Pandora's Box (16 page)

Her father scowled, obviously wishing her question was anything but this one. So she wasn’t supposed to take this leap? He’d
obviously intended only to drive a wedge between her and Riordan with his revelation, not lead her to another conclusion and
disturbing question.

“Answer her.” Riordan spoke compellingly, and his eyes glowed.

You can compel him to answer me?

Not by using magic. I’m using the man’s guilt against him. He
and I both know what we’re about. He can’t stand to have you
here, forcing him to acknowledge to himselfwhat he did to you.

Mina couldn’t breathe. Just waited.

“It means, ” Forbes spoke reluctantly, “that you and only you can free him from the curse. You’re the key to the freak’s freedom.
It was foreseen.”

Once the words were out, Riordan bowed his head, as though a burden had been lifted from him.

Mina stared at her father and then at Riordan. “So, it really is true.”

Forbes shrugged. “Is that the last of your questions?”

“No.” Mina swallowed and glanced away. Then she returned her gaze to her father, almost angrily. “My sister, the accountant.
What’s her name? What’s she like?”

“That’s none of your business.”

“Yes, it is.”

Again, Forbes couldn’t hold her stare. “She’s . . . smart. Hardworking. Loyal. Beautiful.”

In short, perfect. “What’s her name?”

Forbes seemed to be biting back fury and anguish. “Why do you want to know? She’s nothing to you. Leave her out of this.”

“She’s my sister. I’ve never had a sister.” Mina spoke softly.

“Her name is Daphne. And she would want nothing to do with you. I guarantee it. Now, will you please leave? This is a place
of business, not a soap opera set.”

“Daphne Forbes, ” Mina mused. “Daphne means laurel in Greek. Did you know that? So is Daphne your laurel, Duncan?”

“No, damn it. She’s my daughter. The only daughter I have. Now go.”

“One more question.”

“This better be the last one.”

“How old is Daphne?” Probably fresh out of college. Mina wondered if there could be any common ground between them at all.
The bastard thirty-one-year-old daughter on the fast-track to freakdom, and the bright and ambitious, legitimate younger daughter,
the very apple of her respectable father’s eye.

Duncan looked furious. “That’s none of your damn business.”

“Tell her.” This from Riordan, his eyes glowing with knowledge and threat.

“Daphne’s thirty-one. Just turned.”

Mina stared. “But I’m . . .”

“Thirty-one?” Duncan asked her angrily. “Yes, damn it, I know. I was already married and, during a weak moment . . . Your
mother was a mistake. You were a mistake. You understand now?”

“Obviously, Mina was the best mistake you ever made.” Riordan spoke with soft threat. “And thank God for mistakes. Thanks
so much for your trouble, asshole.”
Stand up,
Mina. Turn and walk out the door. Do not look back. Come on,
babe. I’ve got your back.

Numb and speechless, Mina responded to the voice in her head and felt a muzzle nudging her hand, urging her onward. She walked.
Opened the door. Walked through it, past the staring receptionist and out the door.

Then she kept walking.

Mina? Hello, babe. You’re scaring me. Are you in there? We
just passed your car.

Mina slowed, turned and walked back to the parked car. Then she unlocked the door, let Riordan leap past her into the passenger’s
seat, before climbing in herself. There she sat in silence.

“Mina, I’m sorry, ” Riordan said aloud. “I am. I had no idea he was that bad or what it would cost you to do this. What an
asshole. May I just say you won the gene pool? I like you. You’re an amazing woman and a credit to the human species. Unlike
jerkface in there.”

Mina inhaled. Exhaled. She could breathe again. “You know. I was prepared for him. At least, I thought I was. I knew he didn’t
want me. Granted, I didn’t know he also considered me an offense against the natural order of things—you know, on a universal
level. I also . . . I didn’t know . . .”

“That he was married when he met your mother, and then got both women pregnant at the same time?” Riordan sounded thoughtful,
too. “If it helps any, I think the man’s been terrified for thirty-one years. He’s a coward, too scared to do anything but
lash out.”

“He believed what he said.”

Riordan couldn’t deny that. “This was his way of justifying it in his mind. Unless he continues to believe that you shouldn’t
exist, then he has to believe himself guilty of abandoning you and ignoring you all these years. He’s a weak man, Mina. He
doesn’t deserve you. Hell, I can’t imagine having a man like that raise you, either. Can you? Your mom loves you.”

“Yes, she does. I think. Still, that whole manipulation thing in the beginning . . .”

“That was before you became a person. Her love for you is obvious to anyone who cares enough to look. Hold on to that.”

Mina nodded, then tried a laugh. It came out creaky. “You know, I really thought I was past all that abandonment crap. I’m
a thirty-one-year-old woman. I’ve been on my own for years, answerable for my own actions and dependent on no one. This shouldn’t
matter. Nothing he thinks should matter. I no longer need a daddy to wipe the tears and rock me to sleep at night.”

“Mina.”

Lost in reverie, she didn’t respond.

A flash-shimmer caught her attention. Riordan had shifted to human form. Faceless, but a man nonetheless.

“What are you doing?”

Riordan took her hand in his and spoke low. “I want to make you a promise, Mina. There are men who say my word means nothing,
but I’ll swear it to you anyway. It’s all I have.”

Mina eyed him warily. “Okay.”

“I promise you, whatever comes of this quest of ours, whether I’m back in that damn rock or a free man finally, I will only
be a call away from you. Speak my name and I will hear you.
I swear I will never abandon you of my own free will.
”

CHAPTER NINE

Mina stared at Riordan, aghast. “But, I don’t get it. All you’ve ever wanted is your freedom. Why would you tie yourself to
me now with a new obligation?”

“If I do gain my freedom, it will be thanks to you. I’ll never forget your efforts and sacrifices on my behalf. And I will
never willingly abandon you. You can count on me.”

Mina gazed at him, shaken and so touched. . . . This wasn’t the BobGoblin. “Riordan, you are a complete sham.”

He sat back in his seat. “This is what I get for offering my lifelong allegiance?”

Mina was shaking her head, a wondering smile growing, easing away the day’s strain and disappointments. “You’ve outed yourself,
buddy. I was starting to catch on earlier, but this little speech betrays you completely. What’s with the BobGoblin act? You’re
so much more than the goofy dog you portray.”

He shrugged. “I’m not usually in dog persona. Horse was my favorite at first. Then it was all disembodiment. The dog was for
your benefit.”

“As was the act, ” she mused. “I wonder why that is?”

Suddenly, Riordan flash-shimmered back to dog, just as a knock sounded on the driver’s side window. Mina jumped and saw a
hand motioning for her to roll down her window—and a policeman’s uniform right behind it. Her heart still pounding, Mina rolled
down the window. “Yes, Officer?”

“Everything okay, ma’am?” The man bent and peered into her car to glance around. Riordan, thank heavens, kept his eyes lazily
slitted and his tongue hanging out in friendly greeting. “I saw you get in your car a while back but you didn’t pull out,
so I thought I’d check on you. We’ve had some cars vandalized near here.”

“Oh. I didn’t know. But everything’s okay as far as I can see.”

“All right, then. Have a good day.” The policeman straightened and Mina rolled up the window.

“Good lord, but that was close.”

“Bark, ” was Riordan’s dry response.

Still unsteady, Mina was content to drive home in silence, which normally talkative Riordan never broke. After parking and
letting Riordan hop out, still on the familiar all-fours of a canine, she unlocked her house and let them inside.

After she shut the front door, she turned on a light and froze at sight of a man sitting on her couch. “Teague?” Okay, that
was a little unnerving. She couldn’t quite bring herself to be spooked by him, but finding him in her house while she was
gone, even if he
was
doing renovation work for her . . .

He cleared his throat. “Yeah. Kind of awkward, huh? Sorry if I scared you. Some lady let me in. She said she was your mom?
And that you might be upset about something?” He seemed uncomfortable but concerned. “Look, I know this looks bad, and if
she hadn’t said the part about you being upset, I wouldn’t have waited here without an invitation from you. I swear I’m not
some stalker type.”

Mina relaxed. Of
course
her mother would let a good-looking man into Mina’s home. Apparently, there was at least one member of the Avery/Avebury family
who’d never learned to stay out of the matchmaking business. Mina glanced covertly at her “dog, ” grateful to see Riordan
hadn’t shifted to man form yet.

Hey, I can be discreet. And I can even be sensitive to budding romance,
if you want.
He trotted into her bedroom and crawled under her bed, leaving Mina and Teague virtually alone.

Teague shoved his hands in his pockets. “Is this okay?”

“I . . . sure. So, my mom was here?”

“She said she skipped an appointment to wait for you, then when I showed up . . .” He shrugged. “We got to talking and I mentioned
that you and I were dating. She seemed to think you’d rather see me than her, whatever that means.”

Mina felt her throat tighten all over again. How could her mother have done it? Mina had expected the worst from her father.
But her mom? Why? “I know what she means. It’s nothing you need to worry about, just a misunderstanding.” A thirty-one-year-old
misunderstanding—or a few of them—but all of it could keep until Mina finished mentally unraveling the mess. She regarded
good-looking, seriously normal and honest-faced Teague with no little appreciation. “I’m glad you’re here.”

“Then I am, too.” He smiled, relieved and genuine now, then rounded the coffee table to hold his arms out to her. Mina found
it completely natural to just step into those arms and let them envelop her as she rested a cheek against his chest. Just
melted right into his body. Oh, nice. Big and strong and safe, but not so safe as to be boring. Damn near perfect, in fact,
she decided, enjoying the fizz of growing awareness.

He tightened his arms around her and dipped his face close to hers. “You want to talk about it?” he murmured.

Talk about it? What could she talk about? What was safe? Any of it? Well, some . . . “I went to see my father.” Her voice
sounded thick even to her own ears. Dear God, but she wasn’t going to weep all over the man now, was she? How clichéd could
she get?

“Not a good meeting, I take it?” He started walking backward, tugging her along with him until his calves butted against the
couch. He sat, giving her hands a little tug to follow him down.

She didn’t protest when he arranged her on his lap, just snuggled close to slide her arms around his neck and rest her head
on his shoulder. She sighed, letting some of the tension ease out of her. “No. Not a good meeting.”

“I see.”

She laughed brokenly. “No, actually, you don’t. I’m talking a
really bad
meeting. He’s never acknowledged me as his flesh and blood, so he’s been absentee and living in denial for my entire life.
My mom twisted my arm into seeing him today about another matter, so I did. I think part of me wishes he regretted leaving
me. That maybe he’d like to get to know me.”

“It didn’t turn out that way?” he questioned against her hair. She felt his warm breath stir tendrils as she shook her head.
“I’m sorry. He doesn’t know what he’s missing.”

Mina frowned a little. “That’s what my mom always said. I think that’s the standard answer moms give their kids when their
fathers don’t want them, though.” She tried to shrug, but it was halfhearted. “No biggie. Honestly, I was braced for his attitude.
I’ve encountered it before. What I didn’t know . . . I found out his other daughter is exactly my age.”

“Oh. So you mean . . .”

“Yeah, no wonder dear old Dad doesn’t claim me. It turns out he cheated on his wife with my mother and got them both pregnant
at the same time. Nice man.”

“Sounds like.” He rubbed her back.

She buried her face in his chest to inhale his scent and his warmth. Clean, slightly soapy, lots of outdoors. She let it ease
away the polluted feeling she’d endured since talking to her father. Teague was so wonderfully, purely normal. The man probably
never met a scandal in his life, or at least not one connected to his family or himself in such an ugly way. “What’s your
family like, Teague? Tell me about them.” She felt like a child demanding a fairytale, which, she supposed, was exactly what
she was doing.

“Rowdy, big, close. I’ve got three brothers, two younger and one older. No sisters.” She heard a smile in his voice.

“Right.” She smiled against his shoulder, remembering their joke. “Teague, Just Teague. Are your brothers all like you?”

“Big and ugly? Sure. I’m smarter, though.” When she laughed, he squeezed her. “We’re just brothers. You know. Fighting, arguing,
competing. But we can all count on each other. Any time one of us was in trouble, as kids, the rest would drop whatever stupid
fight we had with each other and stand together. No matter what. That’s just how it worked.”

“Fight among yourselves but heaven help the outsider?”

He shrugged. “Pretty much.”

“That sounds nice.”

He laughed. “You’re nuts.”

“No, I’m not. And you know what I mean. You have your differences but you’re there for each other.”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“What about your parents?”

“Mom’s a terror. A complete tyrant.” But there was a smile in his voice. “Think five-foot-nothing steamroller with pretty
eyes and you have her nailed. Dad’s big and dumb like the four of us. He thinks Mom walks on water when she’s not spewing
the fires of hell all over the idiot men in her house.”

Mina laughed. “They sound wonderful.” A fairytale. Just what she’d always wanted. “Do they live close?”

“North Carolina, so not all that close. But I visit when I can and my damn phone rings nonstop it seems.”

She nodded.

“So. Your sister.”

“Half-sister.” Mina wasn’t ready to acknowledge the favored child. Why should she? That kid had somehow managed to score a
father and a mother and a normal life. And now she was beloved enough to be her father’s right-hand woman. What was that like?

“Half-sister, then. Did you meet her?”

“No. That’s the last thing good old Duncan Forbes wants. Living, breathing proof of his infidelity comparing notes with his
acknowledged daughter. They’re in business together, too. Did I mention that? She’s an accountant like Dunky.”

He chuckled a little. “Dunky?”

“Cheap nickname. So sue me.”

“So she doesn’t know about you, either, ” he mused. “Will you try to meet her?”

Mina thought a moment. Should she? What if the precious Daphne was a horrible person and hated Mina? What if Daphne was every
bit as wonderful as her father swore she was? Which would be worse? What the hell would Mina even say to her? “I don’t know.
Not now. I don’t know about later, though.”

He nodded. “It’s entirely your call. But I say don’t let good old Dunky deny you a relationship with your sister if you decide
it’s something you want.”

“I doubt she’d want to know about me. After all, her beloved father would topple off his pedestal if she knew he’d produced
me, wouldn’t he?”

“Maybe. But, ” he paused meaningfully, “it sounds to me like you’re assuming an awful lot about this woman. How do you know
she has Daddy on a pedestal? Maybe she and this father you share aren’t as close as you think they are.”

“They’re partners in business together. How estranged could they be?”

“True enough. But I still think you should try not to lump them together in your head.” He gently pushed her away enough that
he could look into her eyes. “If you do meet her someday, try to keep an open mind. A sister’s not something you should give
up without serious soul searching first. And, that said, I’ll stop pushing. I just know I’d be missing a lot if I didn’t have
my brothers. You might find that you have a lot in common with this sister of yours.”

“Maybe.” It was a lot to think about. She’d admit’as an occasionally discerning adult—that she might be a little biased against
this unknown sister. Maybe Daphne was a decent person. And, maybe not. But it would be a mistake to judge her, sight unseen.
She nodded, feeling the tug of his fingers, still threaded through her hair. “I’ll give it some thought.”

“Good.” He smiled.

Meeting his eyes, she smiled back. “And as much as I hate to admit it, my mother was right, too. Thanks for being here.”

“Well, you know. It was a burden and all. Got a hot woman on my lap, snuggled up in my arms. But I’m willing to sacrifice
for the cause.” He squeezed her, his eyes glinting with humor. And something more. “So, let’s move on to the next subject.”

“And that would be?” She contemplated the devilish light in his eyes.

“Well, see, like I said, I’ve got this sexy woman in my lap. I like that subject.”

“You would.” She laughed, enjoying it every bit as much as he did, especially when he tugged her hips yet closer to his body.
Feeling that fizz of awareness bounce right up to a steamy simmer, she sank into sensation, enjoying the feel of his big body
supporting hers.

“I don’t hear you complaining. I think you like it, too.”

“Oh, I don’t know.” She tried to look undecided—not an easy accomplishment, given the fact that her nerve endings were all
popping away with sensory input. “Maybe I see you as a brother now that we’ve gone all mushy with the family talk and soul-searching.”

“Damn.” He frowned in mock concern and she nodded in mock agreement. “Guess I’ll have to do something about that.” In a deft,
breath-stealing maneuver, he dipped Mina backward enough that he could swing one of her legs across his lap. When he tugged
her upright, breathless and laughing, she was straddling his thighs. “Now that’s much better.” He grinned outrageously.

Eyes wide, and intelligent thought only a remote possibility now, Mina gazed down into his glittering green irises. “Ooh.
You’re smooth.”

“Think so? I mean, I’d hate for you to think of me as a brother right about now.” Winding her hair around his fingers and
cupping her head, he angled his smiling mouth to hers.

Mina met his smile with one of her own, pressing her lips to his. With an appreciative groan, Teague used his hold on her
hair to slant her head while he let lips and tongue play over hers. A kiss to the corner of her mouth graduated to a teasing
swipe across the seam of her lips, coaxing them to part. When they did so, he slipped his tongue in to probe and savor.

The man could kiss. Sliding closer, her body aching for more intimate contact, Mina tightened her arms and arched her pelvis
against him. He groaned approval. Playing her tongue over his and pressing her body flush against him, she let her hands glide
free to explore broad shoulders and biceps, lean ribs—

Ahem.

She started, and felt Teague wince, no doubt anticipating intimate injury. “Sorry, ” she muttered against his mouth.

Hey, you’re the one who doesn’t want to play exhibitionist. I’m
just doing my duty here. Very kind of me, I thought, considering
I have no problem at all with the role of voyeur.

Mina could have wept as she pulled back from Teague.

“Something wrong?” His breathing was rough, the kiss having taken a toll on him as well.

She met his eyes with silent entreaty. Oh, man, this was just rotten. Here he was and . . . Oh, crap. Riordan, you better
appreciate this.