Gravity (8 page)

and almost knocked her down before Justus caught Page by the arm.

“I’m having fun,” she argued, standing up straight. “I’m also tired of men thinking they can

boss me around, so you can clip that tone with me right now. If you want me to sit down, then

you’ll have to dance with me until I get tired enough to feel like sitting,” she said in a soft and

playful voice. “Otherwise, take a walk, Mr. De Gradi. I’m busy having fun. Nothing here to see.

Move along.”

A beautiful blonde in a slinky green dress floated between them to talk to Justus, so Page

closed her eyes and began to dance. Slow movements this time, going with the groove of a

popular song. Small strands of hair stuck to her face from the heat, and her red button-up blouse

had come down three buttons so that she could cool off.

It felt strangely hotter, and the heat melted against her in a way that relaxed every muscle in

her body—like being in a sauna. Page opened her eyes and gasped.

Justus was dancing with her.

Bow tie and all, that man could move his body in such a divine way that the gods would have

watched in awe. Masculine, but not showy like the other men with all the bumping and grinding.

He swayed with such a hypnotic and subtle rhythm that she couldn’t look away.

Page touched the lapels of his suit jacket, peeling them back until it fell to the floor. His arm

slid around her lower back and he reeled her hips in until their bodies were close but not touching.

As sexual as his moves were, he kept a small buffer of air between them.

Air she was certain was charged with energy.

They moved in rhythm. She’d never felt this in tune—this in sync—with someone else. To the

point where she wasn’t sure who was leading whom. By the slow rock of his hips, Justus defined

himself as a man of experience.

Of course he was. With his fat pockets, expensive clothes, angled jaw, and a confident attitude

that many women would have fallen in bed with. He smelled better than any man she’d met,

wearing expensive cologne imported by Adonis himself.

Here she was, drunk and ogling Mr. De Gradi, her client. Page reluctantly pushed him away.

Justus remained motionless, staring at her in such a way that made her touch the back of her

sweaty neck with embarrassment. Then he did something unexpected. He lifted his left hand for

her to take it. Confused, Page lifted her right hand, and he slowly closed his fingers.

“Now what?” she said with a short laugh. His right hand came around to her upper back,

leaving a distance between them of several inches.

In the middle of a modern club, where couples were rubbing against one another like dogs in

heat, Mr. De Gradi began to waltz.

Page clumsily followed his moves as he stepped forward, to the side, and back. She had never

waltzed before but had seen it on television. Maybe it was the Green Dragon, or the magnetic look

in his eyes, but Page danced and laughed, forgetting everything and completely letting go.

Until the heavy tread of her snow boot squashed on his shoe and she stumbled, almost falling

on her back. But he caught her, and they stopped dancing.

Justus bent forward, lifted her off the ground, and threw her over his shoulder. She stared at

the floor where he left his jacket behind.

“Let me down!” she yelled, slapping his back.

And without hesitation, he did. Justus set her down and she slid against his chest. The smell of

his dark and wonderful cologne ended up all over her.

“I’m not a concubine,” she huffed, straightening out her blouse. “Handle me that way again,

Mr. De Gradi, and I’m afraid I’ll have to deny you any further services.”

His brows quirked and she noticed the crooked bow tie coming undone. “My apologies if I’ve

offended you,” he said. “Join us and I’ll order you a meal.”

“I can afford to pay for my own dinner, and aside from that, I don’t think I could eat anything

after all those drinks.”

His lips pressed into a thin line and Page walked around the flustered Mage who held the

attention of every woman in that club.

***

I stayed at the Red Door for hours and had the privilege of watching Levi doing a few illegal

dance moves, trying to bait Logan onto the floor. Logan had no interest in that style of dance, but

I teased him endlessly to give it a whirl. Page stayed long enough to call a cab and unfortunately,

girls’ night out was cut short because her happy hour had begun hours before mine. According to

Levi, there had been drama on the dance floor. I missed out because Sunny and I were visiting the

ladies’ room. Levi didn’t elaborate; it just became a private joke between him and Knox.

Page’s phone kept ringing and she finally answered, yelling at someone on the other end as

she left the club.

Sunny and Knox shared a slow dance in a dark corner, and Novis watched them for a while

before heading out. Since Novis had left his car at Logan’s, Levi drove him home and I shared a

passionate kiss with Logan as we said our goodbyes near the front door.

I talked with Sunny and Knox for an hour, sending Adam a few text messages. He kept in

touch with me a little more and wanted to know how things were going, even if he didn’t feel

ready to hang out with us. I was just glad we were getting on better terms again.

Eventually, the party wound down just after one in the morning. On the drive home, Justus

shifted gears and made a right turn where he should have made a left.

The trucks had shoveled and sanded the streets until they had become a slushy mess. It was

sad to see how ugly it became, all for the sake of us being able to drive to the grocery store.

Snowmen of varying sizes and degrees of menace guarded the park. The kids had run amok,

building forts and waging war against the snow people, leaving behind evidence of their battle.

The car slowed in front of a red brick building.

“Where are we?” I squeezed my bare fingers.

Justus threw the car in park and shut off the engine. I opened my door and stepped into a pile

of dirty sludge that clung to my boot. When I tried to stomp it away, I slipped and landed hard on

my rear end. Without a word, Justus gripped my arm and helped me to my feet. I wiped the street

off my pants while he walked up to the door and pressed a button. That’s when I noticed a black

bag in his hand.

“La Croix. Who is this?” a voice said through the speaker.

“Justus De Gradi.”

She waited a few beats before answering. “It’s late for visitors.”

“Then we’ll wait.” He scraped his shoes on the stoop.

I glared at Justus. “She could have been sleeping, you know. It’s moon o’clock.”

The door buzzed and I followed Justus up a set of stairs to the second level. I didn’t ask how

he knew where she lived because Justus worked for HALO; he probably had the latitude and

longitude for Santa Claus. The halls were frigid, and nothing about the building was upscale. The

polished floors looked like something you’d see in a gymnasium, and the walls were scuffed and in

need of a fresh coat of paint. Was this how a Relic lived? He stopped at one of the doors and

rapped his knuckles on the wood.

A dark brown eye peered through the crack. “What are you doing here? I’m working,” she said

in a shaky voice.

“I wanted to be sure you arrived home safely, given your condition.”

“I’m fine.”

Justus had his hands clasped behind his back, still holding the bag. “If you’re available

tomorrow, I can bring you your car. You should be home so I can hand you the keys.”

“Thanks, Mr. De Gradi. That’s very considerate.”

“I brought your bag. If you have appointments, then you’ll need it.”

“You didn’t have to go out of your way. You two shouldn’t be driving around the city in this

weather.”

Justus brushed his left hand across the coat sleeve on his right arm. “It was on the way home.

No trouble.”

“Oh,” she said softly, staring at her bag. “Here, I’ll take that.”

The door creaked as she bent over and reached for the bag. When Page straightened up,

Justus made an unexpected move that caused her to jerk back. He reached out and ran his hand

through her hair, brushing it away from her face.

Revealing a fresh bruise on her eye.

She stepped back when Justus leaned on the door and forced it open. It looked like fireflies

were dancing in the irises of his blue eyes. Page flinched when he reached out to touch her face

and Justus stiffened.

“How did you get that bruise?” he asked in a voice that made me shudder.

“I slipped in the snow?” Sarcasm dripped from her voice. We were all adults and it wasn’t a

mystery that someone had hit her.

Justus yanked off his coat and tossed it on the floor, revealing his dress shirt, sans tie.

“Learner, bring me a bag of ice and a clean towel,” he said, rolling up his sleeves.

I walked into the kitchen by the front door and reached into the freezer, cracking open an ice

tray. I lifted a thin dishrag from a drawer and ran it under cold water, squeezing it out before

wrapping up a few cubes of ice.

I found Page in a small chair in the hall with Justus kneeling before her. When I handed him

the ice, he carefully adjusted the cubes and pressed it to her cheek.

“It’s complicated,” she explained. “I’m not the kind of person who allows a thing like this to

happen.”

“Neither am I,” Justus agreed.

“Is Slater your boyfriend?” I asked. “He doesn’t seem like your type.”

“He thinks he is. When my parents died, he took over making decisions for me. I let him at first

because I was in shock from their death, and he handled the funeral arrangements and finances. I

was young, and he was a family friend. Slater has wanted to make babies with me for eons.” Her

eyes rolled a little and she shook her head. “My family has a lot of knowledge on rare Breeds and

he thinks I’m an agreeable match with his genes. It’s all very scientific.”

Justus lowered his eyes. “Why did he strike you?”

“Spending the night at your house really provoked him like I’ve never seen before. It started an

argument that’s been going on for years. I didn’t tell him where I went tonight, but he heard the

club music on the phone. He’s afraid I’ll find someone else so he tries to keep a tight leash on my

whereabouts.” She ran her long fingers through the ends of her honey-brown hair and averted her

eyes. “I got out of the cab and he was waiting for me. I said some things I probably shouldn’t

have because of the alcohol and he lost control.”

Justus’s arm dropped like a guillotine, slamming the ice on the armrest as he rose to his feet.

“I’ll pay him a visit.”

“Oh, no, no, no,” she said, rising to her feet. “He’s never done anything like this before, so

there’s no need to start World War III all on account of a bruise. He’s not stepping foot inside my

house again. I may have to work with him, but that’s as close as he’ll get to me. I’m not the kind

of woman who lets something like this go. Hit me once and I will never…”

Tears glistened in her eyes and she turned her head away. Page had that familiar look of

embarrassment, like she should have seen it coming and it was her fault for allowing it to happen.

“Please don’t do anything; it’ll only make it worse. It’s not going to happen again.”

“You’re right about that, Page.” Justus allowed her to take the ice from his hand. “This won’t

happen again.”

“Thanks for bringing my equipment, Mr. De Gradi. I’m sorry I can’t offer you anything to drink,

but to tell you the truth—I’m beat.” A short laugh popped out and then she sighed heavily.

“Ghuardian, we’ve imposed here long enough. I think we all need some sleep.”

Sometimes you didn’t want all the drama, all the fuss, and Page had a lot to think about. I

doubted she wanted to be chastised for not wanting Justus to rectify the situation with more

violence. As chivalrous as it was, it could potentially make things worse for her.

“Page, I’m sorry about tonight,” I said. “I thought it would be fun for us to hang out.”

She smiled. “I really had a good time, Silver. Maybe next time we can just catch a movie.”

“Sounds good.” I looked at Justus, but like a bag of concrete, he didn’t budge.

“Please,” she coaxed. “I’m grateful that you thought to stop by and see how I was doing.” Her

fingers grazed his arm for just a moment. “Let me get your coat.”

The air warmed ten degrees.

Chapter 6

“Tarek challenged for the position of Lord of his Pride… and won.”

“He what?” I gasped in a broken voice. My heart raced within my chest as I looked at Logan

beside me on the sofa in his condo.

I had assumed that when Logan met with his older brother, Leo, they were discussing the trip

with Christian. That was partly true, but there were also major political shifts occurring within the

Chitah territories.

I once raised suspicion that Tarek might have killed his older brother in order to secure his