Page 57 of Savage Heart
“I had no idea. It wasn’t too awkward, was it?”
She beams a smile that makes her more beautiful than usual. “Meeting the family of the man I loved? No. They were very sweet. Your mother brought me a bouquet of wildflowers she said she grew in her garden and a box of cupcakes she and Gabrielle said they made for me. I liked them a lot.”
Helix and my mother conspired to make sure the woman I love was taken care of when I wasn’t around. I guess that’s what family’s about sometimes, when they aren’t driving you crazy or sending you into exile.
“As long as you’re comfortable being around all those people, I’d love it if you’d be there with me. Let me warn you, though. It’s going to be a whole prodigal son returning thing.”
Wrapping her arms around my neck, Sienna hugs me tightly to her. “It’ll be okay. We’ll be there together, so no matter what, we’ll have each other to lean on.”
We’re two misfits from our families who found one another, and until this moment, I never realized how fitting that is. Sienna may not have any of the Rossettis to go back to, but she has me and at least some of the Rules as her family now.
Who knows? Maybe someday I’ll be able to feel like I’m not a son in exile anymore. Until then, all that matters is I have her back in my life for good now.
“I love you, Sienna.”
She leans back and takes my face in her hands. “And I love you, Alaric Rule.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Gideon
Sasha closes her brown leather appointment book and gives me one last look to see if I want to discuss anything more at this weekly meeting of ours. It’s nearly midnight, so whatever I have to say to her can wait. I’ve worked too damn hard all day and need a drink.
“I’m taking that expression on your face to mean you want me to leave?” she asks in that flirty way she always reverts to when she’s uncomfortable.
I have to admit after handling everything from irritable guests to vendors who won’t give me what I want today that her usual ice queen attitude being absent right now makes me happy. Sasha is efficient to the extreme, but sometimes that means she can be downright bitchy, something I definitely don’t need tonight.
“Feel free to pour yourself a drink, if you want,” I say as I make my way over to the bar, only halfheartedly meaning the offer.
She smiles and shakes her head so her platinum blond hair twirls around her shoulders. “I’ve known you long enough, Gideon, that I can tell when you want to be left alone. I have plans tonight anyway, so thank you but I’m going to be leaving now.”
We’re closer than I’ve ever been with anyone, including some of my family members, but the thought of asking her about her plans after work seems intrusive, so I simply nod before I take a sip of scotch. I don’t pry into her life just as she doesn’t pry into mine. That’s worked for the past four years, so I don’t see any reason to change things tonight.
“See you tomorrow.”
She shakes her head again, confusing me for a moment before I remember tomorrow is Sunday. “I’m off until Monday, Gideon. If you need anything, Tamsin will be filling in for me. Just remember that she’s nowhere as delightful as I am to work with.”
Tamsin is her assistant, and she’s every bit as sullen as a person can be nearly every time I have to deal with her. I have no idea why she hired her. Perhaps Sasha didn’t want to be the iciest one working at the hotel. Since she doesn’t bother me as much as stay silent whenever I speak to her, I pay Tamsin little attention.
Except when she’s filling in for my assistant.
“I’ll keep that in mind. There’s nothing on the schedule that I’ll have to involve her in, so things should be fine.”
Sasha grins at my subtle admission that I don’t enjoy working with Tamsin and gives me a tiny giggle. “For the record, she’s a fantastic assistant. She just doesn’t like you.”
Although I don’t care if she likes me or not, I can’t help but be curious about what I ever did to the woman to make an enemy out of her. “Really? Why?”
“She says you’re cold. I don’t see it, honestly, but that’s why she doesn’t like you.”
This isn’t the first time I’ve heard that about myself, and she isn’t wrong. I don’t fraternize much with any of my staff here at the hotel, although Sasha and I have on occasion spent time together. But it’s like the pot calling the kettle black for Tamsin to say I’m cold, especially considering whose assistant she is.
“And she doesn’t think you’re cold?”
“No. She likes me. Then again, we had that night together, so she knows I’m not as cold as I normally come off.”
My mouth drops open that my assistant has just told me something personal about herself. Other than her name, where she lives, and the staff she dislikes, all I know about Sasha is how she does her job for me.
Well, that’s not entirely true, but I rarely think about her sexuality. That she’s bisexual and has slept with Tamsin doesn’t shock me since I’ve known since right after she started working for me that she enjoyed both men and women. Sleeping with her assistant sort of surprises me, but if I’m being honest, it shouldn’t.