Page 29 of A Shade of Myself
Grumbling that that wasn’t the point, Emmett went to fetch himself another drink at the bar.
“Thanks, Vikram,” I said. Warmth spread through my chest that I now warranted the same personal attention as my boss.
“The wolf said you looked on edge and I should keep them coming,” the owner said.
Giselle was partially visible in the foyer, shaking her head as she paced, still on the call.
But Laurent and Cam had left the building, with only the detritus of their dessert plates and the champagne bottle left as evidence of their tête-à-tête.
I ground the ice cube I was crunching to powdered snow. “Did he now?” I growled.
Vikram’s eyebrows shot up. They were very shaggy, yet regal, which made sense for a bear shifter.
“You have very nice eyebrows,” I said. I’d decided at our first meeting that Vikram and I would be friends and I meant it. Whatever weirdness Laurent was pulling, I, for one, would behave in a mature fashion. I handed the owner back the refill. “I’m good with water, thanks.”
Vikram touched his brows briefly and blushed. “Who compliments eyebrows?” He lumbered away.
“I think there’s something going on with Giselle beyond being a drama queen,” I said. “But even if that’s all it comes down to, why not make her happy, take her money, and look into it? You can always tell her there were no conclusive results.”
Tatiana shot me a withering look. “The same reason Kadeem wouldn’t take her on as a client. My reputation is everything and I won’t have it bandied about that I fail. Tsuris-hounds are the worst for complaining far and wide about their dissatisfaction.”
“It’s not like you’re on Yelp.” I paused. “Are you?”
She rolled her eyes, stirring her ice around with her straw.
Like it wasn’t a possibility. I smooshed the lemon wedge into my water. “Besides, everyone fails. Lawyers lose cases. Mechanics can’t find every car problem. People still use their services.”
“Not me.”
I pointed a finger at her. “What about Fake Topher’s death?” I’ll see your rebuttal and show precedence.
“That was your failure, not mine,” Tatiana said.
I scowled at her.
“In the end,” she said, “there were many people who shared the blame for that mishap. None of them me.”
Oy vey. How nice to live such an exemplary existence. “You’ve never failed? Not even once? I refuse to believe that.”
She grabbed a sourdough roll from the basket in the middle of the table and buttered it with forceful strokes. “I don’t see why you’re so invested in this case anyway.”
“Giselle wants to know the truth about why she’s feeling this way. If something is wrong, then she needs to know what it is and why it happened. I get that. It’s part of the reason why I came to work for you. To learn the truth about my parents’ murders and get closure.”
“The truth isn’t always a good thing.” She took a small bite.
“Spare me the platitudes. At the very least, I can check out the necklace. Maybe it’s been spelled and if I’m right, you can gloat to Kadeem. Or any other magic fixer.” I let that dangle there in case Tatiana wanted to pick up what I was putting down and enlighten me.
“Miriam’s jealous that I’m your favorite and the only one you’ve shared things with,” Emmett said smugly, returning in time to catch my last words.
Suddenly the golem with the emotional maturity of a child was Mr. Insightful? What’s worse was that he was right. Tatiana had shared a softer, more personal side of herself back when a death curse had hung over her head. I thought that had finally blurred the lines between us of employer/minion, but apparently not quite as much as I’d hoped.
And not as much as it had with Emmett, who now lived with her.
I drank my stupid glass of water.
“First, get real,” I said. “Second, yes, I would appreciate not operating in the dark. If I’m going to investigate this, I may end up in New York. You wanted to use my ability to travel through the Kefitzat Haderech to expand your business dealings, so at least tell me if I’ll be stepping on anyone’s toes.”
“Enough kvetching already. All you had to do was ask,” Tatiana said.
