Genevieve spoke up. “If it makes you feel better, you can watch me eat all that stuff. Ilovefood. The last date I went on, we did a buffet crawl. I thought I might actually die from theamount of crab legs I ate. The sexiest date idea I’ve ever had? No, but worth it.”
Every vampire’s eyes flicked to Nash’s face, which had gone remarkably still. If he noticed that everyone’s attention was on his reaction, it wasn’t because he looked at any of them. His focus was solely on the witch.
Speaking in a stiff, formal sort of way, he asked, “When was this?”
“A couple weeks ago,” she answered, shrugging. One side of her oversized sweater slid down, revealing a tattooed shoulder.
“And you didn’t tell me?”
Genevieve made a face. “Since when do I have to tell you when I go on dates? It’s not work related.”
Dahlia watched in fascination as a flush settled into Nash’s broad cheekbones. “Your safety is my job,” he protested. “I need to know where you are at all times. We talked about this, Ginny.”
“Your job is to keep me safe when I’mworking,which I definitely wasn’t doing with Blake. We were way too busy eating crab legs and tiramisu by the pound.”
“Blake?”
Giving Felix an exasperated look, Genevieve implored, “Can you please tell him that I am allowed to do whatever I want in my off time? Including Blake?”
Extremely curious to see how Felix would handle the situation, Dahlia’s gaze bounced between the trio. She honestly couldn’t say whether Felix would do his cousin a solid or not. After seeing so many nascent vampire courtships go wrong in her line of work, Dahliawasn’t sure what she’d do in this situation other than wash her hands of it as quickly as possible.
Felix did neither of those things.
Tucking his free hand into his pocket, he rocked back on his heels and made a show of considering his words. “Well… youaresupposed to be on call 24/7, so the argument could be madethat Nash, as your bodyguard, should know where you are at all times.”
Just when the powerful line of Nash’s shoulders began to relax, Felix continued, “However, your contract does state that you are under no obligation to report your personal life to the family as long as it doesn’t interfere with our business interests. So you’re free to date who and when you please without telling anyone if it doesn’t cause any issues for the family.”
“Ha!” Genevieve wagged a finger in Nash’s direction. “See? I win.”
Nash looked like he’d swallowed a whole lemon, but he didn’t argue. Dahlia half-expected him to take the card Felix had handed him — the one that said itwasan issue for the family, mainly him. But he didn’t.
Nodding to the group, Felix laid a hand on Dahlia’s back and began to guide her away. When they were more or less out of ear-shot, she leaned in close and whispered, “I want in on the bet.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. And we’re going to discuss ending this bullshit with my father.”
Felix breathed deeply. “Dahlia?—”
She smiled down at the children who scrambled by her, all squeals and laughter and safety. Without dropping her smile, she hissed, “Partners, Felix. Remember?”
His fingers slid down to the curve of her waist. “I remember, pet. I could never forget.”
TWENTY-FIVE
The last threadsof her patience snapped when she walked into the little clinic on the first floor of the mansion. She hadn’t even known it was there until Milo told her where Alvin would be setting up. The fact that they had a use for a private medical space in their home didn’t surprise her, but walking in to find her husband sitting on one of the exam tables made its existence almost intolerable.
Dahlia practically vibrated as she stalked across the room, her heels tapping on the sterile white tile. A cluster of men stood off to one side, Milo among them, and appeared to be debriefing. A few more sat on chairs or perched on beds, their faces streaked with dust and blood.
Felix was by far the worse off.
Alvin bent over his naked torso, painstakingly gluing together the torn skin on his shoulder and side. Blood streaked across his chest and splattered his stiff jaw as he held his right arm up at an angle to allow the doctor to work.
A buzzing noise took up residence in her ears. It blocked out the sounds of conversation and the whir of an air purifier. Even her own breathing was muffled.
In an instant, she understood a little bit of how he must’ve felt when he found out she’d been impaled. Seeing him injured, knowing that he could’vedied,was so wrong it felt incompatible with reality.
She had no way of knowing what was new vampire instinct and what was the natural result of loving him. Whatever it was, Dahlia had never been so angry and so happy to see someone in her life.
