“Oh boy.”
“Yes,” the sour note was evident in her tone. “He’s in a foul mood over this whole mess.”
“Naturally,” I said, rolling my eyes. “How dare someone have the audacity to get themselves murdered in the middle of his fancy party? Don’t they teach etiquette in schools anymore?”
Matthias glanced at me, his expression perplexed.
“Yes, yes. It will blow over,” Athena assured me.
“I hope so, because in the meantime, I’m under twenty-four-hour guard duty,” I told her, looking at Matthias. “Any outings have to be approved by my nanny.”
His jaw tensed and he went back to reading his tablet.
“Well, tell them you need to see your mother. If they give you trouble, let me know. I’ll call your father and rattle his cage.”
Oh, yes. That was just what we needed.
“I’ll see what I can do after dusk,” I replied, shifting my eyes to study Matthias’s profile.
He was ignoring me.
“Why wait? You’re at the Poseidon; have them get you a black-out cab.”
Right. I’d nearly forgotten about black-out cabs. Too much time in the human world, I supposed.
“All right,” I agreed.
“See you soon,” my mother chirped and then hung up.
Matthias glanced up. “Your nanny?”
I shrugged. “It fits, doesn’t it?”
“Well, besides the parts where I apply for the job and receive a paycheck for my troubles.”
I rolled my eyes and pushed up from the couch. “We’re going to see my mother. Have your concierge call us a black-out cab.”
“We?”
“I’m going one way or another. If you want to find out what happens to you on the chance my father finds out you let me out of your sight, be my guest and stay here.”
He scowled at me but put aside his tablet and stood. “We don’t need a black-out cab,” he said. “My SUV is usable during the day.”
“Excellent!” I went to the kitchen, snagged breakfast from the fridge, and then dashed back up to the guest room to grab my purse before we left.
An hour and a half later, we climbed out of Matthias’s SUV that, as promised, had been enhanced with magic to allow for daylight travel. The sun was beginning to set as we parked outside the old servant’s entrance. My mother’s mansion had a stone archway that provided shelter from the elements, so we scurried to the side door and knocked.
A striking young man opened the door. He wasn’t hulking per se, but he was broad shouldered and more than a few inches taller than me. He flashed a smile, but his eyes lacked any hint of warmth. “Afternoon,” he said, the word a purr on his full lips. “The lady of the house will be downstairs shortly. Let me show you to the sitting room.”
“Splendid,” I replied, forcing a smile.
The man ushered us inside and led the way through the modernized home. It was clear that my mother had gutted the property and started from scratch to update everything to her tastes. The sitting room was a large room with sleek furniture in a neutral color palette. A fireplace dominated the majority of the far wall, comprised of metallic and glass tiles. Blue stones sat at the bottom of the hearth in place of logs, making it appear as if the stones themselves were the source of the fire. The light bounced off the stones and cast a warm glow through the large room, a strange dichotomy of warmth and cold.
The man gestured at the couch and informed us that Athena—excuse me, the lady of the house—would be with us momentarily.
“You know, it really should have been clear from the beginning that these two weren’t going to end up in camp happily ever after,” I said as we waited. “Their styles could not be more different. They were doomed from the start.”
Everything about my mother’s home stood in stark opposition to the Vaughn Estate.
Matthias frowned at my observation. “What does architectural preferences have to do with whether or not a marriage is doomed?”
I shrugged one shoulder. “I mean, I’ve never been married, but I think if I had to argue with someone over every vase and paperweight, eventually one of them would find itself lodged in his head.”
“Ouch.” Matthias winced but then flashed a sly grin at me. “So, instead of a cage fight, your father should have set up an interior decorating competition to determine who you should marry? Is that what you’re saying?”
“Maybe.” I nodded and then smiled up at him. “Although, I don’t know how you’d fair in that contest.”
He bristled. “What’s wrong with my place?”
“Nothing.” I laughed softly. “It just doesn’t look like you had anything to do with the decor. My guess is that you walked into the open house and said I’ll take it all and that was it. The staging furniture, art, and area rugs. Did you even have to buy your own dishes?”
His lips twitched. “You think you’ve got me all figured out, huh?”
I held up my finger and thumb, holding an inch of space. “Little bit.”
“Well, your grace, I’ll have you know that I not only picked out the dishes, but I’ve also added a few potted plants.”
His facade cracked and we both laughed together.
“Oh! Well, aren’t you two simply a vision!”
My smile drooped at my mother’s voice. I turned to see her standing in the doorway, her arms open wide. All smiles and sunshine.
“Darling!” she trilled, swooping forward. She was swathed in a violet wrap that billowed behind her as she hurried toward me, her arms out wide. “I can’t believe you’re really here!”
She wrapped me in a tight embrace and I choked on a gust of second-hand hair spray as her blonde tendrils smothered me. She must have applied half a can before coming downstairs to meet me.
“Can’t. Breathe.”
Athena laughed, the sound high-pitched and girlish. Turning to Matthias, her eyes took on a new glint of excitement.
Oh brother.
“I don’t think we’ve had the pleasure of an introduction,” Athena purred, giving Matthias a once-over that was a little too slow to be appropriate. “Are you new to the guard force? I hadn’t heard of any new arrivals, and I would remember you if we’d met before.”
I cringed. Was there a blanket nearby that I could crawl under?
Her reaction shouldn’t have been a surprise. Matthias fit her MO to a T: tall, dark, handsome, and young.
Or, at least young looking. I realized I actually had no idea how old he was.
Athena herself was well into her three-hundreds, but had aged herself to look just over fifty.
Begrudgingly.
If she could have, she no doubt would have reversed the aging once she separated from my father. Unfortunately for her, the process only worked in one direction.
“This is Matthias Hartford,” I told her, an unintentional edge to my voice. “He’s one of the suitors and my temporary—” I paused, remembering he hadn’t liked the term nanny.
“I’m supposed to keep her out of trouble,” Matthias offered, stepping forward to extend his hand to Athena.
Her eyes danced. “Oh! You’re Arthur and Cynthia’s son!”
“Yes, my Lady.”
“First bornling?”
“Yes.”
“Very nice,” Athena replied, still openly ogling even as she took his hand. She twisted her wrist, offering her knuckles to him. I rolled my eyes.
“She wants you to kiss her hand,” I said, frowning at my mother. “I would say it’s a formality thing, but really she just thinks you’re hot.”
“Lacey!” Athena tittered a girlish laugh and continued gazing up at Matthias.
I groaned. She was actually batting her lashes.
Some things never change.
“Mother!” I snapped. “I haven’t seen you in five years and this is how you want to spend our time together?”
Athena gave a put-out huff and dropped her hand. The maple-syrup-sweet smile vanished too. “Honestly, Lacey, I don’t know why you always insist on humiliating me.”
“Pretty sure you’re capable of doing that all on your own,” I quipped.
Matthias wisely opted for silence and began circling the room, admiring the art.