Page 57 of Bargains with Benefits
“Luna! I’m so glad you made it.” Darius answered the door himself.
I was sure this was abnormal. Even if only he and his parents lived here, there would be household staff. My parents and grandparents lived in their house and employed ten people to keep it up.
He gestured us in. “Happy name day.”
I let Luna’s hand slip from my arm and pressed my hand briefly against her lower back as I urged her to follow her father. I’d be right behind her, but this was her night. Maybe if things went well enough for them now, she wouldn’t want to break into his study before drinks.
The house was beautiful, as I’d expected it would be. Marble floors and stone pillars decorated every room. Large portraits filled the hallways and rooms we passed. Many appeared to be of members of the family line, or pictures of Sandrin as it progressed. The Pierce family had been here since its founding. Darius greeted me courteously but seemed to appreciate my willingness to follow as he led Luna through the halls. She glanced back at me occasionally, and I smiled each time in reassurance as Darius kept chattering about the family and the house.
He didn’t sound like a fae intent on keeping magic from his daughter, but what did you really know of someone raised in polite society? They were so good at being what they needed to be in the moment. It was how I’d been raised, too.
“Vincent, your parents’ home is much the same as ours, no?” Darius asked as he led us to a formal dining room.
“I see many similarities.”
He offered me a seat and pulled the chair next to it out for Luna.
“I hope you don’t mind. We’ll eat first. The cook has said it’s ready, so I’d hate to let it get cold. We can have drinks in the parlor after the meal if you have time.”
I glanced at Luna, letting her know it was all her show.
“We’d love to,” she said.
Darius went to the corner of the room and grabbed a bottle of wine from a cart. “Eloise should be here momentarily. They’ll serve the food as soon as she comes down. Wine while we wait?”
Luna nodded, and he filled her glass. I accepted the same.
“So,” Darius said as he sat with his own glass, leaving the bottle on the table. He finally turned his attention to me. “Any new recommendations I should know about?”
My shoulders tensed, as I wasn’t exactly sure how to answer that. The next new recommendation would be Luna’s. I’d started working on it earlier this week. I looked at her helplessly.
She shrugged. “He might be working on a piece for me, for Cliff House, if we can work some things out.” She let the sentence hang there. Her words broke my heart a little. I told myself not to panic. She might be referring to the fact of the locked room and whatever magic prevented visitors from coming to the inn. She couldn’t still be worried I wouldn’t write the recommendation without her upholding her side of the bargain. Nothing could be further from the truth, but sharp fear slid down my spine as I replayed our conversations and realized I hadn’t told her that.
My wind thrashed in my chest as if to sayYou still have time.
Darius’s eyes narrowed like he wasn’t sure how he felt about her statement, but suspicion was absolutely on the list of emotions appearing on his face. “Is he now?”
I coughed. “It’s a beautiful property. I can’t believe it doesn’t get more attention.”
“Neither can I,” Darius said flatly, lifting his wine glass to his lips. He paused and glanced at me like he had me in checkmate, though I had no idea what game we were playing. “Don’t you only feature fae establishments?” His words soundedalmost pained, but his eyes narrowed in anticipation of my response.
Luna frowned, and Darius flinched, catching her reaction out of the corner of his eye. He must have realized how the question sounded to her. “I didn’t mean—” he started. “Luna, I meant he only featured establishments that obviously cater to old fae, not that you weren’t fae.”
Well, he had not minced words with that one. However, I couldn’t fault him for clearing things up so directly for Luna. I laughed as I brought my wine glass to my lips and sipped. “Tell me how you really feel, Darius.” It felt odd to speak so frankly with him. I was, after all, the fae—how had she phrased it?—seeing his daughter. His estranged daughter, all things considered, so I wasn’t sure how much his opinion counted.
I glanced at Luna as I thought the wordseeing. How close to the truth did that come for her? It had felt that way when we visited my past recommendations together, even through our missteps. It had felt that way when she kissed me today at the cottage and again in the carriage. This was another item I needed to clear up as soon as possible. I wanted to beseeingher.
She reached for my thigh under the table and squeezed. It was more than reassuring.
“I won’t apologize, Vincent. Your family’s opinions are well known. I want to make sure my daughter knows that.”
“You’ll get no complaint from me if you decide to start being protective of her. I’d say it’s up to her if she’ll allow it, though.”
Darius flushed and opened his mouth, no doubt to respond harshly.
“Father.” The single word brought the male to a standstill. Luna must have realized its effect but was merciless as she wielded it. “I told you Vincent was important to me. I’d appreciate it if you at least tried to get to know him, separate from what you know of his family, before jumping to conclusions.”
Darius looked chastised in a way I could never imagine my father being by anything I said. In fact, I couldn’t imagine my father and I ever having a conversation mirroring this.
