Page 14 of Knocked up By the Minotaur

“And I’ve already hired the stylers to get the garden ready for the dinner. They’re starting tomorrow, by the way.” My phone stops ringing, and I pull it out just to double check the caller ID.

Nine missed calls from Seraphina.

Yep, she’s still at it.

“For fuck’s sake, Oli!” Rho throws up his hands in annoyance. “You have business partners for a reason.”

“You’re all busy. Don’t worry, I’ve got your back.” My phone starts ringing again.

“And can you please answer your cell, you annoying bull.” At Rho’s words, Malachite’s emerald-green gaze flicks to my palm, but he doesn’t say anything. “Or put it on silent like the rest of us.”

I scrunch my nose. “The buzzing annoys me.”

“What if Seraphina has news about the event?” Malachite asks, his eyes once more tracking to my phone, where her name flashes.

“She doesn’t.”

“But…she’s head of the PR team. What else would she be contacting you for.”

I sigh as the ring tone stops again, and the ping of an incoming text sounds in its place. I flick the phone towards him so he can read the message preview that pops down.

He stares at the phone blankly, before looking at me without changing expression. “Should you really be showing me that?”

I glance down at the preview message again.

Which hussy were you having lunch…

I don’t even want to open it to read the rest. How many times do I have to explain to her that our time together, however beautiful, is over now? In truth, Sera is a viper of a female, and I’m beginning to find her attitude more and more difficult to deal with. Her negativity, the different personas she wears depending on who’s in the room, her rudeness to wait-staff which never lets up no matter how many times I speak to her about it… not to mention the fact that she’d been hinting recently that she wanted more from me than just a tumble between the sheets.

Even if I was looking to settle down, I could never do it with someone like Sera, who I suspect only has eyes for my wallet. No, it’s definitely time to extricate myself from her talons.

I shake my head and shove my phone away. Not that I’m looking to settle down. Where did that thought come from?

“Olistaire, dear,” Ismelda says, her voice holding a touch of warning. “Is this really how you should be handling that poor female?”

“Oh, don’t poor femaleme,” I mutter. “That harpy can handle herself, and we all know it. I’ve spoken to her multiple times, and she refuses to accept my decision to stop seeing her. How is that my fault?”

Rho smirks, folds his arms over his wide chest and says, “Karma,” with a snort.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Alright, now, boys,” Ismelda interjects, although a thoughtful expression enters her eyes as she turns to me. “Maybe Sera just needs to see that you’ve moved on?”

My date with Grace today immediately pops back into my mind, specifically the little deception she pulled on Brad, and I hum. “Interesting.”

Rho immediately groans. “Get Grace out of your head.”

I can’t help but grin openly as I glance back at him. He knows me so well. “Actually, her unstuffed pillow of an ex came into town today, and she claimed me as her male in front of him to get him to leave.”

“Oh, really, I hadn’t heard,” Ismelda mumbles innocently.

True, Grace dismissed the idea of continuing our little lie and I’d let the matter drop without much consideration. But now, the more I think about it, the more convinced I am that we need to revisit the plan, for both our sakes.

“Why,” Rho growls with a twitch of his eye, “were you with her? I told you to leave her be.”

“If we start cavorting around in public more often,” I continue, paying no attention to the orc, “it could benefit us both in the short term.”

And I’d have the perfect excuse to spend more time with her, which is a pleasure in its own right.

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