Dangerous Dalliances (Maxwell Investigations) (22 page)

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Victor
walked into his suite and tried not to snap as his son followed him. “Is there
something else you wish to discuss?” he asked Casper.

The
younger Vampire shrugged. “I don’t remember ever seeing you like this,” Casper
commented. He walked over to one of the overstuffed armchairs and sprawled over
it. “Sure, there were a few women you stalked over the years, but with Leigh it
seems different.”

Victor
removed his tie and went to look out of the window. He would not give Casper
the satisfaction of a reply. Finding out a woman’s history and interest was not
stalking. But his son was correct about the fact that with Leigh things were
different.

Casper
noted the closed look on his father’s face and straightened in his seat. All of
his good humor fled as he decided to approach the one topic he carefully
avoided whenever he spoke with Victor. “I know there’s been no one since Mom.”

“And
there will be no one else,” Victor snapped. Christine was his heart. “No one
will ever be able to replace her.”

“She
would want you to move on.” Casper stood and crossed the room. He ignored the
glare his father was giving him. “We both know that Mom was all about doing
what made you happy. If Leigh can make you happy, I say go for it.” Casper
poured a glass of cognac and slowly drank it. “Who knows, maybe she can get you
to loosen up again.”

Victor
moved to sit on the sofa. “What is that supposed to mean?”

Casper
turned and braced himself. He was about to start speaking with a brick wall.
“You’re uptight and old fashioned. You’ve changed over the years, but think
about it. If Jackie never left with Claude, you would have forced Crispin and
Jessica to get married. If Madison hadn’t worked whatever magic she worked on
you, you would have looked at Claudia and threw her out on to the streets. You
don’t realize what kind tyrant you were becoming.”

“And
now you believe Leigh can save me from myself?” Victor asked almost mockingly.

“Yes.
If anything, she can teach you how to wear jeans and use contractions.” Casper
shook his head and sighed. “Do you realize that since you’ve give Crispin the
crown, you have done absolutely nothing for your own pleasure? You’ve looked
out for our best interest. You’ve stayed around to make sure Crispin was
handling the mantle of leadership. After that it was to make sure Dylan
adjusted to being a newly made Vampire queen. Once that was starting to settle,
Madison had the twins and you wanted to make sure she was alright because she
sent her Wolf to the other side of the country. Notice, there’s no pleasure for
yourself
.”

Bored
green eyes looked at Casper. While his son was correct on many levels, there
was no way he was going to admit that. “Are you finished?”

Casper’s
shoulders fell. Victor was done with the conversation. “For now,” he said
before topping off his cognac and leaving the main room. “Tomorrow’s a
different day. And I should have back up by then.”

Victor
frowned at the thought of anyone else learning of his indiscretion with Leigh.
“What are you alluding to now?”

Casper
opened the door to his bedroom and smiled at his father. “That text I got in
the elevator coming up here,” Casper said reaching into his pocket and pulling
out his phone. “It was Kayin.
Mommy’s home.”

Victor
quickly stood. “Madison returned?”

“A few hours ago.”
Casper
chuckled as he took a drink. “Little Kayin lifted her phone and sent me the
text. Just imagine, in a few hours you’re going to have your hands full with a
pissed off Necromancer.”

“Please,”
Victor scoffed. “I can handle Madison perfectly well,” he said before going
over to pour his own glass of cognac. “And I am sure Troy will keep her
occupied for more than a few hours,” he mocked.

Casper
smiled as he looked at his father. “See, Leigh is good for you. You’re making
dirty jokes already.”

Victor
frowned. “Good night Casper.”

“It’s
spelled L-E-I-G-H. I think you’ll really enjoy the images.” Casper chuckled as
he went into his room and closed the door.

Victor
closed his eyes as he tried to ignore his son. The boy was too much like his
mother for Victor’s own sanity. A sigh escaped him. Casper was nearing his
250th birthday. He had not been a boy for some time. Maybe he was getting old.
Victor shook his head and went over to the desk by the balcony. There were
things he had to take care of for Crispin. It wouldn’t do for both the King and
his head advisor to disappear. He frowned as he reached into his pocket and
pulled out his cell phone. Trying to start any type of relationship was utter
madness. Victor smiled as he opened his text messages. Kayin must have sent him
a text from Madison’s phone as well.

Mommy’s home.
Will have cookies 2marrow.

A
laugh escaped him. Kayin enjoyed making any and everything into a cookie event.
Victor could only be amused by the tactic. He taught it to the child.

His
amusement drifted as he started to scroll through his contacts. If Kayin was
trying to gather everyone for Madison’s return, Leigh would be there. It would
not do well to leave things the way they were now.

Victor
paced the length of the room as he found Leigh’s phone number. He would deal
with Casper in the morning. Troy would also have to be dealt with. Luckily,
Madison would be able to keep her wolf too preoccupied with anything else.
Hopefully.
With Madison, one could never tell.

Before
he could stop himself, Victor opened up the screen for a new message.

My apologies for Casper and Troy’s
behavior.
Please allow me the opportunity to make it up to you.

Green
eyes scanned the text message three times. There was no reason for him to send
a text where auto-correct turned his message into something completely
different. He took a deep breath and sent the message.

He
entered his room as he removed his tuxedo jacket. He would wait for her response
and hopefully she would put a stop to whatever this madness was between them. A
sigh escaped him as he stripped off his shirt and shoes next. As much as he
wanted to stare at his phone and wait for her reply, he knew he could not be so
childish.

The
phone in the room rang, causing Victor to pause. He pressed his lips together
knowing that there were very few people that knew to reach him at the hotel.
“Yes,” he prompted as he picked up the phone.

“I’ve
gotten a handful of calls from Europe,” Jessica
Coniglio
said simply. When she paused, Victor heard her typing at a keyboard. He could
only guess what she was doing, but he had a feeling it had something to do with
her call. “The appearance of the former King with a Werewolf on his arm is
making waves in the nobility.”

Victor’s
back straightened as she spoke. “Who I choose to spend time with is my
prerogative. Leigh and I are friends that decided to entertain ourselves during
a formal event.”

“You
don’t have to defend yourself to me,” Jessica said easily. “Besides, the main
person calling is Lord Rodrigo. His panties would be in a bunch no matter
what.”

“Jessica,”
Victor chided.

“We
both know it’s true,” she said easily. “He’s still furious you allowed his
bastard daughter out of the engagement to your oldest son.”

Victor
couldn’t hide his displeasure. “You and I have discussed your place in my
household often enough. You know how I feel when you say that.”

She
sighed over the phone. “I’m sorry. He and I didn’t have a nice conversation.
Mostly he wanted to know why I wasn’t on your arm. When I told him it would
have been too weird, he went in on Crispin’s lack of responsibility.” Jessica’s
next keystrokes were sharp and pronounced. “I explained that there was an
emergency he had to take care of. He wanted me to go into detail and when I
didn’t he went out of his way to remind me of my place.”

Victor
rubbed the bridge of his nose. Rodrigo had been a thorn in his side for
decades. But the way the man treated his own daughter was criminal. “I will
call him tomorrow and deal with him myself. I do not care if he is your
father,
he has no right to insult a member of the Royal
House.”

“Alright,”
she whispered. She cleared her throat and the typing on her end of the call
stopped. “I know there’s no stopping you when you set your mind on something.”
A soft laugh escaped her. “That being said, I took the liberty of preparing an
updated file on Leigh. I just sent it to your inbox.”

She
was a thorough assistant and would have been an excellent queen. But Victor
knew Jessica would never have been comfortable with the crown. He smiled as he
thought of the files she compiled. “Thank you. I will go over them right away.”

Jessica’s
amusement laced her words. “Are you sure about her?” she asked gently. “Things
could get complicated.”

Victor
walked over to his the small desk that held his laptop. He pressed the power
button and frowned as he thought about her words. “To be perfectly honest, I
have no idea what I am doing.”

“Well,
I’m going to tell you the same thing you told me when I didn’t know if I would
fit in to your home. Ask for advice. I’m sure that between me, Madison and
Dylan, you can find plenty of pointers on how to woo Leigh.”

Victor
chuckled. “I would rather
not involve
neither Madison
nor Dylan.”

She
paused for a moment. “You still have me.”

Before
Victor could reply, his cellphone started to vibrate. He looked at the small
devise and inhaled when he saw Leigh’s name calling. “I will have to call you
back,” he said before hanging up on Jessica. He quickly picked up his cellphone
and connected the call. “Hello?”

“Mr.
Solomon, are you asking me out on a date?” Leigh asked playfully.

Victor
smiled as he sat at the desk. He could imagine the way her eyes sparkled. “I
believe I am Miss. Williams. Kayin has sent out a text about his mother’s
return. He wishes that we all get together for cookies tomorrow. I would like
to see if it is feasible to meet for lunch.”

“I
don’t know if this is a good idea,” Leigh said softly. Victor heard her moving
around. “If things don’t work out, the twins could be hurt. Madison’s become
one of my closest friends. If anything happens between us, it could get messy.”

Victor
played with the touchpad on the laptop and frowned at his reflection. The same
thoughts ran around his head in circles. He opened his email account and saw
the file Jessica sent. “There are countless scenarios that are unfavorable to
you and me spending time together. I am the former ruler of the
Vampires,
you are the ward of an Alpha Werewolf. At face
value, our situation has disaster written all over it.”

“You
probably enjoy going to the theatre, and I like playing in the mud.”

He
opened an image on his computer and inhaled. Leigh was covered in mud and
pushing a dirt bike off of a track. She removed the torso of her jumpsuit and
tied the arms around her waist. Victor swallowed as he looked at the amusement
in her eyes. A smile crossed his face as he remembered the way she looked while
playing with the twins. “Shall I pick you up at 11?” he asked.

She
laughed, and Victor found himself wanting to hear it even more.
“No place too fancy, please?
I have to be at the tracks most
of the day.”

Victor
knew exactly what tracks she spoke about. “Will Barnaby’s be alright?” It was a
restaurant owned by a Vampire that once held court in Europe. Bradley would
make sure he and Leigh had a quaint experience.

“Barnaby’s
is fine,” she replied. “Meet me at the tracks and we can go to Kayin’s cookie
date together too.”

Victor’s
smile brightened as he saw another picture of Leigh. She was lifted on the
shoulders of a pair of men and she held up a trophy nearly as large as she was.
“I would be delighted to escort you.”

“It’s
called a date, Victor. No one escorts anyone anymore. Not unless they’re
professional prostitutes,” she said gently.

He
reached forward and gently caressed her face on the computer screen. “I stand
corrected. Would you consider allowing me to court you Leigh?” he asked. When
he heard her inhale, he leaned back in his chair. “I keep going over the
reasons why we should not, yet I find myself ignoring them.”

“I’ve
been feeling the same,” she admitted. A laugh escaped her. “This might be
crazy, but I’m not going to listen to the reasons why we shouldn’t. You
shouldn’t either. And I’m not going to answer that question over the phone. Ask
me tomorrow, you’ll get an answer then.”

Victor
scrolled to the next picture and felt his eyes widen. The picture was from a
magazine spread and it featured Leigh in a pair of cutoff shorts and bikini
top. For a moment he didn’t know if he wanted to strangle Jessica or kiss her
for finding the image. He swallowed nervously and licked his lips. “I will make
sure that is on the top of my list of questions for you.”