me.”
“Well, I thought that having you work here on a part-time basis might be a good start. It will give us a chance to see each other regularly.”
Zephira blinked at her, clearly taken aback. “But…my magic…”
“Is still there,” Dominique concluded. “You may not have accessed it in a long time, but I can sense it just as clearly as I sense my own. I think you could be an asset to the company if you were willing to use it.”
Dominique’s own chest grew tight as the sight of moisture gathering in her grandmother’s eyes.
“I-I-I think I would like that,” Zephira finally stammered.
Dominique found herself relaxing. “Good. We’ll start with two days a week and see how things go. The salary you listed on your application was a bit low, so that will be adjusted to match Veronica’s current pay rate. If everything works out, I would love to have you on the team full time.” She paused, clearing her throat. “And if we work well together, I’d like to spend time together away from the office, too.”
“I’m not sure what to say,” Zephira said.
Dominique took a deep breath. “I know it’s not a warm, fuzzy start to our relationship, but I need a few barriers between us to start. Not because I’m unsure about giving you my time, but because of my own past and my own trust issues. It’s hard for me to open up and be vulnerable, so a working relationship seems like the best place for us to start. Especially since I am in dire need of another employee, and you have the skills and magic to make you an excellent fit for the job.”
Zephira nodded. “I understand.”
Dominique leaned forward. “I want you to understand that while I will technically be your boss, you are allowed to disagree with me. Even argue with me. Not necessarily in front of clients, but definitely if we’re having a meeting or a discussion. I don’t want you to feel like you can’t be yourself because I want to know who you really are.”
Zephira pressed her lips together even harder and nodded again. “I understand,” she repeated.
Dominique found herself reaching out to her grandmother without thinking. When she laid her fingers over the back of Zephira’s hand, her grandmother unlaced her fingers and turned her palm over, gripping Dominique’s hand tightly.
“I know you did the best you could,” Dominique said. “We both did. I just hope we can both do that moving forward.”
A small sob escaped Zephira’s mouth as she nodded. Dominique squeezed her hand once more.
“Now, let’s order some lunch and talk about what we do here at Mystical Matchmakers,” Dominique said.