Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 109329 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 547(@200wpm)___ 437(@250wpm)___ 364(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109329 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 547(@200wpm)___ 437(@250wpm)___ 364(@300wpm)
He shrugged. “There’s no point in hiding it anymore, is there? You’ve offered me a life, and now, for the first time, I’m dreaming of a future.”
A wave of emotion overcame me. “Does she know?”
He rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly weary. “No. Nor do I know if she’ll ever give in to her feelings. Doesn’t matter if she does or she doesn’t. Hope is eternal.”
Tears pricked at my eyes. “Since when are you a poet?”
“I don’t think…that is all that poetic…?”
I laughed and hugged him. “We’re all going to get a happy ending, you’ll see. Just as soon as I’m back to exploding heads, we’ll be cooking with fire.”
“And other clichés and stuff.”
I laughed again and continued through the door. “There’s just one thing.”
“What’s that? Poetry lessons?”
“You never did tell me about your mysterious past.”
“Yeah.” He paused for a beat. “One day.”
“You know what they say…hope springs eternal.”
Mimi’s office area was empty. She was in the large back sitting room with Austin, Sue, Aljoe, and Aurora, organizing the invitations that would be sent out today. I needed to meet up with them before I met Niamh at the bar. She wanted to talk with Austin and me about something and scoffed when I suggested we do it here over dinner.
“Mind if I use a shower?” Tristan asked.
I headed for the stairs. “I told you that you don’t need to ask.”
“Mr. Tom always reminds me that a guest should ask permission to use the facilities.”
I sighed. “I’ll tell him you’re welcome anytime.”
“Why in the world would you spoil my fun?”
I rolled my eyes, smiling.
After a shower and with my hair still wet, I headed down to the others. Tristan had beaten me there, now drinking out of a white mug. Coffee, probably.
A table was pushed against the far wall with the extravagant, personalized invitations spread across them in various groups.
“You cannot hold grudges, Austin Barazza.” Mimi arched an eyebrow at him as they nailed down the final list of attendees. “You have heard several of these alphas talk dirty about you. You will need to treat them as if they didn’t.”
“You’re going to single me out?” Austin pointed at Aljoe. “He’s had people talk badly about him for longer.”
“That was out of jealousy. He should flaunt that. You earned the rumors.”
I laughed, leaning against Austin’s back as he spread his hands. “I’m not still earning them, though.”
She pursed her lips. “That remains to be seen.”
Aljoe’s eyes twinkled. “It’s a pity our packs were so far away from each other. They would’ve gotten along well, I think. It’s a shame you didn’t know my dad, Naomi.”
She flicked a glance at him but didn’t comment. Aurora had told me that Mimi had lost her shit when she heard who’d joined our team—who’d be living within Ivy House. She had been beside herself, surprised and delighted and giddy to meet a legend in the flesh. I hadn’t noticed any of this, even though I’d been standing right there.
Then, another time, Aljoe had complimented Mimi on how absolutely incredible Ivy House was, each little detail adding to the extravagance of the whole and making it one of the most beautiful places he’d ever stepped inside. Apparently she’d almost fainted.
Once again, she just looked the same ol’ grump to me.
Since then, though, she’d settled back into her job, which had grown exponentially. She was now in charge of building up the territory, managing Austin’s various businesses, overseeing all the employees that workload required, and finishing the little bits of Ivy House that couldn’t wait until the visiting alphas had come and gone. She didn’t bat an eye about any of this. If she was stressed, she didn’t show it.
Then again, maybe she did and I just couldn’t tell.
“We’re set?” Austin touched a couple of the invitations before hovering his hand over a couple others in the nope pile. His indecision was plain.
“We’re at max.” Mimi stepped away. “If you want more shifters, you have to hold back some of the gargoyle invites.”
Austin let a breath out slowly. He pulled his hand away. It was important to balance the various magical types, and he knew it. This whole situation was a trial run, seeing if they could all work together. Seeing if they could put ego aside and form an alliance.
“Is the list still finalized for the gargoyles?” I looked over at Tristan.
Because this was an entirely different situation than a connection request, one that gargoyles wouldn’t be familiar with, Tristan had decided to call each individual cairn and explain the dangers.
“Yes,” he replied. “Every one of them wants to attend. We have backups as well if we want them.”
“Okay.” Austin stepped away. “That’s it, then. We’ll see if any of the shifters show up.”
“They’ll show up,” Aljoe and Mimi said together.
Aljoe inclined his head for Mimi to go on.