Page 104 of Charmed By Destiny

Richard narrowed his eyes and nodded slowly as he rounded his desk to put some distance between himself and Foxe. “Indeed. Lucas revealed several things about you.”

“I wish he’d told me a little about you, sweetheart.”

Bracing his hands on his desk, Richard leaned forward. “Cut the shit, Arwynn. I’m not your sweetheart. What are you doing here?”

Foxe’s chuckle renewed Richard’s desire to hurt the man. Maybe those kung fu classes would come in handy and Richard could kick Foxe right off the planet. “I apologize if I’ve insulted you. It’s the height of rudeness to flirt with a man with a soulmate.”

“Yes, it is. Now, answer the question. What do you want?”

“Now, Rich, that’s between me and Luke.”

“My name is Richard. Not Rich, Richie, or Rick. I’m into dick, but I don’t suggest you call me that either. And anything that involves Lucas is my business.”

“Look, I sent him here to get a job. I know your family has a little inspirit rescue or whatever, but I didn’t sign mine over. He still belongs to me. I summoned him. So, go get him and mind your own business.”

It took Richard a minute to clear the red from his vision. He’d never understood that expression. Richard hadn’t believed until now that it was possible to literally see crimson, but he had. Or maybe his rage had caused him to black out and he was hallucinating. As wild as his Monday was turning out, nothing would surprise Richard at this point.

“Lucas is a person. No one owns him. He belongs to himself. And I don’t play fetch for anyone. Especially not a selfish asshole who thought he’d send Lucas here to work forty plus hours a week to pay for your gambling habit. Now, why don’t you go find whatever rock you crawled out from under and fuck off?”

There was a heavy pounding on Richard’s door.

“Richard?” Gabriel shouted.

“Damn,” Richard muttered under his breath. Of course the inspirits had sensed Foxe was a necromancer and alerted security. Richard wasn’t sure why he hadn’t known Gabriel would show up, but he’d been so upset by his chat with Douglas that he could forgive himself for not having a clear head. Since he didn’t want Gabriel to bust down the door or come in swinging, Richard hurried to yank the door open.

“Who is he?” Gabriel demanded, his green gaze resting on Foxe. The intensity of Gabriel’s stare had Foxe hunching his shoulders. His reaction gave Richard a sliver of satisfaction.

“Foxe Arwynn.”

“Where’s Lucas?” Gabriel asked.

“Main ballroom.”

“I’ll have Rhonda get him. Why don’t you and Foxe come upstairs with me?” Gabriel asked.

It wasn’t a suggestion, so Richard didn’t bother to assure his brother-in-law he was on board. Instead, Richard gestured at Foxe. “Come on.”

“Why? Are you going to have this dude kill me?”

“If you don’t move your ass, I might,” Richard retorted.

With a purse of his lips, Foxe trudged closer to Gabriel, who moved out of the way to allow the necromancer to walk in front of him. Gabriel would insist on keeping himself between Foxe and Richard, so he waited for Eric’s husband to leave the office before following on his heels.

It was officially the most maddening morning of his life. The walk to the elevator took forever, and Richard knew where to put the blame for that. Foxe dragged his feet and glanced back at Gabriel a dozen times. Richard couldn’t blame the man for being intimidated, but Gabriel wouldn’t kill him. If anyone had the pleasure of smacking Foxe around, Richard would insist on the honor.

Richard nearly giggled as Gabriel greeted Clark’s assistant and asked him about his weekend. Somehow, they’d cajoled the inspirit into being more personable, and it suited Gabriel. Few people were privy to his kindness and caring. Thankfully, Gabriel was also brawny and stoic, and if Richard were lucky, those traits would cause Foxe to shit his pants in fear.

They walked through the double doors of Clark’s office, and Richard wasn’t surprised at the carefully neutral expression on his father’s face. He glanced first at Richard, offered him the briefest of smiles, and moved to embrace him as he directed his attention to Gabriel. Richard held on to his father for an extra second to calm himself.

“Are you okay?” Clark asked quietly.

“Yes. It’s been a morning though,” Richard said. He walked over and gave Gabriel’s arm a friendly squeeze. “Thankfully, Gabriel showed up. Did Rhonda find Lucas?”

“They will be on their way up in a minute,” Gabriel assured Richard.

“Where the hell am I?” Foxe grumbled.

“My apologies,” Richard remarked. “Allow me to introduce everyone.” He pointed at his father. “This is Clark Marwood. The tall gentleman behind you is Gabriel Wolfebrier-Marwood.”

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