Dangerous Dalliances (Maxwell Investigations) (12 page)

Within
minutes, they stood facing a surprised bellboy. Pierre looked at the boy and
smiled. “I’ll take it from here, Danny,” he said calmly. “Don’t worry; I’ll
make sure you get your gratuity.”

With
a shy nod, Danny stepped back and made his way to the service elevator. Pierre
straightened his tie and knocked on the door. “Room service,” he called.

Seconds
later, the door opened to reveal Lily. Her green eyes were sparkling with
happiness as she saw the three men at her door. “Come on in,” she chimed.

Pierre
moved the cart to the side and allowed Eric and Sloane to enter the room first.
“These two gentlemen are here to see you and Mr. Maxwell.”

Lily
quickly hugged Sloane and then Eric. “Yes, this is Barry’s brother, Eric, and
this is his husband Sloane. They can have access up here any time.”

Pierre’s
smile turned more genuine. “Of course,” he said before turning back to the
hallway for the cart. “I’ll add their names to the computer as soon as I get
back down stairs.”

Lily
looked at the pair of Mages and ran a hand through her still wet hair. “What
brings you two by?” she questioned.

Eric
looked around the penthouse. “Where’s Barry?” he questioned.

Sloane
turned wide eyes to his husband. “
Don’t be an asshole
about them,” he said softly.

Lily
tucked her hair behind her ears and sighed. “History repeats itself,” she
mumbled. With a shake of her head, she went over to the cart and started
picking at the bowl of fruit she ordered.

“He’s
still getting over the stress of everything that happened at the hospital
today,” Sloane said quickly. He walked over to where Lily was standing and took
her hand into his. “He doesn’t mean it half as bad as it sounds.”

“It
doesn’t matter,” she said with another shake of her head. She looked at the
pair for a long moment and smiled. “They wanted you to come and stay here with
us, didn’t they?” she asked. When Sloane rubbed the back of his neck, she laughed.
“You guys can take the guest room upstairs if you want it. I think it might be
time to pack my father’s things and move up into his room.”

Sloane
smiled at her. “We don’t want to put you out,” he started.

The
expression on her face saddened for a moment. She forced her mood to lighten
and looked at her best friend. “Don’t worry about it,” she said before turning
back to the meal in front of her. She then frowned when she realized she didn’t
have enough food for all four of them. “Do you want me to order you
two anything
?”

Eric
walked over to one of the sofas and sat down. “Can I talk with you, Lilavanti?”
he asked.

She
blinked at him. Everyone had started calling her Lily; it was almost weird
hearing her full name. She smiled at Sloane. “If you go upstairs, hang a right,
that’s the office. The view is to die for,” she said before walking over to the
sofa.

Eric
watched as Sloane made his way upstairs. A soft smile crossed his face. “He’s
worried about me,” he said lowly. As Lily nodded, he sighed. “I think I might
be a little worried about me too.”

“It’s
understandable. You’ve spent almost a year in a coma. When you wake up,
everything’s turned upside down. I’m just sorry that I’ve added to that.” Lily
tucked her legs under her as she looked at Eric. She blinked at the serious look
in his eyes. “Eric?” she questioned.

Eric
took a slow breath. “Are you sure he’s who you want?” he asked seriously. “He’s
never been the best in a relationship.”

“Neither
have I,” Lily said with a shake of her head. When Eric fell silent, she reached
out and took his hand. “But I can honestly say Barry and I have no idea what
we’re doing. If he gets tired of me, or vice versa, we’ll end it with no hard
feelings. I think he and I just need to give whatever this is between us a
chance.”

Eric
reached out and touched a lock of her hair. “If he steps out of line, you tell
me,” he said with all of the authority of an older brother.

Lily
laughed. “I’ll do no such thing.” When Eric smiled at her, she leaned over and
kissed his cheek. “And while I thank you for wanting to protect me, here’s
where I have to say, I’m a big girl.”

“You
can see the whole harbor from in here,” Sloane said as he came to the top of
the stairs.
“Straight out across the bridge and everything.”

Eric
chuckled as he watched his husband. “Quickest way to a Metal Worker’s heart,”
he sighed.

Lily
stood and went to the refrigerator. “Like I said if you two want anything just
order
from room service. Barry is sleeping in my room.” She
held her hand up at their questioning looks. “No, I will not talk about it.”
She blushed as she pulled out a bottle of water. Her gaze fell to the box
Father Daniel had given her. She lifted it into her hands and looked it over.
“This was going to be the first thing I took a look at.”

“What
is it?” Sloane asked as he sat next to Eric.

“Apparently,
the priest in the hospital’s chapel is Fae. Someone a few centuries ago gave
this to him.” Lily opened the box and felt her frown deepen when she felt the
magic the box contained. Inside, there was a black knife and book. Lily looked
at Sloane and Eric as she picked the knife up and showed it to them. When the
light hit the blade, Lily saw that it wasn’t black. It looked as if it was made
from some sort of gemstone. Her hands started to tremble as she continued to
stare at the blade.

Eric
frowned and slowly approached Lily. “Lila... Lily,” he said softly. When wild
eyes looked at him, he held out his hand. “Let me see the knife,” he told her.

Lily’s
entire body started trembling. Her fingers curled around the hilt of the blade
as she felt the seductive caress of power. It would be simple enough to reach
forward and slit his throat. She backed away a step and inhaled through her
mouth. Those thoughts weren’t hers. Eric and Sloane are her friends.
Her best friends.
Sloane was close enough that she
considered him family. “I can’t,” she breathed.

“Baby,”
Barry said from the bedroom door.

Lily
turned to look at him. He stood quietly wearing nothing but the bed sheet. His
entire torso was a work of art. She blinked at him. “You should still be
asleep,” she said softly.

A
smirk crossed his face. “I got lonely,” he explained. Ignoring his brother and
Sloane, Barry approached Lily. He frowned at the blade in her hand. “What’s
that?” he asked darkly.

She
looked at the artifact in her hand and frowned. “I can’t put it down,” she said
softly. As Barry started to come closer, she took another step back. “I don’t
want to hurt you. So stay back.”

Barry
paused for a moment. His trademark smirk crossed his face again. “I never tried
knife play before. It could be
kinda
kinky.” When
startled eyes looked at him, he smiled. “We could do a whole cop versus
Catwoman
thing. Or do you think I’d be a better Batman?”

A
laugh escaped her. She couldn’t help it. The pleasure coming from the knife was
slowly being eclipsed by her feelings for Barry. Her eyes glowed as she looked
at him. “I thought you’d want to be Superman,” she said as he stepped even
closer to her.

He
stopped and frowned deeply. “Why would I want to be faster than a speeding
bullet?” he asked. “It’s the slow strokes that win a woman over.”

Eric
and Sloane both made sounds of disgust as Lily found herself laughing. She
closed her eyes when she felt his arms wrap around her tenderly. “Barry,” her
voice trailed off when his teeth gently bit on her earlobe. “Did you forget
about Sloane and Eric?” she asked. She squeaked when he bit down on her ear.

“Let
them find their own girl,” he mumbled before kissing her.

Lily’s
whole body went limp in his arms. The tension that had been in her muscles was
suddenly gone as she wrapped her arms around his neck. She frowned when she
heard a soft thud on the carpet. Lily pulled away from Barry’s kiss and could
only blink as he moved her away from the blade. “Get that thing away from me,”
she whispered as she backed away from Barry as well.

Eric
quickly grabbed the knife and moved away from his brother. He frowned as he
felt the power coming from it. “What the hell is this?” he asked as Sloane
removed the small leather bound book from the box.

Sloane
quickly flipped through the small book. The flowing handwriting made him pause
for a moment. “It looks like someone’s journal,” he said lowly. “We may need to
get everyone here.”

Lily
shook her head as she crossed the room and took the journal away from Sloane.
“I’m tired of always waiting for everyone,” she said opening the book. “If you
want to call them all, go ahead. But I need to know what this says.”

Barry
watched as she went over to the chair farthest away from the blade in the box.
He knew that Eric and Sloane were tired of the secrets members of their family
held. But he also knew Lily was right. This wasn’t the time to be diplomatic.
Barry glanced at the two other men in the room before turning his attention
back to Lily. “I’m going to put some clothes on,” he said walking over to her.
When she looked up at him, he couldn’t stop himself. He leaned over and stole a
kiss from her. “If we weren’t pressed for time, I’d tell you to come help me.”

Lily
laughed as Sloane and Eric and made choking noises. “Go,” she ordered. “I’ll be
right here if you need anything.”

A
mischievous smirk crossed his face as he leaned over to her ear. “You know, I
also have this cop and hot librarian fantasy too,” he whispered.

She
looked at him and returned his smile. “I control the handcuffs next time
they’re in play,” she said before kissing him again. This time she laughed as
she pushed him away. “Now, I have
work
to do. Stop
tempting the Succubus.”

Barry
chuckled as he listened to her. As he went back to his room, he looked at Eric
and Sloane. “What?” he asked.

Eric
looked at Lily before looking at his brother. Sloane tried to tell him Barry
was different with Lily. Now, for the first time in a long while Eric saw his
younger brother happy. He stood and approached the forgotten cart of food. With
a smirk, Eric lifted a plate cover and saw a steak dinner. “I’m giving you two
minutes. Then I’m confiscating this,” he said simply.

Barry’s
eyes narrowed. “You touch my steak, I’m going to have to put you back in the
hospital,” he warned before going into the room.

Sloane
laughed as the door closed. There were just some things not even a good woman
could change. He went over to Lily and sat in the chair beside her. “I won’t
even ask what all of that was about,” he said as he pilfered a piece of fruit.

A
soft blush crossed her face. “Good. I wasn’t going to answer if you did.” Lily
turned to the first page of the journal and settled herself in.

Sloane
smiled as he made himself comfortable next to Lily. He then winked at Eric when
the other man raised an eyebrow at him. “But I will ask if he was any good.”

The
soft blush soon turned to fire across her face. “Sloane!” she gasped as she
looked at him. When he nearly fell over laughing, she looked at Eric. A laugh
escaped her when she saw the look of disgust mixed with humor in his eyes. She
shook her head and gently pinched Sloane in his arm. “You’re horrid,” she
scolded. Lily’s eyes glowed soft green as she leaned in close to Sloane’s ear.
“But he was very,
very
good.” This time Sloane did fall over laughing,
making her laugh as well. She turned to the journal in her hands and pretended
to ignore the Mage that had become as close as a brother. “And if you tell him
I said so, I’ll toss the couch.”

It
was Eric’s turn to be confused. “What couch?” he asked. The bashful smile his
husband wore seemed to answer his question for him. “You kept Dylan’s old
couch?” he asked.

Lily
shrugged. “It’s comfortable,” she reasoned. Her eyes turned to the journal in
her hands. She didn’t have to read far before a single name caught her eye
.
“If you’re reading this, what I saw is about to come to pass. The Gates are
about to open again, and this time, the Necromancer is just as powerful as my
Scott. Hopefully she won’t meet the same end he did.”

Eric
sat on Lily’s other side and gently took the journal from her. He looked it
over for a moment and swallowed as he realized what he was holding. “This is
the missing journal of Michaela Crow.” He shook his head at the confused looks
he received. “She was the mother of Scott Maxwell’s children.”

Lily
tilted her head to the side. “They never married?”

Eric
shook his head. “She was black, he was white, and it was the 1800’s,” he said
simply. “Michaela was a freed slave that disguised herself as a man until the
Council found her. She was under their protection when Scott came to this area.
What resulted was our family tree.”

Sloane
blinked at him. “How do you know all of this?”

Lily
glanced at Sloane. “He used the Council’s version of Google,” she said
playfully.
When the men around her chuckled, she took the
journal back from Eric.
She turned through the pages and frowned when
she saw the final tear soaked pages. “I don’t think this is going to end well,”
she mumbled.