Page 68 of The Mermaid's Bubble Lounge
He stood, pulling me up with him. “We should get started too. I want to arrive first. I contacted Nerissa to let her know we were coming. I’d like to go inside and see if you feel anything in the corner of the room Meri was talking about.”
I brushed my hands down my dress, hoping I didn’t wrinkle it. “But what was Joao thinking?”
“I’ll explain in the car.”
I strapped on my axe and grabbed a small black handbag. When we started down the stairs, Fergus came running toward us from the den. Clive gave him a full-body scratch and then picked up a note on the counter. He barely glanced at it before stuffing it in his pocket. He turned to me with a bright smile. “Ready, darling?’
I held out my hand. “Nice try. Hand it over.”
He so did not want to. It was written all over his face. “It’s nothing. Shall we give Fergus a treat before we go? I believe Vlad already fed him dinner.”
I left my hand out and waited.
Finally, he took the crumpled paper out of his pocket and handed it to me.
In Vlad’s perfect penmanship, I read,
I’m finding it too noisy to read here. Let me know when you two are done and I’ll come back.
P.S. Fergus has been given his dinner. Have you fallen on hard times? Is there a reason the poor dog gets dry kibble?
I felt my cheeks flame, remembering my telling Clive about my hot farm boy fantasy and then what happened afterward, remembering what we had done the day before and then finding Vlad down here. The things we’d said to one another, the sounds—dear God, the sounds… I needed a hole I could drop into and stay in until old age and dementia helped me forget this moment.
Clive grabbed it from my hand again and shoved it back in his pocket as he pulled me into a hug. “I’m sorry, love. The man is a menace. Perhaps we should start leaving notes around the Viper’s Nest when he visits Stheno.”
I pulled back and stared at him. “Vlad and Stheno? That already happened?”
He nodded. “But do you see me trying to embarrass him?”
“That’s actually kind of a scary combination,” I whispered.
Clive shrugged. “It’s none of my business. I wish he felt the same about our love life.” He kissed my temple and held me tightly against him. “I can ban him from the house, if you’d like. We gave him a perfectly acceptable apartment to stay in. Just because he can walk around during the day doesn’t mean he has to walk over here.”
I patted his chest. “It’s okay.” I shook my head, like I did in my other form when I was trying to shake off unease. “I’m sure it was intended as a joke.” I pushed away and checked my bag for my phone.
“Let it go,” I told him, petting Fergus’ head, as he was leaning heavily into me. “It’s no big deal.” I got a stick of chicken jerky for my pup and then checked the back door. Why? I don’t know. No one could break in that way, but it kept me busy and moved me farther away from that note and the knowledge that someone—nope. Not going there. I needed to suck it up and brazen this out.
It was just a joke. I knew that. After everything I’d been through, though, intimacy was hard for me. Someone else listening made me feel like I’d been displayed naked on a billboard in Times Square. Whatever. I couldn’t think about it now. Later, after everyone had gone home, I could curl up in bed and deal with the humiliation. Right now, we had vamp shit to do.
“Oh. You were in a hurry,” I said, straightening my dress again and brushing off Fergus’ hair. “Sorry.” I went to the elevator and pushed the button.
Clive was beside me, taking my hand. I knew he’d feel me trembling, but he didn’t say a word.
“Be a good boy,” I called over my shoulder. “We’ll be back in a few hours.” As the elevator door slid shut, I saw Fergus climbing up on the couch and I smiled. I needed to keep my mind on my pup and not the men waiting in the garage.
The elevator door opened and Clive squeezed my hand, leading me toward the men standing by the car.
“Cadmael, can you sit in back tonight?” Clive asked. He walked me to the front passenger seat, opened the door, and then closed it for me once I was in my seat.
In the rearview mirror, I saw Clive toss the crumpled note to Vlad as he circled around the back of the car. All three vamps got in at the same time.
“Sam, I—” Vlad began.
“No,” Clive said, shutting him up.
The drive to the wharf was silent. Clive kept one of his hands wrapped around mine the whole way there.
When we pulled into the parking lot, there was a valet waiting to take our car. Clive rolled down the window. The attendant was fae. He looked in and recognized us.
