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“It’s Pritchard,” Darren supplied, his eyes not leaving mine.
“And what do you do?”
I shot a look at Bethany at Jack’s line of questioning. She shrugged, no more clued into what our boss was thinking. He was acting like an overprotective boyfriend, but not in the attractive ‘I think I have a claim on her and want to know what she sees in you’ kind of way.
Antoine.
He sounded like Antoine. The thought of the head of the house of Durand made my heart ache, and Darren took my hand in his, directing my attention back to him. He always seemed to know when I was thinking of our vampire master. Not that I’d ever call Antoine master to his face. He’d have a field day with that. Antoine was arrogant enough.
Darren held my gaze for a long moment before turning to Jack. “I’m a liaison for a high-profile family overseas.”
Jack’s brows rose. He took a swig from his beer and twisted it on the top of the bar. “And what exactly does that entail?”
Something in Darren shifted, and as if he were reading from a script as he responded, “I handle the household issues, run errands, and doanythingthe family needs to keep running smoothly.”
“So…you’re an assistant?” Bethany jutted her glass toward Darren.
Darren’s lips ticked up at the side, his eyes sparkling with amusement. “Of a sort.”
“And you two…live together?” Bethany shifted a finger between the two of us.
“Uh, yeah. For a while now.” I drank deeply from my glass, letting the alcohol soothe my nerves. Too many more questions and I’d be spilling my guts about the whole damn thing.
“That’s curious.” Jack hummed, though I could tell he was holding back what he really wanted to say. I worked with the man five days a week. Jack rarely held his tongue, but for some reason this time he did.
Either way, I was glad for it. I didn’t want to know what Darren would do if Jack tried to get in his face about it. The butler had dealt with vampires far longer than any of us three have been alive. A puny human man was nothing to him.
“Why?” Darren retorted, and I tightened my hand on his.
What the hell was he doing?
Did he want to start a fight?
“Why what?” Jack met Darren’s challenging gaze.
“Why is that curious?”
I gave a nervous chuckle and patted Darren on the chest. “Jack’s just being polite. He speaks lawyerese. Don’t try to understand it.”
“No.” Darren’s expression and tone went flat as he stared Jack down. “I do believe he means something else entirely. Don’t you, Jack?”
My eyes skittered to Bethany, who kept her eyes on her drink, not letting herself be sucked into this pissing contest. Lucky her. Jack, on the other hand, had no problem picking up what Darren was insinuating.
“You’re correct.” Jack sat his beer down and turned completely toward us. “I find it peculiar that Piper has worked as my receptionist for a year now and not once mentioned a boyfriend, let alone one she lives with.”
“As he said, we’re—” I tried to interrupt him, but Jack turned his accusations onto me.
“He’s not even your emergency contact. How can he be your boyfriend? You have your mother written down. That seems a bit off to me, doesn’t it, Bethany?”
Bethany waved a hand at the bartender. “Another please. And keep them coming.” To Jack, she shook her head. “Nope. Nothing seems off to me.”
“You are a suspicious man, Jack.” Darren stepped closer to me, his hands on my hips. If he were a dog, he’d be pissing on my leg to mark his territory.
“It comes with the job, Darren.” Jack stood, his six-foot frame giving him the advantage over Darren’s five-ten. “My nose can pick up a lie in seconds and you two reek of bullshit.”
I gaped at my boss. “Excuse me.” I jumped out of my seat and placed my glass down on the bar, putting myself between the two of them. “You might be my boss, but my personal life is none of your damn business. Nor who my emergency contact is. I came out with you guys against my better judgment and this is how you act?” I huffed and shoved my purse over my shoulder. “I’ve had enough employers pushing the limits of our work relationship, and I won’t be pushed by you. Now, if you’ll excuse me. I’m going home. I’ll see you Monday. If you still wish to keep me as your receptionist, that is.”
Jack gaped at me and then hurried to say, “Of course I do. I didn’t mean to—”
