Page 71 of Summoning my Grumpy Demon Boss

I tamp down the urge to growl with frustration. I can’t believe my father resorted to tactics like these. “Listen, your lawyer is my father, and I used to work for him, so I know what you’re talking about. Even if he’s filed a statement of claim, you can withdraw it. You’re right, there might be some fees, but I’m sure that we can cover those for you if that’s what you’d like to do.”

She frowns at me. “Whose side are you on, anyway? I don’t really understand how you’re involved in this.”

“I’d tell you I’m on the side of justice, but you won’t buy that!” I half giggle at my own joke, but Margaret doesn’t crack a smile. I give her a serious look. “I’m on Luke’s side. If there are sides, but I don’t think it has to be like that.”

She sighs. “Whatever. I don’t really care. If you think you can get rid of the legal fees, I’ll happily drop the case. I don’t even think your father could have won it anyway. To be honest, there are some things I wasn’t up front with him about.”

I open my mouth to ask, but she keeps going.

“I shouldn’t have been up on that ladder. I knew that. It was unstable. I was rushing to get the job done, and I’ll suffer for it every day of my life. But I wasn’t expecting a sea monster to walk right out of the basement!”

“Mum—” Lucy reaches for Magaret’s arm but she shakes her off. “How was I supposed to know it was my employers? I think it’s weird that everyone just accepts they lied to us for years.”

“Mum, you know how things were. Would anyone have believed it?”

Margaret sighs. “They just about drove me out of town calling me crazy. Telling me I was seeing things. Not a single one of them believed me and now—” She makes a dismissive gesture. “Now they’re just running around town being monsters and no one bats an eye. Did you know?” She narrows her eyes at me.

“I know. And from what Luke has told me, they felt bad keeping it secret too. I think they really just want to be accepted.”

Margaret grunts. “It just would be nice, you know, if people who had so much could have had a bit of sympathy.”

I nod, not sure what to say.

Margaret sighs again. “If you and your boyfriend are going to cover my legal fees, then you have my word I’ll do whateverit was you said about withdrawing the statement. Just make it happen.” She turns awkwardly on the doorstep.

“Thank you!”

Margaret doesn’t turn back or say goodbye. As she hobbles to her car, her daughter leans in to whisper under her breath. “Thank you. I think sometimes she just needs someone to listen to her.”

“Lucy!”

“Coming.” Lucy gives me one last harried smile and hurries after her mother, opening the door to help Margaret into the passenger seat.

I close the door and I’m still standing with my hand on the handle, when Luke calls out from the back. “You home, babe?”

I’m still so stunned about what just happened I can’t even find the words to reply. When he peeks around the door from the living room I see him from the corner of my eye. I’m still staring at the front door like it might open again so Margaret could snatch it all back again. Luke’s brows raise. “Everything OK?”

I turn and give him a dumbfounded smile. “You know what? I think everything is OK. That was Margaret.” I gesture at the closed door. “And she’s dropping the case.”

“She is?”

“She is!”

He catches me up in his arms and I shriek as he spins us around. “Baby, you’re a miracle worker!”

When he finally sets me down I shake my head. “No. It’s all down to your parents. She heard about your dad and felt bad about it. Simple as that.”

Luke squeezes me tight one more time. “You still had a hand in it, I know.”

I bask for a moment in his relief until he finally sets me down with a chuckle. “You know you have paint smeared on your face, right?”

I brush a hand over my cheek and laugh. “It must have been there the whole time I was talking to Margaret and her daughter! God, I’m so embarrassed.”

He pulls me into another hug. “Don’t be. You’re adorable. Can’t believe you’re mine. When do I get to put a ring on this finger and make a proper kraken’s mate of you?”

I give him a guilty look. “Luke...”

We’ve talked about this. Of course we have. Even though he recognized me as his mate the very first time he shifted near me, there’s still another side to the mating that relates to me accepting his claim. A ritual that will transform me and allow me to breathe underwater. I won’t turn full kraken, but I will grow gills. The trouble is, it’s irreversible and I have to be sure.

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