“Lenore?” Had I been eating, I would have choked on my food. “Do you normally go out to dinner with your associates to talk business?”
“This is not work related, and she is the one who invited me.”
Christian’s chair scraped against the floor as he scooted back and got up.
Gem walked around the table to hand Viktor his cake and then set a plate in front of me. “You have a date, Viktor? Do tell.”
Blue scooted over to Christian’s chair. “Isn’t that a conflict of interest to have a personal relationship with someone who contracts work for us?”
Christian returned from the punch bowl and handed me a glass. “Perhaps you should find yourself a lass who will let you wear the pants. That one is all trousers.”
Gem frowned as she sat in her chair. “Since when are men the only ones allowed to ask someone out? That’s an archaic ritual with no purpose except to assert that women should have no power over what happens in their lives. Good for you, Viktor.”
“Women complain that chivalry is dead.” Wyatt licked icing off his fork. “But the minute you go old school with chivalry, they call you a chauvinistic asshole.”
“Maybe that’s because youarean asshole,” Blue retorted. “Ever thought of that?”
He swallowed his bite. “All I’m saying is that women never ask me out, so I’m the one doing all the work.”
“That doesn’t help prove your case,” Blue countered.
“Whatever you say, bird lady. If a woman’s pretty, I let her know it. But I treat them with respect. Ask Claude.”
“It’s true,” Claude said from across the table. “Wyatt speaks to females with respect. It’s what he does with his eyeballs that I have an issue with.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Wyatt shoveled a large bite into his mouth.
“Aye, you don’t have any control over your leering ways,” Christian agreed. “Those eyeballs of yours would incinerate if splashed with holy water.”
“Can we change the subject?” Gem snatched a candy ring from the table and put it on her finger. Instead of eating it, she admired it as if it were a real ruby.
We kept the conversation light and let Hunter play with all his toys for about an hour before Kira served spaghetti and meatballs. Because it was a special occasion, she and Switch stayed in the room, though they chose to sit in one of the booths. Normally they ate at a different time so they wouldn’t overhear sensitive discussions we had about work.
I wasn’t sure where Wyatt put it all, but after gobbling up ten cookies, he enjoyed two helpings of dinner. Hunter nibbled on everything, but he was too excited to sit still and eat his entire dinner. I’d given him a giant bottle of bubbles—which he blew on everyone—and a kite. I figured since we had plenty of land behind the mansion, a kite would give Shepherd some father-and-son time with him.
“You seem a million miles away,” Christian said, his arm around me, his chair scooted close.
I stared at the empty plates and cake crumbs on the table, listening to everyone in the gathering room as Hunter played with his new toys. “I’m just tired.”
“Nightmares?”
I shut my eyes. The nightmares used to be about Fletcher chaining me to a wall, but now those dreams mingled with darkness, a coffin, and suffocation. “I think I just need a new mattress.”
“Don’t be fibbing. I haven’t brought up your burial since that night, but if you want to talk about it, I’m your man. I’ve been there. I’ve done that.”
I tugged on his fingers that rested over my shoulder. “Talking about it doesn’t make it go away. It doesn’t make me feel better. Whatwouldmake me feel better is finding the person who did it.”
“And what would you do? Spoon out their eyes?”
I flicked his palm. “I want to knowwhythey did it. If they’re getting back at me for something, if I know this person…”
Christian sighed melodically. “You’re too young to appreciate patience. You can’t let something like this consume your every thought, or you’ll never enjoy your life. Put all those emotions stirring inside you on the back burner.”
I smiled. “That’s such a human thing to say.”
“Would you rather I suggest you dismember their corpse in a wood chipper and feed it to wild boars?”
“How did I find such a romantic?”
