The Devil Inside (20 page)

“Are you hurt?” I asked him. He didn’t answer. He didn’t have to. I remembered what I’d heard last night.

I raised my eyebrows. “You’ve had plenty of time to heal the damage.”

He shrugged, but the movement made him wince. “If I were so inclined, yes.”It offered me an unwanted glimpse into his psyche. “Would Dominic have any objection to you healing yourself?”

His chin jutted out stubbornly. “Doesn’t matter.”

Yeah, I knew what I was looking at, all right. Self-loathing: an emotion with which I was intimately familiar. It meant it wasn’t so much me he was pissed at as himself. I found myself in reluctant sympathy.

“Dominic’s demon could have told him the truth, too. It’s not all on your shoulders.”

His eyes closed and he heaved a sigh. “I still should have told him. To hell with our laws. It’s not like Dom would have told anyone else.” He opened his eyes and looked at me. “I might never forgive you for the way you did it, but I’m glad he knows the truth.”

I accepted that as gracefully as I could. I wondered how Adam had managed to get so attached to the real Dominic so quickly, but I wasn’t nosy enough to ask.

I was, however, fond enough of meddling to ask, “So is Dominic enjoying this whole martyr bit you’ve got going on?”

Adam’s sensual lips twisted into an ugly snarl. “I’d be very careful what I said if I were you.” His demon glowed in his eyes. Oh yeah, I’d hit a sore spot, all right. A smart woman would have done exactly what he suggested. I guess that means I’m not that smart.

“I know you mean to punish yourself, but I can’t see Dominic as the kind of guy who—”

He took a menacing step in my direction. “Shut. Up.”

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Jenna Black, The Devil Inside (2007)

Morgan Kingsley #1

“I would if I didn’t need your help and all, but you’re not much good to me—or to Lugh—if you’re wigging out. So I’m asking you to ask yourself who you’re hurting more by not healing yourself. My money’s on Dominic. So I suggest you cancel the pity party and heal.”

Both Adam’s fists were clenched at his sides, and the glow in his eyes was almost too bright to look at. “Damn you!”

I shrugged, trying to look casual and unworried while my insides quivered. Adam in a rage is one of the scariest things I’ve ever seen. “Some would argue that I already am.”

I watched him struggle with himself for a long time. If the struggle went the wrong way, I had a sneaking suspicion he was going to forget his scruples about needing consent to hurt someone. I felt almost as bad about this whole mess as he did, but not enough to martyr myself for it. Which begs the question, why did I set myself up for it? But some questions I don’t want to ponder.

Finally, the glow in his eyes died. His shoulders sagged, and he shook his head with what looked like disgust.

“You’re right. I’m being a self-absorbed idiot.”

“So you’ll heal yourself?”

He nodded.

We both jumped at the sound of clapping hands. I guess we’d both been so focused on our staring contest, neither one of us had noticed Dominic opening the door. His eyes were brighter, more alive than I’d ever seen them.

“Brava!” he said, still clapping as he looked at me. “I never thought I’d see anyone best Adam in a battle of wills.”

“Fuck you,” Adam said, but there was no heat in his words. Dominic grinned wider. “Any time, handsome.”

Apparently, he’d forgotten to be bashful around me. I’d have been embarrassed, but it was actually kind of cute—especially Adam’s chagrin. Offhand, I’d say Dominic had forgiven him, which made me feel a hell of a lot better. I might not understand or approve of their relationship, but I didn’t want to be the one to break it up. At least, not like that. Dominic peeked over at the tray Adam had set down forever and a day ago. He frowned theatrically. “I see I slaved over a hot stove for nothing.”

He looked at Adam. “Why don’t we invite our guest to join us downstairs 128 / 226

Jenna Black, The Devil Inside (2007)

Morgan Kingsley #1

for breakfast? We can discuss strategy.”

Adam hesitated only a moment before agreeing. “If you want to shower and change before you come down, we’ll wait,” he said. “We’ll be in the kitchen, down the stairs and to your right. Just follow the smell of food.”

“I’ll see you in a few,” I said.

I can’t tell you how much better I felt when they left and didn’t lock the door behind them.

The door to the black room was closed when I made my way downstairs about twenty minutes later with my hair damp and no makeup. I thanked God for small blessings.

At the foot of the stairs, I had a brief, almost overpowering urge to make a run for it. I managed to overcome it. I didn’t want to stay here a minute more than was necessary, but if nothing else, Adam could give me a lot of information. That’s assuming he was even willing to give me the time of day.

I found the kitchen easily enough. Adam was seated at the head of a rectangular butcher-block table, watching Dominic cook. There was no question of the fondness in Adam’s expression, and once again I wondered at it. One week ago, Dominic had been to all intents and purposes a different person. Why was Adam still carrying on a relationship with his lover’s host? I might have thought it was out of pity, but that wasn’t at all what it looked like.

When Adam caught a glimpse of me, the expression on his face cooled considerably. He sat up straighter in his chair, losing that relaxed, comfortable look. It made me feel oh-so welcome. Dominic held no such grudge. He smiled over his shoulder at me. “Have a seat. Food is almost ready, and there’s coffee over there.” He pointed with his elbow, his hands busy at the stove.

I gratefully poured myself a mug of coffee, but couldn’t decide where to sit. I wanted to be as far away from Adam and his thundercloud as possible, but that would mean sitting at the foot of the table facing him. I settled for leaning a hip against the kitchen counter and cupping both hands around my mug. The coffee was heaven. Expensive stuff, by the taste of it, and freshly ground.

Dominic finished up at the stove, then set three plates on the table. He 129 / 226

Jenna Black, The Devil Inside (2007)

Morgan Kingsley #1

took the seat at Adam’s right, and I no longer had to decide where to sit. An awkward, tense silence draped the room as I took my seat. Four wedges of French toast dusted with powdered sugar steamed at me invitingly. I caught the scents of vanilla and cinnamon, and my mouth watered obligingly. Too bad my stomach was clenched into a fist. Adam drowned his French toast in maple syrup and started wolfing it down as if unaware of the tension. But the guarded look in his eye told me he was as aware of it as I.

“So,” Dominic said, his voice just a little too cheerful as he tried to force everyone to be at ease, “where do we go from here, eh?”

He passed the maple syrup to me. I obediently poured it, but I still didn’t think the knot in my stomach would loosen enough to let me eat.

“What do you mean?” Adam grunted. Most of his concentration was still on his plate.

“I mean, what’s the plan? Hiding and protecting Morgan is all well and good, but it’s not a long-term solution.”

Adam let his fork clatter onto his plate, though there was still a significant portion of his food left. He fixed me with a distinctly unfriendly look.

“Just so everyone’s clear,” he said in a pleasant voice while the expression on his face remained unpleasant, “we’re hiding and protecting Lugh, not Morgan.”

I couldn’t help but wince a little at that, even though I’d made the same point myself yesterday. It made me want to apologize some more, but I didn’t. For one thing, I was too stubborn. For another, I didn’t think it would do any good. I’m not sure if Adam actually hated me, but he certainly disliked me a lot.

“Don’t be an ass,” Dominic said, startling the hell out of me. I’d gotten the impression he was too deferential, too submissive to challenge Adam directly like that.

Even more surprising—Adam took it. “Sorry,” he mumbled, picking up his fork once more and digging into his French toast. Dominic smiled at me. “Eat before it gets cold. Italians take it very hard when people don’t appreciate our cooking.”

The knot in my stomach loosened a bit, and I took a bite. That first taste was all it took. Tension be damned; this was too good to pass up. Maybe 130 / 226

Jenna Black, The Devil Inside (2007)

Morgan Kingsley #1

that’s why Adam was so fond of Dominic.

“Wow,” I said, savoring the delicate flavors. “This is delicious.” Adam was still shoveling it in like a pig at a trough. I took my life in my hands and said, “You might want to slow down and actually taste it. You don’t know what you’re missing.”

He froze with his fork an inch from his mouth, his eyes locking on mine in what I suspect was shock. Yeah, I had a lot of nerve poking fun at him at a time like this, but I couldn’t help myself. Finally, he rolled his eyes, and a hint of a reluctant smile pulled the corners of his mouth upward. He put his fork down and cut the massive bite he’d been about to shove in his mouth in half.

“Is that better?” he asked.

I nodded, and Dominic gave me another one of those fabulous smiles. He seemed to like me a hell of a lot more than Adam did.

“So,” Dominic said, “let’s try this again. What’s our next step?”

I’d have rather just eaten breakfast in peace, savoring the delicious food, but I supposed making plans was more important. Now, if only I had some idea what to do…

Adam looked at me. “I didn’t have much time to talk to Lugh yesterday. Can you give me an off-the-record recap of everything that’s happened?”

I still wouldn’t say I exactly trusted him, but if I didn’t tell him, he could just clock me again and have another conversation with Lugh. So I told him everything I knew, including the painful truth about Val. Our plates were empty by the time I’d finished. Dominic cleared the table, then came back and refilled all our coffee cups. I wasn’t comfortable letting him wait on me like that, but I had just enough people skills to know arguing over it was pointless.

When he sat back down, Dominic was frowning. “So why would Andrew frame you for murder? It would be damn hard to burn you to death while you’re in jail.”

I hadn’t even thought of that.

Adam smiled grimly. “If Morgan mysteriously disappeared while she was out on bail, what would the police think had happened to her?”

“Oh,” Dominic said.

Lovely. Glad to see my enemies were so thorough and organized. If I had to have enemies, I’d much rather have disorganized and stupid ones. 131 / 226

Jenna Black, The Devil Inside (2007)

Morgan Kingsley #1

“So far,” Adam continued, “we have Andrew, Valerie, and three unidentified masked men on our list of enemies. It begs the question, how many more of them are there? Just how big is this thing?”

I rolled that around my mind. “Lugh said this was about a war of succession. If that’s the case, I’d say it’s pretty damn big.”

Adam nodded. “Yeah. And just taking out a couple of foot soldiers won’t be enough. We have to find out who’s in charge.”

“Wouldn’t that be Andrew? Raphael?”

“Maybe, but I doubt it. If he was in charge, he wouldn’t have tried to hide that you were hosting Lugh. One of the privileges of being in charge, you know?”

The more I thought about this, the less I liked it. The fewer bad guys trying to kill me, the better, but here Adam was, telling me that there were likely more of them out there than we knew about. Not a comforting thought at all.

“Maybe you need to have a candid conversation with your friend Valerie,”

Dominic suggested.

“Just what I was thinking,” Adam said.

My stomach twisted into knots again. I’d been doing my best to avoid thinking about Val’s betrayal. I knew I’d have to face my feelings about it someday, but it was going to be a bitch.

“Why don’t you give her a call,” Adam suggested. “Ask her to meet you here.”

I widened my eyes at him. “And just how would I explain that I was asking her to meet me at the home of the Director of Special Forces?”

“I’m sure you can come up with something.” He leaned forward, putting an elbow on the table and propping his chin on his fist. “You could tell her you’ve decided to throw your boyfriend over for me.”

Dominic laughed and shook his head. I resisted the urge to kick Adam under the table.

“Ha-ha, very funny. But all jokes aside, I think I’d rather meet Val in a public place.” It occurred to me to wonder why Adam wanted her to come to his house. I didn’t like any of the answers I came up with. He sat up straight, his face gone neutral. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. We need to control the meeting place, make sure she doesn’t have backup.”

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Jenna Black, The Devil Inside (2007)

Morgan Kingsley #1

“She’s not going to burn me to death in the middle of a public place, no matter how much backup she has with her. Besides, she might have nothing to do with any of this. She might have been telling me the truth.” I didn’t really believe that, but I tried to allow myself to hope. Adam didn’t challenge my delusion, though the look he gave me told me exactly what he thought about it. “If it’s just you and her meeting in a public place, why would you think she’d tell you anything? She’ll just claim innocence, and you might want to believe it enough to be convinced.”

My temper tried to make an appearance, but I tamped it down. He was right, but I still didn’t want to bring Val to Adam’s house. I had a sneaking suspicion I wouldn’t like his interrogation techniques.

“I’ll ask her to meet me for lunch at Reading Terminal,” I said. “If I can’t get her to tell me anything, then we’ll switch to Plan B.”

Adam looked exasperated. “And after you’ve had your cozy little lunch and she knows you’re on to her, what do you think the chances are that she’ll come meet you here for further questioning?”