Page 68 of Charmed By Destiny

“Recently,” Douglas responded. “They left Eric and Gabriel’s wedding together. Either that or they were a couple before then and were more discreet, but at least since that night. I saw them together at lunch today, so I can confirm they’re at least cozy.”

“Just the two of them eating lunch?” Richard asked.

“No, there were a couple of other staff with them, but they were seated next to each other and laughing together in a way that gave me pause.”

“Gabriel’s recently made a friend of Lucas, I’ll mention it to him. Maybe he could warn Lucas about what’s being said?” Richard suggested as his earlier menace assessment roared to life in his head.

Richard could no longer deny he was evil. But at least Douglas didn’t know that he was laughing internally at the tales swirling around Lucas and poor innocent Holly. Thankfully, Richard had an avenue to get the rumors to stop, so Holly’s reputation wouldn’t suffer further. She and Lucas deserved better than having their personal lives discussed behind their backs. The imaginary chat between Gabriel and Lucas would allow Richard to tell Douglas on Monday that the gossip was incorrect. Soon, everyone would know that Lucas wasn’t sleeping with Holly.

“If anyone can teach Luke how to be discreet, it’s Gabe. Talk to him,” Douglas advised. “I wonder if this relationship with Holly is why Luke suddenly decided to purchase a home. Your parents would find nothing unusual about it and likely offered the guesthouse with no questions asked. They’ve never wavered in their support of inspirits.”

“As usual, you’re right. I’ll speak with Gabe tonight.”

“Thanks, I hope you’ll give thought to your words. There’s a lot I could be right about, but you have to be willing to try,” Douglas remarked as he stood and headed for the door. “Enjoy your weekend, Richard.”

All of Richard’s humor vanished as Douglas reminded him again that they still had this awkward, awful obstacle sandwiched between them.

“You too,” Richard murmured as the inspirit walked out.

Chapter 24

Grateful that it was finally the weekend, Luke climbed out of the car after Richard. The necromancer had worn one of his tighter pairs of slacks that day, and Luke unabashedly watched his firm ass as they followed Gabriel and Clark to the mansion. That it was home hadn’t settled in Luke’s mind yet.

But he supposed that wasn’t surprising. Less than two weeks had passed since Luke had discovered Richard was his soulmate. It’d sped by in a blur. Luke hoped, without work to worry about for a few days, he could devote some energy to getting to know Richard better.

They weren’t strangers, but Luke had a growing desire to discover everything about his soulmate. He’d learned a little. Including that Richard wasn’t as good at hiding his emotions as he’d first believed.

At least not the strong ones. For instance, Richard had mischief on the brain. It was there in his smile and the sassy way he’d given Luke a smacking kiss, then hadn’t made any small talk as they’d driven from the resort to the Marwood mansion. Gabe and Clark had chatted about business while Richard watched Luke with unholy amusement in his light blue eyes.

Luke didn’t argue or question him. A devilish Richard was ridiculously attractive. They ventured inside and were told to get themselves to the table swiftly. Rosalind and David were already carrying things over. No one else was allowed in the kitchen before or after meal prep, and Luke was far too intimated by Rosalind to ask why.

So, Luke rolled up his sleeves and took a seat at the table. At his side, Richard flashed him a grin and draped his napkin on his lap with a flourish.

“What are you up to, Dragonfly?” Luke asked, grinning.

“Who, me?” Richard replied.

“Yes, you’re either planning on robbing a bank to amuse yourself or something equally nefarious,” Gabe responded. He kissed his husband and grabbed a chair next to him.

“Given how eager Richard is to expand his wardrobe, he may need the money from the bank,” Clark drawled.

Richard winced, and the humor fell from his face. “Yeah, about that. I may have made a small mistake this week.”

“I’ve seen your receipts,” Clark said. “Your clothing hauls are never little.”

“If I didn’t spend your money, what else would drive you to get up every morning and earn more?” Richard asked his father, who rolled his eyes. “Ignore him, Lucas, he complains, but he has enough investments to last a few immortal lifetimes, and that’s even with my spending. There’s some new stuff arriving this weekend, and I picked out a few things for you, Lucas, without asking if you minded.”

“And by a few things, he probably means you should reorganize your closet to make room for the massive amount he bought,” Eric said.

“Don’t mind him, he hates clothes, which makes me wonder how we’re related,” Richard said.

Luke was surprised Richard had bought him anything, but he wasn’t mad. However, it was a bit troubling the way the Marwoods continued to purchase things for him. They already paid his salary and put a roof over his head.

“Thank you, that was kind of you, but you don’t have to buy me things,” Luke said. “You and your family have been generous enough.”

“I wish I could say it won’t happen again, but I didn’t think about it,” Richard confessed. “It’s how I shop. If I notice something cute for Mari, into my cart it goes. I do the same for Eric. You like blues and grays. You sprinkle in a bit of black and white. I saw some things that reminded me of your style, so I bought them.”

Touched that Richard had noticed the colors Luke gravitated toward while picking out his clothes, he smiled. “Thanks, that was nice of you. I won’t yell if you forget in the future.”

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