Christine shrugged; she had no clue. Then, she remembered. “Well, I have had expensive wine once, and it was delicious.” Of course that had been with Dmetri in the French restaurant.
They took their glasses and sat on the couch. A small fire burned in the fireplace creating a soothing warmth and orange glow in the room. Vera set the bottle of wine on the coffee table within easy reach.
“So, let’s talk about Dmetri. He’s something, huh?”
Christine nodded, slowly. “Oh yeah.”
“He’s a dick.”
Surprise lead to laughter and soon they were both laughing together. There was no indignation at hearing him called that, because after all, it was just so accurate.
“He is. He really is but it’s...different. I don’t know how to describe it.” Vera nodded quickly. “Oh, I do. He’s an endearing dick. You can’t help but love him.” Vera’s eyes rounded. “Not that I mean I love him, anymore. That’s ancient history. Honestly, I never even think about him anymore. Not with Jacks in my life.”
“Don’t worry about it. I wouldn’t have come here if I thought you were still harboring feelings for him.”
Vera sighed. “That’s good, because honestly I used to love him. I did. But then when I got to know Jacks, I realized that...the love I felt for Dmetri doesn’t even come close to what I feel for Jacks. It’s just so different. I never knew it could be like that. So intense.” Christine downed the glass of wine and let Vera refill it. The wine was red, warm, and had just a hint of sweetness that reminded her of grapes and apples.
Lost in her thoughts, Christine hadn’t realized Vera was watching her until she glanced over. Vera smiled slow and sure.
“Ah, you love him.”
She wanted to deny it. She really didn’t want to have any feelings for him above “like” but it was the truth. “I’m afraid I do...the bastard.”
“So tell me what the problem is, not that I don’t already have a pretty good idea,” Vera said, twirling the glass in her fingers.
Christine finished her second glass of wine as she thought about it. Honestly, she didn’t know where to begin. She held out her glass for a third refill. The thought that it might be a bad idea mixing drinking and gossiping about Dmetri never crossed her mind. Hell, the more she drank the better she felt. Soon she lounged back in her seat feeling warm and fuzzy like a teddy bear.
“He wants me to go with him, move in with him, after he catches Master Claude.” Vera nodded gravely as she listened.
“Of course, I can’t. I need to mate with an Alpha. You know how my mother is.” Vera stood up, and either she wobbled on her feet or Christine’s vision was shaky. Vera sat down right next to her and tossed an arm across her shoulders.
“Listen honey, I know your mom. I mean, I know your mom. She’s...determined. I know it’s hard for you, but you gotta do what your heart needs.”
“God, you kind of sound like Dmetri now.”
“No, no, nope. It’s true. If I wouldn’t have listened to my heart I would have never gotten close to Jacks or taken the chance to be with him. And honey, it was so worth it. Just for the sex, I mean this man can do things with his—”
“Okay! That’s enough, please.” Christine scrubbed a hand over her face, surprised to find she wasn’t sweating.
Vera chuckled. “Sorry. Tell me, putting your mom’s opinions aside, what do you want to do?”
Christine didn’t have to think about it, she already knew. “I’d go with him,” she said softly.
Vera sighed. “I don’t envy you right now. I wouldn’t want to be in your situation.”
“And I love him,” Christine said, throwing up her hands.
Vera nodded gravely. “That does make things harder. The man has a complex against the L-word. After I told him I loved him, the temperature dropped fifty degrees every time we were in the same room.”
Christine’s heart wept, she didn’t stand a chance with him. She couldn’t change him.
“I’m just going to let him go and put this all behind me.” She hoped Vera didn’t hear the sniffle in her voice.
“Love’s a fucked up thing. Great and awful all at the same time. Like...a thunderstorm or something.”
Christine chuckled at the analogy. “I don’t think I could let Mom down like that. It’d devastate her. She’s spent most of my life since Dad died preparing me to marry an Alpha.”
“What about what you want?” Vera asked softly.
“I want to go with him.”
Vera rested her head against Christine’s shoulder, and they stared into the crackling fire together. “Then do it, I say. You know I laughed when he said he was going after you. You’re both so different. He’s all stiff and business and you’re so carefree and spirited. But the more I think about it, the more I see it. Like two ends of a spectrum naturally attracted to each other, though different.”
“I think wine makes you philanthro...philisophical.”
Vera’s snort turned into giggles. “And you can’t talk. Would it be so bad if you disappointed your mother?”
Christine’s eyebrows shot up. Bad? It’d be awful. The one thing her mother ever wanted her to do she’d fail. Would her mother even talk to her after that? Could she risk losing that relationship for Dmetri? A horrible thought ran through her mind.
“I can’t do it. I can’t go with him.” Actually saying it aloud and meaning it made her want to cry.
“Why not, dammit? Do it!”
Christine’s laugh was bitter, hollow. “If I go with him, I’ll end up telling him I care for him. I won’t be able to hide it. He’ll see it. He’d have me kicked out and moved back here within a week.”
“Oh,” Vera said.
Christine waited to hear some hopeful advice. That maybe he wouldn’t in fact do that, but it never came. Vera only sighed and reached to refill their glasses. The wine bottle made a hollow thump as she set it back down.
Christine looked at the empty bottle and thought it was pretty empty.
Chapter 20
Dmetri took a seat beside Brayden in the small hotel room. After receiving some interesting news after his interlude with Christine, he and Brayden headed off Kategan land to a nearby hotel to meet with their new informant. Dmetri hated to leave the pack right now, couldn’t help but feel like he was leaving it vulnerable, but Harry Spencer was the newest Master from Claude’s clan, and he was ready to talk.
“Let’s get this over with,” Dmetri said, eager to be back at the Kategans. His reaction wasn’t normal he knew, but damn he was ready to march back over to Christine’s and force her to see his way.
Harry Spencer was a short man but built like a bodybuilder. He had veins protruding from his temple and arms even though by all appearances he looked relaxed.
“You said you had news for us,” Brayden said. He was in Judge mode, his eyes alert but giving nothing away, and his body stiff in his chair.
“First, on behalf of my clan I want to apologize for the atrocities that have occurred on Kategan land. My people had nothing do with it.”
“Actually, several of the men from your clan, all dead now by the way, were in on it.
They helped to throw the bombs, kidnap Vane Kategan’s cousin, and his newborn child,” Dmetri said.
Harry’s face tightened, the fierce frown growing deeper. “That’s true but none of the others have had anything to do with it. We don’t condone violence like that. I’d tried to get Claude to step down from Master status after I heard he tried to steal the Kategan’s land with false documents. I knew for certain then that the man was losing his mind.”
“What has caused him to degenerate?” asked Brayden.