Belinda turns to Cambria for confirmation. “The master’s friends have been very kind,” she affirms. “All of them are perfect gentlemen. I’m just so grateful to Master Lucien for allowing me to stay, that I don’t mind his unusual rules.”
“Gentlemen? This lot?” she scoffs before hissing, “What rules?” while rolling the water bottle in her hand.
Cambria bites her lip innocently. “He offered to take care of me and even include a little spending money, but the agreement hinges on me staying in proper uniform while I work.”
“And what, exactly, is ‘work’?” Belinda spits through clenched teeth.
Cambria bats her eyelashes innocently. “Whatever the master needs. I keep the house clean and tend to any other matters he requests.”
The secretary rises to her feet, incensed. She smacks the envelope into my chest harshly, glaring at the two of us. “I always warned Mr. Avrell from keeping company with you two. You heathens have gone too far,” blaming us because obviously it couldn’t be Lucien’s fault. She storms over to Cambria. “Do you have a cell phone, love? I’ll add my number and you can call if you need me.”
She shakes her head. “I don’t need a phone; the master or one of his friends are with me at all times.”
The normally matronly secretary lets loose a string of profanities that would make a sailor blush, scribbling her number on a piece of paper and tucking it into Cambria’s hand, curling her fingers around it. “You’re of age, so I doubt the police would do anything,” she growls, “but this isn’t healthy, sweetheart. You’re welcome to stay with me while you figure things out, and you can bet your ass I’m talking to Mr. Avrell the next time I see him.”
She storms out of the house and Cambria holds up Belinda’s number like it’s a prize. “See that Atlas? You’re not the only one to have women slipping you their numbers,” she teases, like it’s some contest she won.
“You’re evil, little fae,” Dorian snorts, losing his composure and laughing, heading over to the kitchen to grab something before he has to head back to work.
Cambria sticks the number on the fridge with a magnet, like it’s a work of art for everyone to admire. She hops up onto the counter and swings her legs, looking at Dorian with a wide, genuine smile.
“Did I do good, sir? Do you think Master Lucien will give me a raise?”
He snorts, setting his knife down to stand between her legs and put his hands on the counter at either side of her thighs. “He’ll give you something, but it’s more likely a hard smack on the ass than a reward.”
She twirls a lock of her multicolored hair around her finger coyly. “Certainlysoundslike a reward.”
Dorian leans in and kisses her gently, all patience and adoration. “You’re incorrigible.”
I make myself useful and finish throwing something together for him to take back to work since we made him late. “You mean insatiable,” I correct. “But one thing’s for sure, Luce is going to be pissed when he comes home tonight.”
“Wait a second,” Cambria says, suddenly serious and all air of flirtatious teasing gone from her demeanor. “Belinda came here looking for Luce. Why wouldn’t she have just waited for him to come back from his lunch break?”
I share a look with Dorian, her nerves bleeding into our own. I pull out my phone to call him, but it just rings until going to voicemail. Dorian grabs Cambria around the waist to pluck her off the counter and set her back on her feet.
“Come on, I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” he frowns, pulling her towards the front door and snatching his keys back off the counter as we pass.
We load into Dorian’s modest sedan, heading towards Lucien’s office while I try calling twice more to no avail. Belinda isn’t there, so I assume she was taking a half day and dropping things off for Luce on her way home. There are still plenty of others in the building, and we are getting more than a few looks because in our haste, we didn’t think to tell Cambria to change first.
The men, and a few of the women, eye her with open lust, but she sees none of it. She doesn’t stop to flirt with them, feeding off of their adoration that would make her stronger according to Dorian. Instead, her face stays pinched with concern and her eyes are laser focused on the path to Lucien’s office.
His car wasn’t in the parking lot, but we’re hoping something in here will give us a clue as to where he would have gone. Instead, his office is as immaculate as always, no sign of a struggle or a single thing amiss.
“I’ll go start asking around,” I offer, making my way out of the office to start interrogating some of his coworkers when Dorian stops me.
“Dude, don’t be dumb.” He fires up Lucien’s computer and starts typing away, frowning as he looks at the screen.
“What are you doing?” Cambria asks, leaning over his shoulder.
“Find my phone app,” he informs us mechanically, focusing on what he’s doing. “But I don’t know what he’d be doing way out there.”
I come to look on his other side, sighing. “I do. Come on, we better start driving if we want to get there before dark.”
