I’d never heard anything like that, but I didn’t think I should admit to my ignorance. “Right, of course, of course! I’ve heard the offhand comment here and there about your cupcakes!” I lied. “You got anything delicious on the docket?”
“Of course.Semper Optimisfor our leaders.”
My mind rattled through my Latin knowledge, trying to place what she had said.
Semper Optimis…
Semper Fi?No, not quite.But it means always faithful.
So, what’s Optimis?Maybe something to do with eyes?Ocular?
No, that’s not it.
Optimis Prime!Transformers, robots in disguise~
Oh, right, Optimis meansbest!
Transformers, robots in disguise~Always the best!
“That’s what I like to say,” I agreed a beat later. But then my curiosity just wouldn’t back off. “I do have to ask; I’m kind of a nobody at the VanMarche estate. I only recently got a promotion because of… you know,the situation.How did you know I work there?”
She could have heard through the grapevine since I arrived, but that seemed awfully soon, especially since she was on the second floor and quite a bit away from the sitting room Paul and I had been shown to.
“That is true, I have never seen you at the estate, but I did notice you at the funeral before all thatmesshappened.”
“Yeah, it was quite the event, wasn’t it?” I asked.
“It was. Now, do you wish for me to escort you back to Maestro VanMarche? These halls can be disorienting to those unfamiliar with them.”
“You can say that twice! But no, I should be fine if you turn me in the right direction.”
She pointed, and I hurried off, but the entire time I felt watched—even when I was out of her sight.
Definitely creepy.
By the time I reached Paul, he looked visibly relieved to see me. It made me feel that much worse when I had to shake my head. I didn’t know if we wanted one of the two other families to be the bad guys or not, but it still felt a lot like failure.
Ifuckinghated failing, which was perhaps ironic considering I seemed to be doing it all the time lately. Had I suddenly become too stupid to live, or had I always been that way and I’d never noticed?
For some reason, Paul didn’t seem to catch the shift in my mood. It was usually impossible to get anything past him, but I took the opportunity to shove my RSD back down where it belonged.
After some quick but polite (so not quick at all) goodbyes, the two of us were being golf-carted back to the entrance minus one oversized gift basket.
One great house down, another to go.
Chapter 19
Paul
Two Strikes and You’re Out
I was already socially frayed,yet here I was, holding another giant basket as we approached the gate of yet another great house. I still wasn’t sold on us needing to drop in with no warning, but Cherry insisted that having the surprise on the McElroys would stop them from being able to prepare anything if they had something to hide.
There was logic to that, so I rolled with it. Besides, too much of my mind was already taken up with tryingnotto remember the night we’d just shared to argue.
I really had no idea how Cherry managed to act like everything was normal, because for me, it wasn’t. I wanted to be closer to her. I wanted her around me at all times. When she’d disappeared at the Chevalier estate, it was like my literal skin was itching, threatening to get up and follow her without the rest of my musculature.
I was pointedly trying to ignore that sensation, because I knew it wasn’t the time, and I knew my trauma was likely influencing me, but my wolf didn’t give a shit about either of those reasons, which in turn, made it hard for me to care.