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I consider his question. It doesn’t really matter if Iwanther to be my mate or not. I claimed her, so she’s mine. The connection we have is obvious—sparks fly between us every time she’s close—but we haven’t spent much time together because Rafe keeps sending us on errands, and I haven’t slept with her since our rendezvous in the dining room.
It’s complicated.
There’s no other way to describe it.
But I’m confident things could work out between us if she decides to stay in the monster realm. If she’ll give it—and me—a chance.
“Yeah,” I finally answer. “I do.”
“And if she decides to take claim more mates, monster or not, will you be okay with that?”
I stall. I haven’t exactly considered that scenario, but it’s not uncommon for female monsters to take multiple mates. The same rules would apply to Devyn if that’s what she wants.
“I’ll be fine with whatever makes her happy,” I assure him. “She has the right to choose.”
He nods but doesn’t say anything else, and we spend the rest of the ride in silence.
Parisi’s is an elegant Italian restaurant positioned on a busy street, and I have to park a block away in a parking deck. I could have chanced parallel parking, but the last thing I need is to hit someone’s car and have the cops called. Explaining that I don’t have a license—or any proof that I exist—isn’t how I want to start the day.
And meeting with Ross isn’t much better.
We step inside the restaurant, and my eyes automatically sweep across the dining area, searching for any sign of Ross. A taupe and black color scheme touches everything in the place, from the seating to the artwork hanging on the walls to the bar at the back of the room.
It's too early for a lunch rush, so the restaurant is still mostly empty, but Ross is sitting in the back corner alone in a booth. He's wearing a vibrant Hawaiian print shirt with a gold chain hanging around his neck, and his gray hair is combed over neatly.
Elio and I walk straight past the hostess station and stop beside his table.
"Good morning, Mr. Ross," Elio says as he nods his head in greeting, and I echo him.
"Hello boys." He gestures to the seat across from him, and his face breaks into a wide smile. "Please, have a seat."
The last time we met with him, I thought his cheery demeanor had been an obnoxious act. Now I'm less sure. The overly wide grin suits him, even if I know what's hiding under the surface. Like the rest of us, Ross is a monster. A master of disguise. And we still have to be cautious.
I slide into the booth first, followed by Elio, and Ross peruses the leather-bound folding menu.
"The food here is incredible," he says without looking up. "Much better than anything we have back home."
I say nothing and let Elio take the reins. If I keep quiet, hopefully we can get out of here faster and head to Devyn's.
"I'm sure,” Elio agrees.
"You boys hungry?" Ross asks, glancing at the menus in front of us. "It's on me."
"I'm not really--" I start to say, but Elio kicks me under the table to cut me off. He answers instead.
"Thank you for the offer, sir. It was a long trip and we skipped breakfast."
He reaches for his menu and flips it open before nudging my menu a little closer to me.
Fuck.
Looks like I'm stuck here for a bit.
A waitress appears next to our table to take our drink order and disappears a second later. After scanning over the menu, Elio sets it aside and folds his hands together on the table.
"You asked for a meeting with us," Elio starts casually.
Ross nods. "That I did. But it seems a shame to talk business on an empty stomach, doesn't it?"
