Page 30 of Ronen
“It’s not like you have a lot of options,” I sniped, knowing I was being pissy. “I was just the first person who could see you.”
“That is not true!”she declared, then amended.“Okay, yeah, on the seeing me part, that is true. But I wouldn’t still be here if I didn’t want to be.”
Pinching the bridge of my nose, I sighed. I was being a shit, and I knew it.
“I’m sorry, Em. My family gave me shit the other night, and I haven’t been sleeping well. William has been a pain in my ass, with dire predictions and half-assed warnings.”
Giving her a pointed look, I asked, “You don’t have any idea what he’s blabbering on about, do you?”
“No, but I can try to find out if you want me to,”she told me.
Shaking my head, I said, “It’s okay. I’m sure it’s nothing. Just his fucked up way to try to get in my head. My grandma told him off the other night at dinner. She was very scary. She couldn’t see him, but she somehow seemed to know exactly where he was sitting in my Jeep. My family has some deep, unresolved issues where that man is concerned, and I’m kinda glad he was dead long before my cousins and I came along. I don’t think any of us would have liked him very much.”
“Your Grandma Mary is a badass,”Emily grinned.
There was a quick knock on my door, before Lindsey poked her head in.
“Hey Ro, sorry to interrupt,” she gave me a confused look at my empty hands. “Oh, I thought you were on the phone. I thought I heard youtalking to someone.”
Grabbing my cell off my desk, I lied, “Just finished a call. What’s up?”
Over the years, I had become a master of deception when I had gotten caught “talking” to myself. Usually, even in the privacy of my office, I was more careful during business hours.
She still looked a little skeptical of my explanation, but she thankfully didn’t question me further. “UPS just delivered a couple of boxes of new releases. Want me to deal with them if I have time?”
“That would be great,” I told her, shuffling her out of my office and shutting the door behind us. “Don’t worry about it if you don’t get to them. I can deal with them in the morning.”
We said our goodbyes for the second time, and I headed out, slightly disappointed when there wasn’t a colorful duck sitting on my windshield. Today of all days, I could have used the little pick me up the silly pieces of rubber gave me.
Sitting with the engine running, I didn’t make a move to put the vehicle in reverse. Instead, I stared out the windshield at the brick building, wondering what to do. It wasn’t a feeling I was used to. I was a very decisive person, always had been, but discovering that I had a fated mate, and that it was Mason, had thrown me for a loop.
There was no avoiding the man, at any rate. I needed to document his injuries, and make sure he wasn’t planning to sue the library. The fated mate issue though? For once, my extreme intelligence and logic vanished out the window.
I was reeling. And I didn’t like that feeling one bit.
“Why don’t you go talk to your brother,”Gigi’s voice startled me, and I jerked my head in her direction.“He is researching fated mates. Perhaps he can answer any questions you might have before you see Mason.”
It wasn’t a terrible idea.
Matty likely knew more about fated mates than anyone else I knew. Certainly more than me. I knew the basics, but since it wasn’t a subject that I was interested in, it hadn’t been worth my time to research it further.
“What was that nonsense earlier?” Glaring, I turned to face her.
“Don’t give me that face, boy. We were just helping you two along. My Goddess, the sexual tension alone was more than we could handle.”
“You could have seriously hurt him. And how did you even manage it?”
She shrugged,“We put all our energy into concentrating on making William’s arm…solid. And it worked! It was draining though. Now, stop being a little pisser, and go get some information from Matthew. You know how you love facts, Ronen.”
She cupped my cheek, her green eyes soft.“I would never do anything to hurt you, and I’m sorry we went to such drastic measures. But look on the bright side! You and Mason are fated. And that, my boy, is a wondrous thing. Not everyone gets a fated mate. You’re special, Ronen. You always have been. Don’t waste this opportunity because you are scared, or bored, or the countless other excuses you usually tell yourself for not getting close to someone.”
Even though I couldn’t actually feel her touch against my cheek, just a cold spot, I could see her and that was enough. Biologically, she wasn’t my grandmother, but that had never mattered.
She was, and had always been, my Gigi. Not even her death could take that away from me.
“Thanks, Gigi,” Giving her a warm smile, I started to put my Jeep in reverse, then stopped. Softly, I whispered, “I miss you.”
“Sweet boy,”she chided, her ghostly hand coming up to cover mine on the steering wheel. “I’m never far. I could never leave any of you. Goddess knows what trouble you would all get up to if I did. Now go see Matty. And then go talk to that hot, hunky cowboy of yours.”
