Page 9 of Fateful Reunion

“That’s it in a nutshell.”

“And how am I supposed to do that when he’s here with his fucking wife?”

Gabriel looked at her calmly. “As Samson said, she’s probably not his wife. Or he would have said so. He called her his companion.”

“I don’t care what he calls her!” Because now she was furious. Charles had a woman, whereas she’d never been able to trust another man enough to have a relationship. And offers she’d had plenty, but nothing had ended up lasting longer than a night. And now Charles showed up in her town, completely over her, and apparently willing to go out of his way to rub her nose in it?

“Roxanne,” Gabriel said softly, more softly than this intimidating man should be able to. “You’re the only one who can get close to him. We need to know what he’s planning. If you want to get back at him for whatever he did to you, this is your chance. You’ll have our full support.”

She looked into Gabriel’s eyes and saw the sincerity in them. She shifted her gaze to Samson and saw the same expression in his.

“I’ll do it under one condition.”

“Name it,” Samson said.

“If it turns out he’s putting our world in danger with his actions, I want to be the one to kill him.”

For a moment Samson was silent, contemplating her words. “If his actions warrant it… I’ll make sure you’ll be the one to dole out the punishment… whatever that may be.”

She nodded. When it came to that, they’d finally be even, and she could lay her past to rest.

4

Charles checked the time again. When would they be here? Scanguards headquarters had called him, advising him that they were taking the assignment and dispatching the bodyguards he’d requested for Ilaria immediately.

He’d already called down to the front desk of the corporate apartment he’d rented to make sure the people from Scanguards were sent up right away.

When the knock sounded at the door, Charles straightened and took a deep breath, noticing that his ribs now felt completely normal, thanks to a healing spell and potion he had concocted after returning from his initial meeting at Scanguards. He had to hand it to Roxanne, she was no pushover. The only way to win her back would be with the truth.

Showtime.

Charles turned the door handle and pulled the door open. The sight of Roxanne took his breath away just as it had the previous night. For a moment, he drank in her features, then he pulled himself together and glanced down the hotel-like corridor.

“You’re alone?”

She walked past him and entered the apartment. “My colleagues are on their way.”

He let the door snap shut and watched her studying her surroundings.

“I don’t like it,” she said.

“The apartment?” he asked. It was generic, bare, and definitely on the cold side. He’d had worse. And he wasn’t planning on staying here for long.

Roxanne looked over her shoulder, one side of her lip pulled up in a derisive gesture. “It’s not secure.”

“I chose it because it has a twenty-four-hour doorman.”

She walked around the room, opening closet doors, looking out the window, and glancing at the hallway that led to the other rooms. “The front desk is a joke. I practically had to wake up grandpa down there. And there are multiple egress points that aren’t sufficiently secure. The gate to the garage could easily be breached by anybody on foot, and somebody with a little bit of technical knowledge could override the keyed entry system in the elevators, bypassing the lobby altogether.”

Her assessment felt sobering, and he tried not to take it personally. After all, he’d survived for nearly twenty-three years with various powerful witches hunting him. His preternatural senses had always warned him in time when anybody wanting him harm was near. They’d compensated for his lack of traditional security training. But the words nevertheless felt like a put-down. Coming from the woman he still loved as fiercely as when he’d left her, it stung like a hornet.

He tried to bite back a response, but couldn’t. “Just as well that I didn’t sign a long-term lease then.”

A sound akin to a grunt came from Roxanne as she ambled into the open plan kitchen and examined the window over the sink.

“It can’t be opened. Besides we’re on the fourteenth floor. Bit difficult to climb up here, given the outside is glass,” he said, still feeling he had to defend his choice of hiding place.

Roxanne shot him a displeased look. “I’ve got eyes.” Then she marched out of the kitchen. “I think it’s time I met Ilaria.”