Page 111 of Citius

Tabitha laughed and then turned to face me. Her dominance enveloped me like evening air—expansive and lightly chilled, but not uncomfortably so. Yet.

“You, my dazzling one,” Tabitha said, her elegant fingers hovering over my arm without making contact. The gesture radiated conspiratorial delight rather than alpha arrogance. “I’ve beendyingto meet you.”

Hooded lids did little to mask the interest in her pale blue eyes—a cooler shade than Wyatt’s but no less striking.

“Your presentation made quite the impression on my staff.”

“I hope our suggestions for PheroPass met your expectations,” I said, defaulting to my professional persona.

“Oh my,yes. And then some. Blown clear out of the water.”

She waved a hand for emphasis, mimicking the sound of the world’s daintiest explosion.

“You know,” she said, maintaining eye contact while speaking at a volume only we could hear, “it’s beenagessince I’ve met someone who can truly appreciatebalance. The give and take of altruism and ambition. Doing what’s best for people without losing sight of the bottom line. It’s an endless struggle. Yet, you must persist, must strive to be bold, even ifit burns you.” She abruptly leaned closer. “Don’t you agree, my darling?”

Nothing. I had nothing. My reserves of small talk were limited at best, and this conversation was so far beyond my comfort zone that she might as well be speaking in an alien dialect from several thousand light-years away. All I could do was smile and nod.

Tabitha laughed, a singular bubble of delight that sounded low in her throat. “Of courseyoudo. If only Owen could understand.”

She sipped her wine, her focus drifting to her mates as they followed Owen out of the primary bedroom into the omega suite. No doubt, he’d been coerced into giving his aunts a thorough tour of the place.

Joaquin returned, handing me a large glass of water infused with raspberries and lemon slices. “Does this pass muster?”

“And then some.” Before deciding whether to be impressed, I glanced around him, suspecting the drink was my sister’s handiwork.

“Hey.” He leaned into my field of vision and renewed his ever-present smirk. “Kelsey only gave me a few pointers. I did the rest.”

“Then full marks it is.” I raised the glass toward him in a mock salute and took a sip.

“Don’t I qualify for drink service? Or do you only do Alijah and Morgan’s bidding?” Tabitha teased him, although her keen gaze remained fixed on me.

“Now, don’t get jealous, Tabby,” Joaquin said. “If I start catering to your every whim, what’s the point of keeping your nephews around?”

“True, true,” Tabitha murmured into her wine glass. “Always knew you were a bright lad—and speaking of bright...”

My lungs deflated as Tabitha stepped into my personal space, blue eyes shining with intelligence. The shift was so fast that I barely registered it. Gone was the kooky aunt, replaced by an iconic chief executive giving me her direct attention. It was even more daunting than Owen’s.

“Your proposal to explore producing condition-specific PheroPass sensors. It seemed superfluous at first glance,” she said in a brisk but measured tone. “But I’ve had time to revisit the idea. My inner circle still thinks vetoing it was the right call.”

Her presence grew sharper as she stretched the considerable talons of her dominance.

“Convince me otherwise. Specifically, seizures.”

Now, that was a topic I had plenty to say about.

Joaquin wisely retreated, leaving us to havea spirited and overly detailed conversation about the intricacies of sweat.

***

It was almost ten when Cal walked through the front door. I was taking a much-needed people break, standing a few steps up the staircase—the perfect vantage point to watch him slide off his wool overcoat, revealing his cream cashmere sweater underneath.

Owen greeted him with a beer, and then Cal started making the rounds, exchanging greetings with an exhausting number of people. Not that it surprised me. The man had more connections than anyone else I knew.

My phone buzzed, and I resumed my ongoing conversation with Jacobi.

Thought you were going to send photos?

Didn’t Piper appease you earlier?

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