Page 8 of White Charms and Dark Secrets

He sits back comfortably in his seat, not looking bothered or surprised in the least by my arrival. Even worse, he’s not here alone. My face flushes as I notice several strange men watching me with a mixture of curiosity and amusement. I swallow nervously.Shit.

“Just thought I’d drop by, ask you a few questions,” I finally respond in an attempt at sounding casual as I turn back to him. I give him a sharp look though, trying to convey that I need to speak to him alone.

“Of course, sweetheart, but how about a drink first?” he offers in a charming voice. I start to stand up and object, but his arm darts around my waist, pulling me back close to his chest in an overtly familiar way.“Don’t move. Just play along.”Rhydian’s voice comes from inside my head. Not knowing who else is in the room with us or what is going on, I decide to his lead, settling back against him as I make myself comfortable.Surely he wouldn’t keep me trapped on his lap without a reason?

“That would be great,” I force out, plastering a fake smile onto my face.

“Acacia,” he calls, and I notice a petite woman step forward. I also notice her clothes, or well, the lack of them. She wears a few thin straps of fabric around her body, and nothing else. Other than her killer heels, anyway. Her long, silky black hair hangs free down her back, and sways with her body as she moves.

“What can I bring for your guest, master?” she simpers. Her voice is a soft, pleasant one, a gentle tone that could calm anyone down.

“Surprise her,” Rhydian answers, without giving me the opportunity to respond. Not that it matters, considering I won’t be drinking it. In the midst of making a mental note to yell at Rhydian for sexism too, I notice a man standing at the edge of the room, dressed in a similar fashion to Acacia. I bite my tongue. Equal opportunity employee nudity, I suppose.Why am I even surprised?I almost jump when Rhydian runs his hand up my back, but his other arm rests over my lap, keeping me in place. “Relax.”His voice commands in my head again. He runs his hand down my back again in a slow, reassuring manner.

The woman offers me a pink-coloured drink, and I take it from her hand, giving her a grateful smile. I pull it to my face and sniff it curiously. It smells sweet, almost sickeningly so. I gently set it down onto the table in front of me, and shiver as I feel Rhydian’s lips press against my shoulder in a whisper of a kiss.What the hell is he trying to do?

“Perhaps I should come back later?” one of the men suggests. I glance over at him. His hair is an almost white blond, and his piercing blue eyes are fixated on me and Rhydian.

“Maybe that would be best,” Rhydian agrees pleasantly. I glance back at the fake smile on his face.

The blond man stands, and the others in the room follow his lead in silence. “Until next time,” he says, before phasing out of the room. They all seem to pull it off in perfect synchronization, leaving me and Rhydian alone. Well, the two practically naked people are still here, too.

As if reading my mind, Rhydian turns to them next. “Leave us,” he demands. They both nod, walking to the door without a word and letting themselves out. The door clicks shut behind them as they leave.

I turn on his lap to face him, so he can see just how unamused I am with him. “What the fuck was that all about?”

“I wanted them to leave without making them ask questions about who you are, or what you’re doing here,” he answers in a casual, unconcerned manner. A smile twitches at his lips.

“What’s so funny?” I challenge, narrowing my eyes.

“You know that you can get off my lap now, right? Not that I’m saying you need to, but I just thought from your expression that you didn’t come all this way to seduce me.” The grin spreads as he sees his words registering. I jump up, managing to bump into the damned table hard enough to knock my drink over. The pink-coloured concoction seeps into the carpet.

“Fuck,” I mutter, bending to rub my knee where it got knocked. “Stupid damn table.”

“Blaming the table, are you?” He chuckles as he lifts a hand in the direction of the spilt drink. The liquid evaporates off from the carpet and the glass lifts up, setting itself back onto the table. Rolling my eyes, I walk over to the other side of the coffee table and take a seat. I glare at Rhydian. If it was anyone’s fault, it was his.Speaking of Rhydian's fault...

“Why did you kill Jay? I demand, crossing my arms as the seriousness of the situation settles back in. He looks at me in confusion.

“What do you mean?”

“You know what I mean. Are you really going to say you pretending to be some human called Gideon, working there for just a week or two, and then leaving as soon as Jay dies is a coincidence?” I grill, narrowing my eyes on him.

“Itisa coincidence. I had my own reasons for being there. While none of those reasons are your business, I swear I didn't kill him. Why I was there had nothing to do with Jay, but his death is admittedly part of why I left so abruptly. There was too much attention there to continue what I was doing, so I left. I found another in for my...project. Not that it concerns you. I’m a business man, not a murderer, Kayla.” He looks at me, his green eyes staring right into mine, and I hate that I feel myself starting to believe him.

“So, who did kill him then?” I ask sceptically, not quite ready to let it drop just yet.

“How the hell should I know, sweetheart? It's not my job to figure out who killed whom, it's your friendKier'sjob to do that.” I can almost feel the disdain in how Rhydian says his name, and I make a mental note to ask him about it at some point. That kind of animosity doesn't come from nowhere.

“We're not exactly friends,” I mutter.

“Then why did he bring you home last night?” he probes, his eyebrow raised.

“He saved me from... Wait a second, how the hell do you know about that? Are you spying on me or something?” I question.

“Spying is such a harsh word. I prefer to think of it as looking out for my friends,” he answers nonchalantly, but the furrow in his brow tells he didn’t mean to let that slip to me; he messed up.

“Whatever you want to call it, stop doing it. It's not okay, and I swear to the goddess if I catch you doing it again I'll...” I trail off.Shit, what would I do?

He smirks. “Next time maybe think through your punishment before making the threat. But I could think of a fewfunways you could torture me for revenge.”

---