Point of No Return (33 page)

I nodded. “I’ll see you tonight.” Before I
lost my nerve, I teleported, ending up in Hayden’s kitchen. Serena
was there waiting.

The sight of her immediately put me at ease.
“Are you ready?” I said, giving her a smile. “I’m sorry I’m so
late.”

“Don’t mention it, Sar. I know how it goes,”
she said smiling. “Sometimes they go all night.”

Whoa, complete TMI.
To cover my lack
of reply, I quickly got out one of the cookbooks I had bought when
I’d been out with Lash, and paged through it to the baking section.
“How does banana bread and apple pie sound for today?”

“Great,” she said. “I told Vince last night
about your teaching me to cook. He asked if we would be making pie.
He keeps in touch with Brian, and Brian has told him what a good
cook you are.”

I didn’t want to make anything for Vince. I
still thought of him and Kev as marginal jerks for attacking my
house that night. But to be fair, I’d forgiven Devlin, the
ringmaster behind that attack. Vince and Kev had just been
following his orders. Serena would be the one making him pie. I was
just the one teaching her how to do it.

I showed her how to mash the bananas, and
crush up the nuts in the new blender. We made a double batch, with
her completing the second one. Soon, the smell of baking bread
permeated the kitchen.

“We have about an hour,” I said, washing my
hands. “Let’s work on the pie. It won’t take long.”

I showed her how to work the food processor,
and how to prepare the filling. “Pie crust is easy, provided you
have a good pastry cutter and a good rolling pin.” I showed her how
to make the dough, but as before, I let her do all the work.

Serena was quieter that Cia or Janice had
ever been when we’d cooked together. While some of it might be her
personality, I chalked it up to her not knowing me that well. I
could understand that. I was a little shy myself.

“Is that it?” she said worriedly. “It doesn’t
look right.”

“You flute the edges with your fingers,” I
said, demonstrating the technique. “Or use a fork. The prettiest
thing to do is use cookie cutters.”

“But we aren’t making cookies,” she said, her
brow knitting.

“You can use them to form the pie dough into
shapes. Here is a leaf one, or a heart one, if you prefer.” I
offered them to her. Serena blushed, then took the leaf one.

I showed her how to lay the leaves on the
edge to make a border, and then I brushed the pie with cinnamon and
sugar. “It’s done,” I said with approval. “When the bread comes
out, let the stove heat up to a higher temperature for the pie, and
then put it in for the set time. The timer is right here.”

“Thanks,” Serena said, giving me a smile. “I
appreciate you doing this for me. I wasn’t sure you would want
to.”

“Why not?” I asked. “Because you’re part
coyote?”

She looked utterly shocked.

Shit! Maybe I wasn’t supposed to know
that?
“Sorry, if I—”

“No, because of what I do here,” she said
almost inaudibly. “The other women avoid me.”

Bitches.
I’d known I wasn’t going to
like Valerie as soon as I saw her blue eyes, that same shade
Monica’s had been. Good thing I hadn’t told her she could call me
Sar. Sarelle was good enough for her.

Serena was still quiet and crestfallen.

“What you do is important,” I said carefully.
“I don’t judge you for it. I have more than one lover. Sometimes it
happens.”

“You aren’t paid to do it,” she whispered.
“You do it because you love them.”

I had no answer to that. Instead, I busied
myself instead cleaning up some of the mess we had on the counters,
loading the dishwasher. Serena worked next to me in silence for a
while.

“This was a new recipe for me,” I said
finally. “I’d have to try it, the next time I make a pie for
Theo—”

“Is it true that you were with Lash?” she
said suddenly.

I froze. “Why do you ask?”

“I’m sorry,” she stammered. “I—”

“Before I answer, who is within hearing
distance?” I said, turning around to face her. I didn’t want anyone
else to hear me confirm that, much less any details.

“No one,” she said, closing her eyes and
listening. “I don’t hear anyone moving.”

“Yes, I was,” I said, still working. “What is
it you want to know?”

“I’m sorry—”

“You must want to know something particular
or you wouldn’t be asking,” I said bluntly. “Just ask your
question. Unless it’s crass, I’ll answer it.”

“I understand that the nature of your
pregnancy compelled you to seek out a lover,” she said carefully.
“I want to know if you were afraid.”

Afterwards, when I came to my senses.
“Yes and no,” I said awkwardly.

“I’m afraid of him,” she said, shivering.
“I’m afraid to be alone with him.”

If she had a reason, I didn’t want to know
it. “Some men are...um...”

She shook her head. “No. He’s never hurt me
in the months I’ve been in Dalcon’s employ.”

Did that mean he’d hurt her before
that?
“I think he likes people to be afraid of him. Dev and he
are much the same. They thrive on fear, on making others cower
before them.”

Serena nodded agreement. “Having been with
him, are you afraid of him now?”

I shook my head. “I’m not afraid he’ll hurt
me. I’m afraid I’ll want him again, though.”

“Was he bad?” Serena said curiously.

Her earnestness caught me off guard, breaking
the tension like a snapped rubber band. I began laughing
hysterically, almost crying. Serena looked at me quizzically for a
moment, then joined in.

It was good to laugh. If I could laugh,
things weren’t that bad. “Sorry,” I managed. “It’s just good to
share this with another woman.” I met her eyes. “I couldn’t tell
anyone, you know?”

Serena nodded.

“No,” I answered, wiping my eyes. “He was
good, very good actually. He did what I needed him to do. It was
over pretty quickly.”

“Are you sorry?” she asked.

I turned to her. “Yes. I took vows that I
take seriously. When I’m like this, I just don’t care about
anything so long as I’m sated. Most of all, I’m scared it’ll happen
again. I don’t like not being in control.”

“I understand,” she said. “I won’t ask again
about it, Sar.”

“It’s okay.” I managed a smile. “I want to be
your friend. We’ll get to be friends faster, if we share some
truths like these with one another. Tell me a secret, Serena.”

“All right,” Serena replied. “I wanted you to
teach me skills mostly because I was lonely. I miss having a woman
to talk to.”

“Why do the jerks here give you grief?” I
asked.

Serena knew whom I meant. “The usual,” she
said, sighing. “They’re afraid I’ll bed their mates, should they
turn up at my door asking.” She made a face. “As if I wanted more
lovers.”

“I understand that, girlfriend,” I said,
grinning. We both burst out laughing.

The oven beeped. Serena carefully took out
the banana bread and set it to cool on a wire rack.

I changed the oven temperature. “You’re set.
When the light goes off, put the pie in and set the timer. When it
goes off, let the pie cool on the rack. The bread will be done by
then.”

Her face fell.

I put my hand on her shoulder. “I’ll be back
after I see Dev. He needs some help.”

“Ah,” she said, with a knowing smile. “I’ll
see you later then.”

“Not that kind of help. Paperwork,” I
elaborated as I walked away, flushing.

I went upstairs, and knocked on Devlin’s
bedroom door. “Room Service.”

“Come in,” he said, aroused.

I went in. Dev was lying on his side. “Want
to come, under the covers with me?” he proposed, giving me a sly
look.

“Always playing with words,” I said, kissing
him on the forehead. “I’m here for business, Dev, not for pleasure.
Or did you just send Lash out of jealousy?”

Devlin sighed, and rolled over on his back.
“Lash said Danial kicked him out of your rental house. He said
something to Danial, didn’t he?”

“Yeah. He insinuated that he would be having
me again, if he got the chance.”

“That’s just the truth,” Devlin said,
shrugging. “I thought it was something bad. Never mind.”

I rolled my eyes. “Whatever.”

Devlin shoved off his covers, and got up,
walking nude to his closet. I watched him, rapt. He was everything
a woman could want in a man, in a lover. The irritating thing was
he knew it. He put on a little show for me, turning his body so I
could see him fully as he dressed.

“Stop teasing!” I said, trying not to smile.
“You’re going to make me reconsider.”

“Too late,” Devlin said with a lofty look.
“I’m dressed now. You missed your chance.”

His ego had reached epic proportions. Yet if
I hurt his pride, he might get angry. His self-esteem was easily
bruised, despite how gorgeous he was. “My bad.”

“Come with me.” He led me out of his bedroom,
down the stairs, and into the basement. He went through Titus’s
workshop to a door in the cellar wall.

“Dev, where are we going?” My voice sounded
shrill in the darkness.

“Scared?” Devlin purred, then ran his fingers
down my arm.

“Show me what you brought me here to help you
with or I’m leaving now,” I said angrily. “Enough already with the
games.”

Devlin took my hand and led me through the
door into a passageway. The walls were stone, and there were many
doors along both sides. “Is this your dungeon?” I whispered, being
careful to stay in the center of the room, away from the doors.

“No,” Devlin laughed, almost roaring in his
mirth. “This is storage. Look for yourself.”

I stepped closer to one of the doors. He was
right. There was furniture and some boxes, everything covered in
protective plastic, and a layer of dust and cobwebs.

“The dungeon is through the other door, off
Titus’s lab,” Devlin said gently. “There is no one there now,
anyway. But stay out of there, Sar. It is no place for you.”

Fucking A. Like I would
want
to go
there
. “Sure. Lead on.”

I followed him down the third door on the
right. He gave the handle a twist. Despite the gothic look of the
hallway, the room itself was carpeted and painted white. There were
filing cabinets along one wall, and along the other, there were
many stacks of boxes. “What is all this?” I asked.

“Financial records,” Devlin said. “Deeds.
Birth Certificates. Employee Records. Receipts.”

“For how many years?” I said.

“All of them,” Devlin said, his eyes going
over the boxes.

Holy shit. This would take years to sort
through.
“Are the filing cabinets full?”

“No, they’re empty. I had them delivered
yesterday, when you said you would help. I have never wanted to do
this, and never trusted anyone else to know my business as
completely as you will when you are done sorting through this
mess.”

“Do you have a shredder? There has got to be
some stuff you don’t need here.”

“I need the deeds, the birth certificates,
and employee records going back thirty years. Save all of Lash’s.
His records will go back much longer. Tax stuff should be in an
accountant’s portfolio for each year since income tax began. I need
only the last ten years for that as well.”

“I’m surprised you don’t get nailed for all
the illegal profits you make,” I said sarcastically.

“I overpay my taxes, by quite a bit,” Devlin
said loftily. “So long as Uncle Sam gets his due, I’m left to my
own devices.”

I looked around me.
Where to start?
“Are they in any kind of order?”

“No,” Devlin said sheepishly. “I never did
anything except label them by decade or year.”

Well, I’d asked for it.
“I’ll get
started,” I said, kissing his cheek. “It’ll take a while, but I’ll
get it done.”

“I’m going back to bed,” Devlin said, eyeing
me like the kiss had reminded him who I was. “Work until three,
then come up to me.”

It wasn’t an order, but it had been more than
an invitation. “I’ll be there.”

“I’ll send Lash down on my way upstairs,”
Devlin said. “He won’t bother you.”

Again, he wasn’t asking. I nodded.

After he left, I began to go through the box
from the past three years. Using the manila folders, paper clips,
highlighters, fine tipped markers, plastic tabs and hanging folders
provided by Devlin, I began to organize the files. Lash came in
just as I finished putting the last of the tax packets into the
filing cabinet. He sat down in a chair he’d brought and began to
read a book called
The Tibetan Book of the Dead
.

Whether he was ignoring me out of nastiness
or just being professional wasn’t apparent. Either way, I was glad
of it. It made things easier.

* * * *

By one p.m., I had to break the silence. “I’m
headed upstairs for lunch.”

Lash looked up, his expression considering. I
expected him to make some snide comment, like he was ready to be
eaten or something. Instead, he just nodded his head.

“I’ll go up with you,” he hissed.

He followed me up to the kitchen. Serena’s
pie lay cooling on the rack. I left her a hasty note saying it had
come out nicely and that I’d see her this weekend as I waited for
him to leave. Lash remained there, hovering.

I didn’t want to eat with him. Still, he’d
been decent enough this morning. It was worth some discomfort not
to offend him. “I’m going to make a sandwich, and have some chips,”
I said, rooting around in the fridge. “Do you want me to make you
one?”

“No, but thank you for the offer,” Lash
hissed. “I will be in the dining room. I need to eat and you will
not want to watch.” As he came to the fridge, I moved aside for
him. He got out a piece of raw beef and took it into the other
room.