Page 44 of Muzzled

The fancy-schmancy place two blocks off the coffeehouse.

Her cell buzzed again.

Don’t. Move.

Persephone gave the server a crinkle-nosed smile as he walked away, and she turned to Micah. “That wouldn’t be Orion, would it?”

Shrugging, she took another sip of her champagne. “He’s on his way.”

Seph’s bright eyes narrowed, her lips pursing. “Well, I don’t particularly want him here.”

“Why not?” she asked, moving her arm as the dessert plates were set down. “Isn’t he your preferred guard dog? You seem pretty hell-bent on keeping him tethered to you.”

Placing her own champagne aside, Persephone straightened the sleeve of her dress, her delicate brows lifting. “Of course he is.” She sighed, her voice taking on the condescending tone Micah had come to loathe over the past two hours. “But sweetheart, this isgirl talktime. Time for you and me to get on the same page before we have another unfortunate situation like those I’ve endured with Alex and Bo.”

“Ah, right,” Micah agreed. “So this is about you telling me Ryan is your property and me promising to keep my, what was the term you used? Keeping my feminine wiles in check while I serve my duty.” She smirked. “Does Hades know just how short you keep Ryan’s leash?”

Stabbing her spoon into her mousse, Seph’s eyes darkened. “Orion heels well on a short leash. Thrives, really. It keeps him hungry and loyal.”

“Hungry dogs are never loyal,” Micah countered. “They’ll eventually go where they’re fed.”

Persephone opened her mouth to respond, her expression morphing from a rising anger to exaggerated sweetness. “Orion, honey. Come sit.” She slid farther into the booth and patted the seat. “We were just having a little girl time.”

He hesitated a moment before joining her, looking Micah up and down before he sat. “Girl time,” he echoed. “Micah, are you okay?”

“Of course she is,” Seph interjected, scooping some of the mousse up and holding it out to him. “We were bonding.” When he turned down the dessert, she slopped it back into the bowl, reaching under the table as she smiled at Micah. “Weren’t we?”

Ryan shifted to the edge of the booth, his jaw twitching. “Really. And what were you bonding over?”

Her attempts to grope him under the table thwarted, Seph trailed her fingers along the nape of his neck. “Clothes and gossip things we won’t mention in mixed company.”

“Yourmistresswas explaining the loyalty benefits of false hope when you arrived,” she said, shoving a big spoonful of cake into her mouth and pulling the plate closer to herself when Ryan glanced down at it. “Mine.”

There was a quick flash of amusement in his eyes before he pulled his wallet out and flagged the server down. “I take it this was your idea,” he said to Seph, frowning at the tab before handing his credit card to the waiter. “Seriously, Seph? A four-hundred-dollar bottle of champagne?”

She looked up at him with wide eyes, biting her lip. “I just wanted to talk. And I needed to make sure she understood how much I need you to come home.”

Signing off on the bill, he shoved his wallet into his back pocket and stood, holding his hand out to help Seph to her feet first before turning to Micah. “Tell me you’re here voluntarily.”

Micah downed the last of the champagne and licked her lips, accepting his hand and noticing how his fingers tightened around hers. “She nabbed me off the street, but I didn’t kick up much fuss.” She swung her purse onto her shoulder and led them out of the dim restaurant, her hand firmly in his grip and Persephone’s blue eyes piercing holes into the back of her head. “My phone died on me, but the cute waiter charged it up.”

There was a slight increase in his grip. “Glad I tipped him well.”

Seph flitted up beside her, her small hands gently unhooking Ryan’s fingers from hers. “It’s been lovely getting to know you.” She smiled, linking her arm through his. “Orion and I are going to have a little chat, and I’ll be on my way for now. So if you could just go stand over there…”

*

Ryan shrugged outof Persephone’s hold and shoved his hands into his back pockets as he watched Micah cross the street and lean against a storefront, phone in hand and a smile on her face. “This is bullshit, Seph,” he muttered. “How did you find her?”

Seph crossed her arms and pouted, a look that had always won him over easily in the past. “It’s not like I was hunting her down like some mangy dog,” she stated. “I was merely waiting over there in the hopes you might come by. I happened to see her first.”

“You know where my motel is,” he countered, curious about what made Micah laugh so hard while she chatted away on her cell and wondering if she ever smiled at the texts he sent her. “You had no reason to be here. Even less to talk to her.”

Persephone reached up to his neck and played with his collar. “I’m just worried about you. That woman obviously leads a lifestyle of limited means. Her hands are as stained as Bo’s, and I don’t want you getting caught up in topside drama when you could be back home with me.”

“Back with you and Hades,” he corrected, taking a step back and gently grasping her wrists to remove her hold from his shirt. “What exactly did you mean about keeping me hungry and loyal?”

Her eyes widened and she focused her gaze behind him. “I’ve really spent far too much time here already. Why don’t we dip into that park so I can get home before Hades starts to worry?”

---