Page 10 of The Bunny Blues

Now that I knew where I was going, I was determined to get there as fast as I could.

Pushing open the front door, I stepped into the mansion and took a deep breath. I waited for the intoxicating scent of roasted meats, seasoned vegetables, and fresh bread to fill my nose—except they didn’t come.

Glancing around the foyer, I noticed most of the house lights were turned off, and a cold emptiness trickled through the house. I set my briefcase down and loosened my tie as I made my way toward the kitchen.

Turning the corner, I entered the kitchen and found Henry and Edward leaning against the counters. Both men looked as confused as I felt.

The dishes from breakfast were piled high in the sink, a faint dusting of flour coated the countertop where Ellora had rolled out the biscuits, and a dirty skillet sat on the back of the stove.

I’d been looking forward to an elegant home-cooked meal, but Ellora hadn’t even started preparing it. My annoyance flared, and my blood pressure rose.

It had been a long day at the office, where I had to deal with an ungrateful boss who barely acknowledged my existence. The last thing I wanted was to arrive home to this mess.

“Where’s Ellora?” I pinched the bridge of my nose.

“Not here,” Edward answered, his voice tight.

I looked to Henry, hoping he’d have more information.

“You know as much as we do, man.” Henry shrugged. “It doesn’t look like she’s stepped foot into the kitchen since this morning.”

“So what did she do with her day?” Anger began roiling inside me. “How did we end up with such a lazy mate? She can’t be bothered to clean up this mess? Is it too much to have something as simple as our dinner ready when we get home?”

“Maybe she was upset about Clarice, and she’s sulking?” Henry poked at the dishes in the sink before gagging and stepping back.

Edward snorted. “Did you see what a mess she was this morning? Ellora has no right to throw a fit like a child over Clarice. Especially if she can’t be bothered to make even a minimal effort with her appearance.”

I couldn’t agree more. “Ellora needs to learn she doesn’t get a say over the guests we choose to have in our house. And you saw what she looked like at the banquet. It wouldn’t hurt for her to put that same effort into her appearance here at the house as well.”

“I’m shocked you didn’t tap that before you arrived at the banquet. I’m not sure I could have resisted.” Edward licked his lips.

He wasn’t wrong.

Ellora had looked like a goddess in the clingy, velvet dress, with her hair falling wildly around her face and so much of her skin exposed for our eyes and tongues to slide across. If I hadn’t been stressed about the visiting VIPs attending the banquet and needing to impress them, we wouldn’t have made it to the dinner at all.

The only reason I hadn’t spent the night finding pleasure in Ellora’s body was that Clarice had relieved my pent-up stress in the banquet’s bathroom. It had freed me up to focus on work my boss had asked me to take care of once I got back home.

“If I hadn’t already invited Clarice to stay the night last night, I would’ve kept Ellora up all night.” Edward echoed my internal thoughts. “We need to have a sit down with her. She needs to know we expect her to put in a little more effort when it comes to keeping up her appearance.”

Henry and I nodded in agreement.

“Ellora wasn’t in her room or anywhere upstairs.” Jay strode into the room.

“That’s odd.” My brows shot up in surprise. Since Ellora had moved into the house, if she went out during the day, she was home before we returned.

Edward’s forehead creased. “Do you think she’s okay?”

Henry waved away his concern. “Get real, Ed. She’s ticked off about Clarice, I guarantee it. Just like when she stormed out of the kitchen this morning. I bet she’s shopping, probably running up the house credit card out of spite.”

I joined the guys in laughter, but his words caused something else to occur to me. “Hey, we did give her a house card, didn’t we?”

We each shook our heads.

“Huh. That means she’s been paying for all the groceries and house supplies herself.” Jay sat down on a kitchen stool.

“It isn’t like she’s broke.” Edward ran a finger through the flour on the counter. “Her parents could afford to cover her costs for a few weeks. I bet her mommy and daddy have been paying her bills for years.”

Jay’s stomach complained loudly. “So, while she’s out shopping, what are we supposed to eat?”

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