What he hadn’t realized, until now, was that her beauty and brilliance would cut through every calloused piece of him and lay him bare before her.
She let out a slow breath, fingers curlingover his where he still held her. “Dav, I’m not going to hurt him. Or you. But if there’s something you need to tell me, if you aren’t completely in?—”
A loud knocking at the back door snapped the tension, and Dav was both frustrated and relieved at the interruption. He dropped her hand, hoping that without the connection, she might not peel him apart so easily.
“Shit,” came the curse from the back before Laz shouted, “Forgot there was a delivery today. Can you get it?”
Dav clicked his tongue, turning away from Rose’s scrutinizing look. “Deliveries were supposed to come three days ago,” he muttered, then opened the door.
A blue demon half a head taller than him pulled back the crate of milk bottles before Dav could take them. “Oh, where’s Laz?”
Dav tried not to make the grind of his jaw so obvious. “In back.”
The blue demon nodded, his eyes falling to Rosalind then skipping past with disinterest as he craned his neck inside. “Can he come sign off on these and pay? I’ve got places to be.”
Normally, Davarox was accustomed to the dismissal. But now Rose was here, a witness to his shame.
Well, she wanted to see all of him? Why not see the exact reason he wasn’t worth her time.
“I can sign off,” came his curt response.
“Gotta be the owner,” the delivery demon said, foot now bouncing as he avoided looking at Davarox.
He almost caved. Almost turned to shout for Laz to stop fighting an inanimate object just to appease this bastard.
But then the human stepped to his side, head cocked as she looked up at the giant demon with no fear. “He is an owner.”
The blue demon frowned, the end of his tail flicking behind him. “Right, okay, well, I just usually do business with Laz.”
Rosalind’s eyes narrowed on the demon. Flashed to Dav as she looked him up and down. Saw the subtle shake of his head and snapped her gaze back to the blue demon.
“Laz is busy, so I guess you’ll just do business with us,” Rose said, then, faster than anyone expected, she swiped the clipboard off the crate of milk. Her eyes scanned the document quickly. “Salgoron, is it? Of Salgoron’s Goods?”
Uncertainty passed over the demon’s face. “Uh, yeah?”
“Of Salgoron’s Goods who hasn’t paid their business license for the year and has accrued four months of late fees?”
She said it so smoothly, so casually, Dav almost missed the underlying threat. Probably because he was too busy appreciating the shock and fear that made Salgoron stiffen.
“Oh, well, you see, times are hard, and?—”
“I see a lot of hidden and duplicate fees here.” Rose’s finger tapped on several lines as she ignored him. “You’ve backdated this contract to make it appear that the delivery came three days ago. Not to mention, the dates here are”—she grabbed a bottle from the crateand hummed—“yup, incorrect, assuming you even stamped these appropriately. And this much coin for a late delivery, missing three bottles, and making up your own tax?”
Salgoron shifted on his feet, tail growing more agitated. “I, um, there’s…”
Rosalind slapped the clipboard against Dav’s chest, forcing him to scramble to grab it when she let go and stepped closer to the demon. “Here’s what’s going to happen, Salgoron of Salgoron’s Goods. This crate right here? Free of charge. As will be the next…” She pursed her lips, calculating. “Five deliveries, not including the three replacement bottles you will deliver tomorrow before midday.”
“But—”
“Which is more than generous, because I’m guessing this isn’t the first time you’ve tried to take advantage of Lazerath’s kindness.”
The blue demon’s swallow was guilt enough.
“That’s not all,” Rosalind continued, curling a hand over the edge of the crate as she pulled the demon closer to her glare. “You’re going to be on time. Lovable Loaf will be the first delivery you make in your rounds. It will be the freshest milk, and there will always be the correct number of bottles and ounces. There will be random inspections to confirm. And that business license payment and late penalties? Those will be on my desk when I get into the office tomorrow. If it isn’t, I will shut you down. I will personally lead the investigation, and how embarrassing will it be whena humanwhohas been in your city for just over a week shows up to dismantle your scam of a business?”
Salgoron was nodding quickly now, fear widening his eyes. “Yeah, yup, I will. Promise. It’ll be on your desk in the morning.” He swallowed. “Wait, uh, where’s your desk?”
“I’m the only human at city hall. Figure it out.” The fire in Rose’s brown eyes should have melted even the demon with water magic. “And last thing? You do business with Dav from now on. If he gets even a whiff of disrespect off your breath, he’s going to tell me. And remember what happens?”
