Page 103 of Charmed By Destiny

“Oh, destiny definitely works,” Richard assured his soulmate as he held him close and vowed to cherish him for eternity.

Chapter 34

After the best weekend of his life, Richard was sitting in his office and hiding. It was silly, but he was overwhelmed. Things had worked out well for him and Lucas. The inspirits were thrilled for them because they could sense their soulbinding, and the announcement of their engagement allowed everyone to celebrate without any human realizing that Lucas and Richard were far more than fiancés.

A cake was produced out of nowhere. Richard stood next to Lucas as they were showered with words of encouragement and congratulatory messages. It was lovely. But Richard couldn’t spend his morning crying and basking in the glow of destiny. He would’ve liked to, and it was tempting to ignore his job, but he was the lone supervisor now.

Conferences were happening, and it was Richard’s full responsibility to ensure they were flawless. No one asked him directly why Douglas had left so abruptly, but Richard was sure gossip was flowing—especially for the humans who were unaware of the unwritten Marwood policy allowing inspirits to move freely from job to job without delay.

Richard hadn’t asked any questions about where Douglas was heading or if he’d departed Vegas yet. Not only was Richard miffed at the man, but Douglas deserved the clean break he’d orchestrated. Which was why Richard was stunned as the man currently in the forefront of his mind showed up in the doorway of his office.

Startled, Richard stared as Douglas walked in and shut the door behind him.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Douglas demanded, his eyes dark with fury and pain. “Why didn’t you mention that you already had a soulmate?”

“Because I found out the night of Gabriel and Eric’s wedding,” Richard said, refusing to speak anything but the truth. “Lucas and I decided to wait to tell my family about us until after the newly married couple left for their honeymoon. You came over to speak to me hours earlier. No one knew. Just me and Lucas.”

“Fine, you get a pass for not mentioning it then, but what about the weeks since?”

“I thought it was best. I wanted to protect you, and I believed it was disrespectful to your feelings to flaunt my relationship with Lucas. We had to work together, and the last thing I wanted was to make it awkward for anyone.”

“Was it best for me or for you?”

Richard stood and considered the man he’d thought of as a dear friend for many years. “Douglas, you can draw whatever conclusions you want. I’m not perfect, and I make mistakes. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe I wasn’t. I can’t change destiny’s choice for me. Nor would I want to.”

Crossing his arms, Douglas frowned, and his expression grew sour. “What happened to staying out of relationships? To not wanting a soulmate? Or did you forget that the moment a handsome man strolled in here? He’s your type. Tall. Gorgeous. Probably brainless and selfish too.”

Richard’s fingers curled into fists. It was fine if Douglas wanted to rage at him, but he wouldn’t stand for anyone speaking poorly of Lucas.

“I respect that you’re hurt,” Richard stated calmly, though he was sorely tempted to yell. “I sympathize. No one wants to feel pain. But I won’t allow you to walk in here and slander Lucas. He did nothing wrong. You know he’s not stupid, and he doesn’t deserve to be judged as less than anyone else because he happens to be beautiful. Now, is there anything else I can do for you? Because I have a busy day, and you no longer work here.”

“Bitch,” Douglas sneered as he turned on his heel, whipped open the door, and nearly collided with Richard’s assistant. “Move out of the way, Benjamin.”

“Have a good day, Douglas,” Benjamin replied, his tone a mixture of surprise and bafflement. “Sorry to bother you, Richard. There’s a man here looking for Luke, but he went to the ballroom to check on our guests. He claims to be an old friend of Luke’s, I thought maybe you’d like to talk to him.”

“An old friend? Did he give you his name?”

“Yes, his name is Foxe.”

Richard was already pissed thanks to Douglas. His grin was pure malice as he contemplated wrapping his fingers around Foxe’s neck and choking some sense into the fool.

“Sure, I’ll go talk to him,” Richard said.

Instead of waiting for his assistant to bring Foxe into his office, Richard stalked out and immediately sensed the necromancer with the shifty hazel gaze. The man’s reddish-brown hair made Richard think of a fox’s pelt, and he wondered if that was how he’d gained the name. Was that shade common in the Arwynn family? Was Foxe his real name or one he’d chosen himself later?

“Foxe?” Richard asked, stretching his hand out toward the man who’d summoned Lucas, then abandoned the man a decade later. “Hello, I’m Richard Marwood. How are you today?”

Foxe lifted an eyebrow slyly. “Marwood?”

“Yes, that’s what I said,” Richard remarked, not caring if he was being snippy. “Maybe we could talk in my office.”

“Sure, sweetie, whatever you want.”

Since Richard already knew Foxe was heterosexual, he wasn’t sure what thesweetiewas about. But it wouldn’t be the first time someone tried to downplay Richard’s masculinity because he wore makeup and frilly clothing. Richard led Foxe into his office and shut the door. The last thing Richard wanted was for anyone to overhear their conversation.

“How are you, Mr. Arwynn?” Richard asked as he watched Foxe’s gaze move across the large office Richard had decorated in the same elegant black he preferred to wear.

“Arwynn, huh? I didn’t mention that. Luke must’ve told you about me.”

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