Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 92559 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92559 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Hemmy laughed and glanced across the cutting board. “I know, right? I suck. But here’s the thing, the stuff isn’t going to look any better once our stomachs are done with it, and it’s going to taste the same.”
“Excellent point.”
He indicated her bottle with his knife. “You don’t like the ale? We can get another kind. There’s a ton in that walk-in.”
“No, I’m good. Just going slowly.” She needed to keep a clear head. But she didn’t want him to know why. “What comes next?”
“We brown the meat.” He turned to the pan he’d put on the stove. “Which is a complicated process by which heat is added to meat and it turns brown.”
Mahrci laughed. “You are a chef, after all.”
“High level. Totally professional. Don’t let this onion mess fool you.”
As he poured a splash of olive oil into the pan, she blurted, “Remis is a half-breed.”
Mayhem stared over his shoulder. “That’s why he drove up then. I wondered.”
“He hates that his mother was human, and he never intended for me to find out. When we were together, he’d have excuses about wanting to drive that car, how it centered him, how it was his form of self-care.” She laughed without any humor. “One night, he cut himself while shaving, just before he came to see my father. When I greeted him, I kissed his cheek . . . and I smelled the fresh blood. I knew then.”
“So you never took his vein?”
“No. My father has always arranged for my feedings, and they were always witnessed. We were waiting until after the mating, Remis and I.”
“So your ex was going to make sure there was a ring on it before the secret came out.”
She nodded. “That’s what I suspect. By then, it would be too late. My father would never allow us to separate, and Remis would make sure that no one else knew to save himself the shame.” Mahrci picked at the label on her beer. Then she looked up, across the mangled onions. “The irony is that I don’t care. Most of us have some human blood in our families, even if some people make sure that those details are lost to time and pretend they never happened.”
“Does your sire know? About Remis?”
Mahrci shrugged. “I’m not sure. My father has a lot going on. And as long as it stayed between Remis and me, it wouldn’t bother him. Appearances are much more important—and you know, a lot of people prefer to drive their luxury vehicles.”
Hemmy took the cutting board to the stove and sluiced off the onion chunks into the pan. Instantly, a fragrance bloomed that made her mouth water.
“That smells amazing.”
The mulleted chef smiled over at her. “I told you. It’s going to be fine.”
As he stirred the mix, the soft sizzle and the hiss of the gas was white noise that relaxed her.
“I’m not proud of what I said to him.” She took a sip from the open neck. “That I threw his lineage in his face. But I wanted to hurt him—and I know that’s what cuts the deepest. It was wrong of me.”
“Well . . .” More with the stirring. “That just proves you’re a better person than I am. I’m very satisfied with my choices, particularly with the way I opened that basement door.”
She had to laugh again. Then she grew serious. “You know what I like about you?” she mused. “Everything is up front. And integrity is the most important thing in this world to me.”
With a gasp, he put his hand over his heart. “My middle name. How’d you guess?”
Shaking her head, she reached into the Lay’s bag. “So how’d you and Apex meet?”
“Oh, we’ve known each other for a lifetime.”
“Childhood friends?”
“Might as well be.” Hemmy motioned with the wooden spoon. “See, he doesn’t like me, but that’s like saying grizzly bears are antisocial. Duh. He doesn’t like anybody. On my side—in case you haven’t noticed—I kind of go with the flow. Which he finds absolutely annoying, but is one of the reasons he can stand to be in the same room with me.”
“Apex is a lone wolf, huh.”
“That’s one way of putting it.” Hemmy peered into the pan. “I think this is ready for the beeeeef.”
He made a show out of getting the hamburger into the pan, and then when he stirred, he swung his butt, and hummed a ridiculous stripper tune.
Mahrci had to look away as her face turned red. “Really?”
“Put your back into it. Only way to cook—”
Out in the front of the house, the door opened and closed. As footfalls approached, she had a momentary shot of fear that Remis had come back with the reinforce-ments he’d threatened to hire.
“Hemmy,” she said softly.
“Mmm?” When she didn’t immediately reply, he glanced over at her again. “You okay?”
“I want you to be careful. About Remis.”