Page 81 of His Ruthless Match

I took a deep breath, trying to steady my nerves. “He doesn’t know. He can’t know.”

Jareth looked at me like I’d just said the dumbest thing imaginable. “Your brother knows everything. Do you know how terrifyingly efficient he is? He probably has a camera in here right now, watching us panic like idiots.”

I glanced around the room, half expecting to see a blinking red light in the corner. “Don’t be ridiculous. He wouldn’t…”

God, maybe he would.

“We don’t have time to figure it out,” Jareth said, cutting off my spiraling thoughts. “We need to move.”

I glanced toward the kitchen. “At least eat something. Grelth went to all that trouble?—”

“No time,” Jareth barked, already heading toward the bedroom. I followed him, grabbing a piece of bacon off the counter as we passed. Grelth leapt off his stool with a squawk.

“You’re not going to eat my food again?” he screeched, his furry arms flailing wildly. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

“We’re in a rush,” Jareth said, but he also grabbed a piece of bacon and popped it into his mouth.

Grelth wasn’t having it. “I slaved over this stove for you ungrateful people!” He grabbed each plate of food and dumped the contents into the trash. With a final huff, he popped out of existence.

“Wow,” Jareth said, swallowing the last bite of bacon. “You really pissed Grelth off.”

I rolled my eyes, ignoring the comment as we threw on fresh clothes. Last night’s dress lay crumpled on the floor, and annoyance flashed through me. I really should have hung it up. Oh well, no time to think about that now. Jareth pulled on his boots, his face set with grim determination.

“Ready?” he asked.

I nodded. Grabbing my purse, I followed him out the door. We didn’t speak during the drive to the tear in the Veil. The air between us was thick with tension—some of it about my brother, some of it about the night before, and all of it a ticking time bomb waiting to explode.

Jarethand I walked into my brother’s fortress of a home, an architectural monstrosity that screamed intimidation and secrecy. Oh, and money. Raffaele had money beyond comprehension. Lucky for me, he was always willing to share, even if I didn’t need his help anymore. I was doing pretty well for myself—that was, until Genevieve came along. If I didn’t get her situation under control soon, no one in New York City would want to use my services.

Jareth was nervous. It was so rare a sight that I wanted to poke fun at him just to see how far I could push it. “So, do you think he’s going to sense that we’ve fooled around?”

His eyes went wide, and he spun on me so fast I nearly ran into him. “Shut the fuck up,” he hissed under his breath, glancing around as if expecting Raffaele to materialize from the walls. “Someone will hear you.”

I raised an eyebrow. “What’s the big deal? He’s not gonna?—”

“Eva, your brother might be a big teddy bear with you, but to the rest of us? He’s a fucking monster. So, unless you want me to be executed today, you keep that between the two of us.”

I bit back a laugh, unable to resist needling him more. “Aww, the big, bad bodyguard is scared of my big brother. That’s so cute.”

Jareth glared at me. “You weren’t calling mecutelast night when my face was buried between your thighs.”

Heat surged into my face, and I felt it spread all the way to my neck. I snapped my mouth shut, unable to think of a comeback that wouldn’t make things worse. He smirked triumphantly, and I filed the moment away as ammunition for later.

We stopped in front of my brother’s study door. Jareth straightened his shoulders like a soldier preparing for battle. I rolled my eyes as I opened the door.

Vivian was perched on my brother’s lap, the two of them staring at each other like teenagers caught in the middle of something very inappropriate. I stifled a groan. Could this day get any worse?

They both straightened immediately. Vivian smoothed her hair as Raffaele slipped on his usual mask of composed authority. I caught Vivian’s eye and smiled knowingly. She shrugged, and her lips twitched like she was suppressing a laugh.

Vivian came over to hug me. “I’m so glad you’re safe.”

I hugged her back, surprised at how much I appreciated the gesture. “Thanks, Viv.”

“Have there been any moreglitcheswith the bracelet?”

I shook my head. “Nope. It’s been working fine as far as I can tell.”

“Good. I’m sorry about the unexpected visits from Jareth, though. I think we’ve figured out the issue.” She glanced at Jareth. “But I hate using you as a guinea pig on my new inventions.”