by Olsen, Lisa
I was surprised to see he’d remembered my name, but Rob quickly corrected him. “That’s Your Grace to you, Charley. You’re looking at the new Elder of the West.”
“Beggin’ yer pardon, Your Grace,” he said, his eyes bulging wider. “You honor my humble establishment.”
“It’s Anja,” I smiled, laying a gloved hand on his arm. “And I’d prefer to keep the Elder stuff on the down low if you catch my drift?” I shot a look to both Rob and him.
“Whatever you say, ma’am.” Charley’s smile returned. “Let me show you to my best table.”
There was a flutter of activity, as his ‘best table’ was already occupied. I would have asked him not to bother, but they were already halfway through the change by the time I got there. Once more, our arrival was marked not by people noticing me or my entourage, but by shouts of recognition to Rob from several in the club. Though Rob’s smile was subdued as he was greeted by old friends, at least he offered more than two word responses like he did with me. Still, it was obvious something was bothering him when I compared his mood to the last time we’d come there.
Felix ordered a round of champagne, and immediately took Bridget for a spin on the dance floor as Moonlight Serenade started to play. Tucker and Gunnar took a seat at the table, scooting to the far side, leaving plenty of room for Rob and me to sit comfortably. Several more people stopped by the table to say hi to Rob and I heard him promise to catch up later when he wasn’t working.
“You can go chat with your friends if you want to,” I offered once we were left alone again.
“It’s fine.”
It obviously wasn’t fine and I started to worry something might really be wrong. “What’s the matter?”
“Nothing.”
“Why don’t I believe that?”
“Beats me.”
Really? I wanted to ask. Instead I took a sip of champagne. “You had a much better time the last time we were here.”
“I’m working.”
“You were working that night too,” I pointed out dryly.
“It didn’t feel as much like work.”
“Don’t be like that, Rob. Come on, let’s dance.”
“Is that an order, miss?” Rob tipped back his beer, ignoring the champagne poured for him.
“Ugh, forget it.” Whatever was bugging him would keep until he was ready to talk about it. “Come on, Gunnar, let’s go dance.”
“I don’t dance,” he insisted with eyes wide, but he let me pull him to his feet all the same.
“Sure you do, anybody can dance. It’s easy, I’ll show you.” The band played something nice and slow, Pennies From Heaven, and Gunnar lumbered back and forth, having trouble catching the rhythm at first. With encouragement, he eventually loosened up somewhat. I’m not saying he didn’t step on my feet a few times, but I think he started to enjoy himself. I even got Tucker up there once, though he was too shy to touch me with more than two fingers.
Every time I glanced over at Rob, he was watching me like a hawk. Did he expect me to get attacked right there in the middle of the dance floor? Or was there something else? I got an idea to try and shake things up a bit.
Leaving Gunnar to trail behind me, I sought out the owner of the club to ask a favor. “Hey, Charley. Could I speak to you for a minute?” I smiled, glancing back to see Rob sitting straighter in his chair. Trying to figure out what I was doing, no doubt.
Charlie’s brow immediately puckered with worry. “Is there anything amiss?”
“No, not at all,” I assured him quickly. “But I wondered if you could do me a huge favor?”
“Name it.” He smiled expansively.
“I’ve been enjoying your band all night, they’re fantastic. Would you mind awfully if I sang a number with them?”
“Not at all, Your Grace,” he beamed, his forehead smoothing out. “We’d be pleased as punch to have ya.”
“Please, call me Anja.”
“Would ya like me to introduce ya proper?”
“Oh, no, not to the crowd or anything. Maybe to the band so they don’t think I’m a crazy person stepping up on stage with them.”
“They’d never think that, ma’am,” he assured me quickly.
Rob still watched me avidly, but his shoulders relaxed once he saw me follow Charley up on the stage. We waited for them to finish their current song before he introduced me briefly and we shared a few whispered words as I explained what I wanted. They seemed keen to have a singer for a change, and the next thing I knew, I was out in front of the crowd, everyone looking up at me expectantly.
The music swelled as the band began playing one of my favorites, It Had to be You. Not like the Harry Connick Jr. version, but slow and real torchy. I looked out across the club, finding Rob’s eyes on me as I sang, and the words pretty much summed up everything. How I was feeling toward him, how nobody else made me feel the way he did, and how nobody else would do. Bishop might toss out the hint every now and again that he still cared, but it didn’t matter. I wanted someone to love me for who I was, not who they wanted me to be.
I was vaguely aware that the crowd stopped staring once I got going and started to dance, but all my attention was focused on the man in the room who’d crept into my heart. His face gave nothing away as I sang, no sign that he approved or was even aware that my words pertained to him in particular. But I knew he was a tightly controlled man, and I knew they had to get to him on some level.
As the song drew to a close, the band traded grins over the enthusiastic applause, and the leader gave me a hopeful smile. “Another?”
“No, thank you,” I begged off. I wanted to get back to the table, hoping the song did the trick and penetrated through Rob’s bad mood. “I think I need a drink. But maybe some other time.”
Felix and Bridget met me at the table before I could get to Rob, and Felix kissed my cheek with gusto. “Honey, we have got to get you a booking for them golden pipes. Say the word and I’ll get right on it.”
“No thanks, I have enough on my plate with the Elder thing.”
“Are you sure? We’ve got a lot going on right now with the Gathering and all, but most of the time it runs pretty smooth. It doesn’t need to be a full time gig – Tommy used to take plenty of time for his own interests.”
Maybe once I would have jumped at such an offer, especially since it didn’t fill me with dread to take the stage now, but that wasn’t the life for me anymore. “Not that I don’t trust you to do a bang up job, but I want to take a closer interest in things than Tommy did.”
“You got it, boss. But like I said, you ever want to make a splash in the music scene, say the word. I know a lot of people.” With that, he squired Bridget back onto the dance floor as something lively came on.
“Did you like it?” I asked Rob, as I took my seat again between him and Gunnar.
“Very much,” he replied softly, looking away.
“How about that dance now?”
“No, thank you, miss.”
So that’d be a no on the thawing factor. “Alright,” I replied, trying not to sound too disappointed. There were plenty of others willing to take me for a spin on the dance floor, but after Rob’s rejection, I wasn’t much in the mood for it. The rest of the night left me feeling somewhat subdued, though I still enjoyed the atmosphere. I even got talked into one more song, choosing He Needs Me by Nina Simone. This time Rob didn’t look at me once through the whole song, even though I knew he was a fan.
After that, I knew it was time to go home. Well, back to the mansion. It was getting late anyway and I had that meeting with Macallister to prep for. Right before we got into the house, I tried a last ditch effort to talk to Rob for a minute, holding him back by the car when the others went inside.
“Won’t you tell me what’s bothering you? I don’t like things being so strained between us.”
“This isn’t the time or place to get into it,” he said shortly, eyes on the guards by the front door.
“Fine the
n.” I hustled him past the security checkpoint and dragged him into my usual parlor. “What is it?”
Rob adjusted the cuffs of his shirt rather than meeting my gaze. “You should be more careful how you treat me in public, that’s all.”
“What are you talking about? I’m always nice to you whether we’re in public or private.”
“That’s what I mean, you’re too familiar with me. People will begin to talk, especially when you single me out like you did tonight.”
Is that what he was mad about? It wasn’t like I planted a kiss on him in the middle of the club. “Wait… you were already having a hissy before we even got to the club. What else is bothering you?”
“Nothing that matters.”
“It matters to me. What is it? Did I do something?” How was I supposed to not do it anymore if he didn’t tell me what it was?
“No, it’s nothing you did. And there’s nothing to be done for it.” His jaw tightened, his whole posture tense. “You deserve to be happy, I’ve no call to make you feel badly for it.”
“You lost me.” I stared at him blankly.
Rob loosened his tie, leaning against the desk, and he still wouldn’t meet my eyes. “I heard you and your boy talking tonight out under the stars.”
“You’re talking about Bishop?”
“Yeah, and I heard him as good as tell you he still cares. I told you, it’s nothing you’ve done wrong. I just didn’t expect to walk up on it is all.”
So that’s what had him all bunched up? “You were eavesdropping?”
“I wouldn’t have approached you at all if Tucker hadn’t sniffed me out. I’d have left you to it.”
Unbelievable. Here he’d been giving me the cold shoulder all night over that? “You suck, you know that?”
His shoulders hunched. “I know I had no right to listen in on your private affairs.”
“No, I mean you suck at eavesdropping. You think Bishop and I are getting back together?” He must not have heard the whole conversation.
“You don’t have to deny it. Like I said, you’ve every right to happiness.”
“Did you hear the part where he basically said he preferred to live in misery with Carys – even knowing she was compelling him – than believing what we had was real?”
“I’m sure he didn’t say anything of the sort.”
“He may as well have.” I pushed myself into his personal space, forcing him to look at me. “Rob, Bishop and I are over. I might’ve been clinging to some romantic notions when we first got here, but it’s pretty clear we’re in two completely different headspaces. Not to mention the fact that he’s shacking up with Angel.”
“I’m sure if you crooked your finger he’d drop her in a heartbeat. He’d be a fool not to.”
“Didn’t you hear what I sang to you? I don’t care if Bishop’s starting to realize what he threw away. It’s you I’m falling for.” I didn’t know if it was love yet, but Rob was the one I wanted to be with.
His hazel eyes were haunted instead of happy when I said the words. “You ought not to be saying such things so openly.”
“Why not? I don’t care who knows how I feel about you.”
“Well, I do,” he scowled. “This is what I’m talking about. You can’t go around showing me anything more than friendship. Do you think Felix or Bridget won’t notice?”
“Felix doesn’t care, and Bridget already knows there’s something going on between us.” I hadn’t talked to her about Rob since that one night in Malibu, but I was pretty sure anyone who spent any amount of time around us could tell we were more than friends.
Rob grabbed me by the arms hard enough to make me wince. “Do you think I’m telling porkies when I say that Jakob could very easily kill me, my sister, even you if the mood strikes?”
“Rob… I don’t think he’d ever actually hurt me.”
“I’ve seen it before.”
“Who?”
“That’s all I’ll say on the subject.” He let me go, thumbs brushing over the red splotches on my skin that already started to fade. “But please, I beg you, bury this thing between us. Bury it deep where it’ll never see the light of day again.”
“You don’t mean that,” I breathed. He wanted me to pretend like it didn’t exist?
“I don’t want to have to leave again, but I will if I think that’ll keep you safer than staying by your side.”
My stomach clenched into a hard little ball of dread. “You wouldn’t really leave again, would you?”
“Try me.”
*
“No more meetings for tonight,” I waved to Felix as I passed through the sitting room in our shared suite. “Put off Macallister, I’ll meet with him tomorrow night instead.”
“The Masque is tomorrow night,” he frowned.
“Fine, then the night after. It’s not like we can’t talk to him once we get home anyways. I’m tired.”
Felix held his hands up. “Alright, you got it, boss. Hey honey, how about you come and add a little sugar to soften the blow?” he asked with a wink for Bridget.
“Sure thing,” she agreed readily, pausing by my door as an afterthought. “Are you okay?” she mouthed.
I nodded, adding a smile I didn’t feel. Bury it deep, he’d said. That meant no talking to Bridget about it. I could see the wisdom in it, even if I didn’t agree with Rob. There was no telling what Bridget and Felix covered in their pillow talk, and I’d rather not lose Rob altogether.
They left, and I sent Gunnar on his way while Rob was in the bathroom tidying up for the night. “You don’t have to sleep outside my door at night, Tucker,” I called out to the werewolf when he took off his suit coat and tie.
“I don’t m-mind.”
“You’re a good friend,” I smiled softly.
“Don’t be sad. He c-cares about you.” His head dipped so that the hair fell in front of his eyes as he spoke, and I remembered that he’d been privy to not only my conversation with Bishop, but some with Rob as well. Tucker knew more about me than most people did.
“Maybe so, but that doesn’t mean we’ll ever be together.”
“He doesn’t love her, I can tell.”
“Love who?” My brows drew together in puzzlement.
“Angel. She’s always h-hanging all over him, but most of the time he’s mean to her. He’s been sad ever since you left.”
He meant Bishop. And here I thought he’d been talking about Rob. That was for the best, I realized. “Thanks for telling me that, Tucker. But I wouldn’t hold my breath on the chance that we’ll ever get back together again. That ship has sailed.”
His forehead puckered, but he didn’t say anything in response. Instead he started to take his shoes off, and I bid him goodnight and closed the door before I got an eyeful.
Rob appeared, smelling faintly of soap. “Told you. He wants you back.”
“It doesn’t matter what he wants. It doesn’t matter what you want, or what I want.” I closed the bedroom door behind me, leaning on it for a long moment. “Nothing matters.”
Chapter Twenty
I let myself mope for the rest of the night, swimming around in it, listening to sad, sappy songs at full volume with my earbuds on. But the next night when I rose, I bottled it all away. I had other things to worry about. I called Macallister myself and apologized for blowing him off the night before. He seemed to take it in stride, assuring me it wasn’t a big deal and he looked forward to rescheduling.
“How about now?” I suggested, still feeling guilty for shirking my duty.
“Sure, if you don’t mind missin’ the first part of that fancy shindig tonight.”
“Oh right, the masque.” I’d have to spend extra time getting ready for it, but the entertainment wasn’t supposed to start until midnight, as I understood it. “How about you come over before it starts and we’ll see if we can’t hammer this thing out?”
“You got it, darlin’. I’ll be there in two shakes.”
That gave me enough
time to print out a counter proposal for him, like I’d talked about with Felix. It also gave me time to help Bridget into her dress, but just barely. I got her corseted within an inch of her life in a heavy dress of burgundy velvet. Instead of the ladies spilling out the top, the dress had been cut to accommodate her generous curves and she looked absolutely stunning in it. I still hadn’t had a chance to open my package and check out my own dress yet, but I was sure it’d be gorgeous.
Macallister showed up with a jaunty knock just as I’d started helping her untie the rag curls she’d set before going to sleep, and she waved me off to go take care of business.
“Hey there, cous’,” he grinned, looking very sharp in his tuxedo. I had to admit, the guy did clean up nicely, with the scruff gone for once and his shaggy blonde hair slicked back. “I expected to find ya all gussied up for the party.”
“I’ll get ready after our talk. We work before we play around here,” I replied, waving him into the sitting room.
“Can’t we do both?” he winked, taking a seat on my sofa.
I shot Rob a look, but his face was completely devoid of any expression. “Sorry, I never mix business with pleasure.”
“Well, ain’t that a cryin’ shame,” Mac grimaced, leaning forward eagerly. “I expect that means you’re ready to deal?”
“It does.” I smiled, sliding my counter offer to him across the coffee table. Mac took the proposal, shrewd eyes scanning it before he spotted the bottom line. He let out a low whistle, leaning back against the couch again.
“For that amount, I could hire my own army to defend the homestead on the off chance that anyone comes a’knockin’ on our door.”
“You could,” I allowed. “But it wouldn’t give you legitimacy. In addition to formalizing this treaty between Texas and the West, I’m prepared to lobby on your behalf to have Texas recognized by the other Houses.”
Macallister recovered his smile. “Ya don’t say.”
“I do,” I smiled back, pleased to see he held that as something of value. “I’m not guaranteeing it’ll work. I’m the new kid on the block, so I don’t have a whole lot of say in the matter, but I’ll be in your corner. So, what do you think?” I put the pressure on, taking a page from Corley.
