Page 39 of Immortal By Morning
“Do you want her alive, but possibly not with you? Or do you want to have her dead?” Lucian asked simply.
“God, you are a cold bastard,” Crispin snarled.
The accusation made Lucian’s lips quirk upward in what could’ve been mistaken for a smile. “And your point is?”
When Crispin didn’t respond, he pointed out, “She is alone, unguarded, and out of your sight this minute, Crispin.” He paused briefly to let that sink in and then asked, “Do you think she would have walked away to take that phone call if she knew the peril she was in?”
Crispin didn’t answer. He simply turned on his heel and strode down the hall to Abril’s office.
Her office in reality was much different than the office they had been in during their shared dream last night. There was a desk, bookcase, couch, and even a filing cabinet, but the room was much smaller and the furniture all crammed much closer together. The walls were also a pale lavender rather than the pale gray from the dream.
He hesitated at the door, not wanting to intrude on her phone call, but when he heard her saying, “Yes, yes. Everything is fine here—” and then a pause before she said with sudden worry in her voice, “The work on the addition?”
While her voice was anxious, her expression was panic-stricken. Crispin finally gave up his position in the doorway and strode into the room. He movedquickly around her desk and bent to whisper in her free ear, “Rain.”
Abril lifted her gaze to him as he straightened and echoed blankly, “Rain?”
“It’s raining there?” came a distressed squawk from the phone.
Understanding then filled Abril’s expression, and she offered him a smile of gratitude before saying into the phone, “I’m sure construction will not be delayed long. Everything will be fine, Gina. You just enjoy your vacation and do not worry about a thing. I’ve got this for you.”
Crispin couldn’t help but admire her for how she managed to not actually lie to her boss. She hadn’t told her that it was raining. She hadn’t even been speaking to her when she said the wordrain. She simply hadn’t corrected her. She also hadn’t said that it was rain that was delaying construction, she’d simply said she was sure construction wouldn’t be delayed long.
Abril was nodding as she now listened to the long tirade her boss was spewing down the phone line. But her gaze was on him the whole time and she was beaming at him with gratitude.
Smiling in return, Crispin settled on the couch to wait for the call to end. It took much longer than he expected. Gina apparently needed to vent about her frustration with the addition she was having built. She was speaking loud enough that he caught the better part of it. She was angry with the delays that had set back the starting date for months. She hadn’t appreciated the further delays as the interior renovations had proceeded. The excavator breaking down had pissed her off, but now even Mother Nature appeared to beagainst her. Gina was sure that at this rate, she would never get to enjoy her new home in its completed state.
Abril listened patiently, making appropriate comments or sounds as needed. She reassured her boss as much as she could, and then managed to convince the woman to go back to enjoying her vacation and leave everything to her. The last thing Abril said before ending the call was a promise that she would take care of it all, and see everything was done as quickly as possible.
When she finally ended the call, Crispin commented, “It seems to me being an executive assistant is the equivalent of a fireman.”
His words made her smile, and Abril nodded. “Pretty much. I spend the better part of my days putting out fires and trying to avoid future fires.”
“Sounds stressful,” Crispin commented.
Abril shrugged. “Maybe a bit. But at least it’s never boring.”
This time it was her words that made him smile, and then he sobered and asked, “How is your head?”
When she paused and tilted her head slightly, her eyes losing focus somewhat, he suspected she was checking on that situation herself.
“It doesn’t hurt anymore,” she said finally with surprise. Her gaze cleared and shifted to him. “I guess that shot Dr. Dani gave me is working.”
“Good.” Crispin got to his feet. “Dani said that avoiding bright light would help stave off headaches.” His gaze slid to the open blinds on the large window in her office, and the sunshine pouring through it. He moved to close the blinds even as he asked, “Do you have any sunglasses around here?”
“Sunglasses?” Abril echoed with confusion.
“In case you had not noticed, this house is almost nothing but windows,” he pointed out dryly.
“It is not,” Abril protested.
“Every room has large plate glass windows, sliding doors, skylights, and any other type of window and door that would allow sunlight to flood the house. And most of them without any kind of window covering. It might be best to wear sunglasses to block the worst of it. That might help to keep the headaches at bay.” Propping his hands on his hips then he raised his eyebrows. “So? Sunglasses?”
She blew out an exasperated breath, but opened one of her desk drawers and pulled out a pair of large-framed dark sunglasses. Putting them on, she asked in arid tones, “Happy?”
“Very,” he assured her.
“Great,” she said dryly. “But I’m going to feel ridiculous walking around inside with shades on.”
