Page 124 of Iris
I let out a breath. “I’m?—”
“No,” Vi says. “I changed my mind, don’t tell me. Talk with Quinn.”
I move to the other end of the bar, the scents of both Xavier and Killian twining into something super potent. Not overpowering or decimating to bring a vulnerable girl to her knees like they were when I was in heat, but something new, a new scent that now coils in deep, the lemon and blackberry spice with leather, a scent of secrets and sex and warm lazy days, ofsecrets and nighttime trysts all bundled into one and it makes each breath somehow dangerous…because I know what lives behind that scent.
And I want it.
But I push past it, try to concentrate and grab the back of a chair on the far side of the bar, a shadowy corner that offers nothing like protection.
Not that I want that, at least from these two men.
“Quinn’s mom, her sisters, would know I wasn’t there.”
“Would they?” Violet sighs. “Her place is huge, bigger than even our country estate, Iris. Bigger than Stephan’s seaside mansion.”
Even though the situation is dire, I half grin. Stephan’s? Hers, too. And he’d get mad hearing that from her. I’m not surprised though, it’s pure Violet.
“Or come here, I’ll send?—”
“I’ll call Quinn,” I say.
And I hear her let go of a breath.
“You guys used to disappear in different parts of that mansion,” she says, a little easier now. “And Quinn’s mom never knew where you both were. Mom would always send me and Heath to get you back.”
Vi’s right. She’s always right, always trying to do the correct thing, even now. And while someone in heat would be a stretch, Quinn loves a challenge, and…
I trail off with my thought.
Heath?
“Heath.” I groan.
“What about him?”
“Do you think he’s gone there yet?” I ask. “To check?”
“Last resort, if you ask me. My point is as long as Quinn knows you need a cover, then it might help. I can tell him…”
“Vi.” I half laugh. “You can’t lie to Heath. You’d have a panic attack. Besides, he’d know.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“You’d stress yourself out, which would mean that Stephan would hate me?—”
She laughs. “Okay, okay. I’ll just say I spoke to you, but I didn’t ask.”
“I’ll contact her now. Don’t stress or worry, Vi?—”
“I want you happy,” she says quietly. “You know I don’t like rules that try to put you in a box, but there’s nothing to be done.”
There is, but she could never be involved. Even if she wasn’t pregnant, I’d never put her and Stephan in that position.
“This isn’t your issue,” I say. “I don’t want it to be. Thank you, Vi. I’ll call Quinn.”
Of course, my best friend doesn’t answer. So I send her a text.
Answer me! I need your help.
