Page 42 of All for the Beast

“Great,” Katy repeated. “Just wonderful. So happy you could find a replacement for me on such short notice.”

“Thank you so much!” Melyn chirped. “We really appreciate it. Even though it’s pretty early, I have such a good feeling about this. About the cruise, I mean.”

“Right,” Katy said. “The cruise.”

“Didn’tyoufind your own replacement?” Vharlk asked. “I didn’t show up one day with Melyn on my arm begging for a job.”

“I’m not averse to begging,” Melyn said. The joke fell short as Vharlk and Katy stared daggers at each other, ignoring her.

The waitstaff set a plate of bread on their table. Katy grabbed a piece and started pulling it apart, shoving some into her mouth with the same vigor she had every other time she had eaten.

“Sure, I just didn’t expect you to get so …” She paused, “… friendly so quickly. But I guess that’s what you do, right? You get real friendly, real quick.”

“Oh, you could definitely say we’ve gotten friendly,” Melyn said, giggling. She tightened her grip on Vharlk’s waist. Katy stared at her with malice in her expression.

“I see that.” She faked a smile so badly that Vharlk laughed.

“Yeah, I can see how cool you are with this arrangement. Would you like to give us your blessings? Maybe we can show Melyn to my quarters on the ship later. So you can hand off the reins, so to speak.”

Katy scarfed down a few more pieces of bread, her cheeks bulging cutely. Vharlk was so gone on her that the need to express it burned him up. Just looking at her was the sweetest torture, even while he withered under her glare.

“So, Melyn,” he turned to her. “Tell Katy why you’d be the perfect replacement. I already know you will be, of course.”

Melyn preened under the praise. “Oh, my, where do I begin? Well, I run a chain of casinos, so you know I’malwaysup for some wild days and wilder nights.”

“Sounds fascinating,” Katy said, still glaring at Vharlk. “Tell me more.”

Vharlk looked all around the restaurant to see shifters staring at them and other shifters pretending not to stare at them. He found it amusing … as a prince, he was always within the public eye, and now Katy was too. Then he glanced toward the back of the room where all the waitstaff were standing, glancing at them nervously.

“Should we tell him?” said a younger one of them.

“What, are you stupid?” a slightly older one said. Vharlk recognized him as one of his cousin’s sons, a shifter named Marku. “Tell theprince of Siborimthat he’s disturbing the clientele? He practically pays our salaries by himself.”

Vharlk chuckled under his breath. He motioned to Marku, who scuttled over, looking deeply apologetic. “Here,” he said, pushing money into Marku’s hands. “Share it with the other staff. Sorry for all this.” He shrugged good naturedly.

“Your Highness, of course, there’s no problem,” Marku said, taking the money and hurrying away. The rest of them resumed their business.

Katy and Melyn continued their banter, Melyn acting oblivious to how angry Katy was and Katy acting like she could kill Melyn with her mind.

Vharlk slapped his hands together and reached for the wine. “To happy beginnings,” he said, lifting the glass, and taking a long sip to hide his laughter. “To the perfect replacement.”

NINETEEN

KATY

Her body’s temperature rose as she watched Melyn and Vharlk cozy up in the booth, her fingers drumming against the table without conscious awareness. She was an attractive woman. There was no doubt about that. She knew that it wasn’t fair of her to feel the way she was feeling, given that she had handed the woman over to V on a silver platter.

But the truth was just that, the truth. She was hurt and jealous of any other woman who got to feel the prince’s hands on her.

Katy tried to look away from them, ordering drinks and gazing around the restaurant like she didn’t care. Every now and then, though, she would catch Vharlk’s eye like a gravitational pull, and at the same time, they’d look away.

She drank her rum and Coke and sighed. He had told her that she was his mate, but maybe the whole mate thing wasn’t as set in stone as Gerri, and he had emphasized. The idea of being V’s mate still scared her, but it also warmed a part of her heart and soul she had never encountered before.

“Another?”

Vharlk was looking at her as Melyn leaned into his shoulder, starting to nuzzle at his neck. He held up his empty glass and motioned to her own. Katy pursed her lips at him, not shielding her contempt in the slight.

“I’m fine, thanks.”

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