A Beast's Tale

Chapter 71

We made a sizable dent in the paperwork by the time Ivetta, Belle, and Theresa stopped by with tea and snacks. Nothing could make Luke forget about work like food. He jumped to his feet and bolted to the door, taking the tray with juvenile exuberance. At least he had the presence of mind not to invite the girls in. There was far too much potential for them to see something they shouldn't among all the paperwork scattered about. Ivetta shot me a smile across the disaster and left with another tray, probably for Leon's faction.

"I missed having her around," Luke said happily, carelessly swiping a stack of papers to the floor and setting the tray on the open desk space he created.

"Luke," I warned. My office was beginning to look like Leon's after one of his faction's parties.

"Don't worry, Chev, we'll get it cleaned up," Clavis said dismissively, pouring himself a cup of tea and grabbing a couple of cookies.

"It's not like you had time to miss her," Nokto said to Luke with a sly grin. "Not when Arianna was still here."

"She's different from Ivetta," Luke protested sheepishly.

"Yeah, Ivetta's nice, Arianna-"

"Arianna is nice, too, once you get to know her," Luke said quickly, cutting Clavis off before he could finish what was probably a barbed insult.

"I bet," Nokto said knowingly. "She's so nice that you disappeared early every night and didn't show up again until late the next morning."

"You don't understand," Luke said, shoving a handful of cookies in his mouth with obvious frustration.

"Guess that's all we're getting out of him for now," Clavis said. "Back to Chev."

"And it's my turn to ask a question," Nokto said, sipping his tea. "This time, I want a straight answer. Why did you wait?"

"She wanted to," I replied simply.

"Maybe that's what she said, but I saw you two together," Clavis pressed on. "You could've talked her into it. Why didn't you?"

"If you want more, you'll get back to work."

Nokto groaned. "Never mind, I'm done with questions. You're not telling us anything, anyway."

"Why should he?" Luke asked, swallowing his latest mouthful. "You guys don't get it."

"Please don't tell me you think you're in love with that Arianna," Clavis said, exasperated.

"You're gonna have to get used to her," Luke said meaningfully.

Nokto stared at him with wide crimson eyes. "You didn't."

"Not yet, but I'm gonna," Luke said, grinning proudly.

"Congratulations. Now, can we get back to work?" I interjected coolly.

Luke and Arianna. I didn't have a problem with it, as long as she changed her attitude toward Ivetta. But that may have been an injured response to my rejection. I would have to talk to Luke about it later, when we were alone. Clavis and Nokto really didn't understand.

Sariel returned at five o'clock, and I dismissed my brothers while he and I discussed a few matters. The most important was Ivetta's birthday, which would occur shortly after Sariel returned from his vacation. A quiet, simple dinner was more than sufficient for my birthday, but she deserved something extravagant. Sariel would have to start work on it right away, delegating his responsibilities to capable hands during his absence. He would return in time to finalize everything and smooth out any difficulties that arose.