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Besides, once Amelia laid eyes on them, I planned on destroying the three paintings and being done with them. If the Crimson Ring wanted them that badly, then I needed to make sure they were burned down to a pile of ash.
Caleb walked down the hallway of the castle, his sneakers tapping against the smooth hardwood. I followed behind him, surprised he already knew the way out.
“Are you sure?” I asked the back of his head, giving him one last chance.
He paused but didn’t turn around. Could this be it? Could he be changing his mind?
“No,” he said again and continued walking. I couldn’t stop myself from dropping my gaze and glancing at the handfuls of ass Caleb walked away with. He wore gym shorts that really didn’t leave much to the imagination, the shiny black fabric looking so easy to tear off.
Shit, maybe I should try to convince him a little harder. “I’ll pay you. Whatever your current client is paying you, I’ll give double.” That got him to stop and turn. He wore a skeptical look on his face. His lips were slightly parted, like he wanted to ask a question but couldn’t quite form it. I could see the wheels spinning in Caleb’s head as he tossed around my offer.
I also felt myself wanting to kiss those half-parted lips.
Money talked, and when you had as much of it as I did, it was easy to get the conversation flowing. And it wasn’t all family money either. I had been fortunate enough to land myself some early investment opportunities in a few of the most profitable tech companies in the world. It wasn’t my main drive in life, nor was I all that interested in the tech world, but I was interested in money and enjoyed not having to think about whether I had enough of it or not.
“Sorry,” Caleb said. My jaw dropped. “I can’t do that to a client. I’d ruin my reputation.” Then he sucked in a deep breath and surprised me even more. “But fine, we can work together. Just so you can stop bugging me about it.”
That made me crack a huge grin, something close to relief floating through my body. This Marvel was interesting, not to mention extremely good-looking, and he seemed to know what he was doing if he had found himself in that attic at the same time as I had. This could be an incredible partnership in the making, or it could turn into both of our downfalls. The jury was still out on what would happen.
“Great,” I said, clapping my hands together. “I’ve got a good feeling about this.”
“That at least makes one of us,” Caleb replied, smirking. “Can I go now?”
“Yes, yeah,” I answered, motioning toward the front doors. We stood in the foyer, the two arching windows on either side of the tall doors letting in a flood of sunlight. Bambi, our mischievous saber cat, hopped off of her favorite armchair and sauntered over to Caleb, purring as she twined herself through his legs.
“It was good meeting you,” Caleb said with a more genuine smile. I liked it, the way he smiled. He showed just the right amount of teeth, a little bit of tongue, a dimple appearing on his left cheek.
Before I could tell him the same, the door opened behind him, Robby and Damien walking in with Claire, another Marvel, who owned a magic shop nearby and was an honorary member of the Blackthorne family. With them was another good friend, Mason Jun, who was more popularly known by her drag name, Starlight. In drag, she was an effervescent queen with outfits that made her shine just like her namesake. Out of drag, Mason was just as much of a star. He had his eyebrows shaved and some light makeup on that made his face have an airbrushed glow, like he’d dipped it directly into the fountain of youth.
Or like he’d been turned into a vampire.
All three of them came into the castle laughing and talking up a storm, dragging Caleb into the very center of it.
“Whoa, is that blood?” Mason asked, looking down at the trail of red still on the floor.
“That’s what I said.” I huffed out a breath and shook my head. “But no, it’s paint.”
“Right, well, Madds and Madds’ friend,” Claire said, carefully stepping over the red streak and lifting a wrist full of silver and gold bracelets, a white-and-black box held in her grip. “You’ve got to check out this game I just got into the store. Marvels Against Humanity. It’s a card game that has magical effects and questionable humor. Come, let’s go play it in the living room.”
I watched Caleb blink through the surprise as Claire grabbed him by the elbow and started walking him through the foyer. I followed them down the hall and through the main sitting room with the domed ceiling that depicted our rainbow flight family against a bright blue sky, each color of dragon represented in the beautiful oil painting. Caleb took a second to pause and look up before Claire tugged him along.
