Echel chuckled.“No.”
She snorted.
Samsor said, “You are welcome to take as many of my rooms as necessary for a studio.”
Mateo said, “If you don’t mind baby handprints, you can paint and sketch at our place.I can make a hole in the wall between our houses, and you can come and go as you like.Is that a Van Housen card?”
“Yes.Did you know Grandma left me money?”She put the card back in her cleavage.
He smiled, his black eyes crinkling with amusement.“Yes.It drove my mother insane.”
“Permanently?”
Mateo pried Persephone away and hugged Emhara.“I am glad you are weathering this.”
“Me, too.”
“I really want to see what my spider looks like in a suit.”
She giggled.“I will do that when I get home.I am interested in it as well.I have a few things that I want to try.”
He whispered in her ear, “So do your deltas.Only make them wait as long as absolutely necessary.”
She smiled at him.“Only the absolute necessary wait.I am starting cold, so I am being careful.”
Mateo’s eyes went wide, and then relief filled him.“I worried that they would have...”
“Nope.Augusta is too jealous.The pack turned on itself when one of them suggested it.They expressed frustration in other ways.”
“Your mother?”
“Oh, off somewhere else in the world, so she didn’t consider herself liable for anything that happened to me.With stepdad.”
Mateo frowned.“Where are they?”
“Dunno.I haven’t heard from her in nine years.”
His brows raised.“I had no idea.”
“Nobody does.Augusta doesn’t even try to call her, so she might even be dead.”
“Do you want me to look for her?”
“No.If I want her hunted, I will ask Samsor and Echel.I might have to bribe them somehow, but they might be willing to take me on as a client.”
The server was fidgeting while trying to look calm.“Okay, bro.Have a fun night away from the littles tonight, and I look forward to meeting your little princess.”
Persephone grinned.“And the rest of the batch.They move with surprising speed and accuracy.”
A gentle arm pulled her away from her brother.“Come on, Emhara.They just live next door.As long as you live with me, it is a simple twenty-minute walk to their door.I have never been as happy as I am now to have purchased that house.”
She leaned back and against Samsor.“Thanks for having good sense.”
He chuckled and kissed her temple.“Come on, the dessert menu is out.”
“Ah, so you have a sweet tooth.”
“Says the woman who has more chocolate chips than batter in her pancakes.”
