"You don't even know me! You are all crazy," Marcella said, throwing her hands up and laughing to hide her embarrassment. She didn't know how to respond to anything that just came out of his mouth.
"We are, and we aren't the only ones," Cosimo said and gestured at her office covered in her obsessive research. "But, as they say, you areourkind of crazy."
Marcella realized that there was no arguing with a dragon about how it was too early in their friendship to be acting so possessive, so she tried to focus on something that was neutral ground. "Tell me more about Maria and this temple she was looking for."
11
The following morning, Cosimo sat at the kitchen counter and tried hard to stop staring at the clock as he waited for Marcella to arrive. He had decided the previous day that he would show Marcella the full picture of what his sister had been working on instead of trying to explain it.
She would probably be able to make more sense of it than he could. She knew the area that Maria was searching, and Cosimo was hoping something would trigger for her.
Get her in our territory, his dragon whispered to him.
Don't start, Cosimo growled back, knowing it was hopeless.
Cosimo had left Marcella's apartment in a hurry the previous day, his mind and body on fire. He was in awe of how much work she had done searching for her ancestor's works, and he itched to go hunting grimoires straight away.
He couldn't help but regret that he hadn't met her sooner. It would have saved them both a lot of hassle and research dead ends, and they could have had the grimoires already.
Marcella had agreed to come to the villa to see Maria's research, and Cosimo had quickly put Valentine, Bridget, and Bas to work. Lachlan had helped with the heavy lifting withApollo's supervision, and Reeve had taken Charlotte into the city to play tourist so she wouldn't be tempted to leave their holiday to go check on Ironwood Manor when portals were being calibrated.
Over dinner, Cosimo had told the family about Carlo's phone call, and all of them agreed that he would meet a nasty end if he talked to Marcella like that in front of them. This morning, his gossipy children were still talking about it.
"Marcella really is the coolest witch ever," Apollo stated from where he sat in the sun coming through the windows. "Her ex-husband sounds like he's just pissed that she left him."
"Small dick energy," Bridget added around a mouthful of toast.
They were waiting for the witch in question to arrive, and Cosimo was hoping it would be soon. He didn't like that he had left her the day before to deal with the emotional fallout of talking to Carlo. There was nothing he could have done about it, but the dragon wasn't impressed.
"We have to tolerate dealing with Carlo and his mother for the sake of finding Maria," he said calmly.
Valentine snorted. "Come on, Dad. We can all see our murderous thoughts are nothing compared to yours."
"She's not interested," he said quickly, and all their heads swiveled in his direction.
"Oh? Interested in what?" Lachlan asked innocently.
Charlotte kicked him under the table.
Cosimo had put his foot in it, so he might as well plunge the rest of the way in. Who knows? Maybe they could collectively give him advice so the rejection would stop bothering him.
"She's not interested inme, so you can all stop teasing and swapping covert glances when you think I don't notice." He looked at Apollo. "And no more telling me to kiss her."
"If you did it when I told you,maybeshe would be interested," Apollo huffed irritably.
"We are working together and that's all there is to it," Cosimo insisted, his hand clenching under the table. There was no reason for him to still be stinging about it.
He had meant what he had said about not being able to fall in love with anyone. The lust was there, and he could deal with it, but Marcella was right. No good ever came out of having sex with a colleague.
"But you like her," Yelena insisted. "Iknowyou do."
"She has the same area of interest as me. Of course I like her."
Yelena's blue eyes narrowed. "It's not just that. Deny it if you like, but I know what my senses tell me."
"You had all better put a pin in this because she's here," Bas said, getting up and hurrying toward the door before anyone else could.
Marcella's scent hit Cosimo in the chest and guts a second before she entered the room. She was in a long black dress with a red belt, her hair pinned up to reveal her neck in a way the dragon in him instantly fixated on and made his mouth water. She wore a silver chain around her neck with a Miraculous medal, a Mano Cornuto, along with the Cornicello. Cosimo knew they were all protection talismans in addition to the bracelet she wore. Something must have happened.
