Page 22 of Obsession

“Florence, you’ve been spending too much time around Vivian. He’s a nice widower from St. Augustine,” Amelia explains.

The doorbell rings and I answer, leaving Sonia to fend for herself. “Hello, Nora, let me take that from you.”

“Aubry.” She hands a bowl of fruit salad to me as she makes a beeline for Damion. He kisses her cheek and she frets over him. “Too busy to call your mother back?” She cuts me a look that says I’m the root of the problem.

I excuse myself and take the fruit salad over to the food table. And I’m back to my deep meditative breathing.

Damion walks up behind me a few minutes later and wraps his arms around me. “Behave yourself. I’m playing the role of the perfect southern hostess,” I inform him in a prim voice. I’m dressed the part, in a cotton seersucker dress and a pearl necklace Amelia and Florence gave me for my sixteenth birthday. And of course I’m wearing my bloodstone bracelet gifted to me by Maddie. I wouldn’t be caught without it, even though the green-and-red-speckled stones clash terribly with this ensemble.

“Mmmm, I’m picturing you as a hostess, wearing a frilly apron and heels and nothing else. On second thought, wear the apron, heels, and the pearls. We’ll be putting these to good use,” he whispers seductively in my ear, toying with my necklace.

“You are a menace.” Squirming out of his grasp, I try to ignore the tingling between my legs. Great, just great.

Gabe arrives, walking over to Charlotte. I have to pick my jaw up off the beautifully refinished hardwood floor as they greet each other with a sweet kiss. Damion follows my gaze and says, “I’m glad to see that Cupid has finally learned some of my moves.”

“What moves? Like possessing a woman and refusing to leave, thus eventually wearing down her resistance?”

“Go with what works,” he agrees.

I make my way over to get the scoop. “Gabe, Fallen Angel?” I offer him a cocktail.

“Funny,” he says, accepting the drink.

He and Damion begin a work-related discussion and I pull Charlotte to the side. “When did this happen? I thought he disturbed you?” She told me previously that something about Gabe’s energy disturbed her. Maybe it’s because Gabe’s a Nephilim. His father is a Watcher, a member of a group of angels who procreated with human women long ago and were punished by being locked on this earthly plane, or so the story goes. But forget all that—Charlotte’s a Libra and Gabe’s a Virgo and they’re about as odd of an astrological odd couple as it gets.

“Turns out I like being disturbed.” She smiles sheepishly. “We’ve been spending more and more time together, and it just sort of happened.”

“You gotta give me more than that,” I demand.

“It started out as us ‘bumping into each other’ in the evening. I was having a really hard time after the kidnapping walking to my car at night. Gabe always had an excuse for why he was on campus or at the hospital. He’d insist on escorting me home.”

“An angelic bodyguard.” I swoon and Charlotte grins. Looks like Cupid does have some love magic after all.

“Gabe and Charlotte, now that you’re a couple, maybe you can put this Archangel question to bed,” Grandma says, butting in.

They both look confused. “She’s talking about a new TV show,” I explain.

“Is it true that an angel covers his lover in an aphrodisiac of sparkling dust during foreplay? Or does the dusting happen during the actual event?” Grandma asks.

I look over to Charlotte, who now has pink cheeks. Gabe simply smiles. “Vivian, a gentleman never kisses and tells.” Charlotte’s heated cheeks have me wondering if such a thing is true.

“Fine, keep your secrets. I’ll just have to ask Chris.”

I snort. “He’s definitely not a gentleman, so Chris might actually answer that question.”

“Now sugar pie, he’d definitely answer the question if you asked him. You’re too hard on that angel. Yes, he’s a little rough around the edges, but he just needs a good woman to smooth him out.”

“Thank you, Grandma.” I glance over to see Damion’s eyes flicker.

The doorbell rings and I use it as an excuse to escape this conversation. I escort inside Zazel and his beautiful date, who happens to be a different woman than the one he was with at his Charleston club, back when Damion and I were bound together. I guess if you’re with Zazel, you’re there for a good time, but not a long time. From the look of lust on his date’s face, she seems okay with that.

Zazel gives me a kiss on both cheeks. I’d compare it to sticking your finger in a light socket. “Aubry, and how is my favorite white witch?” he asks in a bemused tone. The fact that I ascribe to the magical philosophy of do no harm amuses my boyfriend’s father. Zazel is around six feet, three inches, with dark features and sex appeal for days. That sex appeal doesn’t appeal to me, mind you, but apparently a lot of women disagree with me on that point. I find him more terrifying than anything, recalling his demonic form at the Reckoning. I bump up my energetic shield at the mere thought.

“I’m very well, thank you.”

Nora walks by, pretending not to notice her former lover. “Hello, Nora. You look beautiful as always,” Zazel says.

“Zazel,” Nora says, feigning surprise. “And how is Tory?”

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