My pulse hammered. “Oh?”
“Marcus holds things in, and then when you’re least expecting it, bam! He knocks you on your ass.”
“Really?” Had I been so preoccupied with Marcus’ body I’d missed the violent, dangerous side of him?
Cadmus nodded. “The last time I borrowed his car and forgot to fill the tank, he waited an entire month. Then he flooded my car. To the roof, Tessa. All my leather interior, ruined.” He frowned when I laughed. “It’s not funny. I was in it at the time and late for a date.”
“Please. If you’d done that to me, I’d have filled your tank with sugar.”
“Why?”
“It ruins the engine.”
He looked horrified.
I grinned. “Well, maybe nothing that drastic. But you should have seen the stuff I tried to pull on my brother when we were growing up. His second sight made it hard to get one over on him. So when I did, it was a usually a doozy of a prank.”
“You have a close family?”
“Yes. My parents are dead, but my brother and I have always been there for each other. We also have plenty of aunts, uncles, and cousins floating here and there.” I smiled. “Tom lives close by, but the others are only a short drive or phone call away.”
He had a faraway look in his eyes. “You’re lucky to have them near.”
“I’m sorry, Cadmus.” I patted his hand on the table. “That was insensitive. You miss your home.” Curiosity got the better of me. “So when do you return? Your brother, Darius, is there now, isn’t he?”
Cadmus nodded. “He and Samantha are shaking up the west.” He snorted. “My mother is supposedly so happy she hasn’t stopped grinning since they returned. Now she’s impossible about us finding our affai. We can’t all be as lucky as Darius and Marc—” He paused, staring at me with wide eyes. “As lucky as Darius and Samantha.”
I nodded, my thoughts awhirl. Marcus and I hadn’t discussed the whole affai incident, and wanting to keep the peace between us, I’d decided to put off asking him about it for another time. But with Cadmus so close, perhaps I should pester him…
Chapter 21
Tessa
Cadmus flailed like a fish out of water before finally saying, “Well, would you look at the time. Already ten and I haven’t called Marcus to let him know how we’re doing. I’ll be right back.” He hurdled the chair and darted out of the kitchen at an impressive speed.
How convenient he needed to call Marcus now, and from another room.
I sighed and foraged for some breakfast, then straightened their living room while I looked for the remote to the television. I found it buried between couch cushions and pieces of popcorn and loose change.
Flipping through the channels, I spent the next few hours deliberately immersing myself in fantasy, so I wouldn’t worry about Marcus and my status at Temita.
“That looks good.” Cadmus plopped down beside me on the couch. I nodded and watched with him in silence as Russell Crowe cut through a bevy of barbarians in the opening scene of Gladiator.
He shook his head. “Meh. Not exactly like the real thing.”
I grimaced and flipped the channel to a local cooking show.
We watched a celebrity chef prepare a steak and some potato casserole that made me hungry. I glanced at the clock on the mantelpiece.
“So, that must have been some phone call.” I watched him from the corner of my eye. “Four hours long.”
He had the grace to flush. “What can I say? The time got away from me. You know how charming Marcus can be.” We both had a chuckle at that. “But in my defense, I did have some work to do for my boss.”
Last night, Marcus had briefly mentioned his brothers’ habits to prepare my stay.
“You work nights at a bar, don’t you? You should be sleeping now, not playing babysitter to me.”
“Not true. I might work nights, but I’m not a complete deadbeat during the day. I had some work to do for Gerry since we’re a little short-staffed at the moment.”
