Ripper (Hunter #1)(53)

“You two, march, both of you,” Quinn barked at his sons, pointing at the elevator at the back of the office. “You get in that elevator and be glad that I’m more terrified of what your mother would say than I am angry with you. You’re grounded. I’ll come up with some less dangerous reason why to explain the grounding to your mother.”

The one with the brown eyes looked sullen and like he wasn’t going to take being grounded well. There was rebellion in that one’s eyes. The green-eyed boy, who must be Rhys, seemed untouched by his father’s anger. His T-shirt was covered in black stuff and I wondered if he’d been rolling around in gun oil. He simply smiled and waved at me as his father punched the button for the elevator.

“Hello,” he said. “You’re pretty. I’m Rhys.”

“Hi,” I said, unable to not smile back.

“Are you going to kiss my Uncle Marcus?” Rhys asked. I heard Marcus sigh beside me and knew this wasn’t the first time Rhys had embarrassed his “uncle” in front of a woman.

“I…”

Lee rolled his eyes. “No, dummy, Uncle Marcus wants to kiss mommy, but he’s too late.”

Rhys nodded wisely, and he shoved his thick black hair out of his eyes. “Yes, it’s sad. Girls are only allowed two husbands and they should only kiss their husbands. Do you already have two husbands?”

“I don’t have any.” I wondered what surreal world I’d fallen into.

“Then you can kiss Uncle Marcus. I would say you should wait for me and Lee because you’re really pretty, but Lee’s gonna marry Mia and he says he doesn’t want for Mia to kiss anyone but him.” Rhys leaned over and whispered loudly. “He’s weird.”

I bit my lip to keep from laughing.

“Hey, you could kiss my Uncle Declan.” Rhys’s small face was completely open and he smiled like that was the best idea in the whole world. “He’s from Faery and he’s gonna be king, so he can have two wives. He says he wants his next wife to be the kind of girl who doesn’t shove a hot poker up his ass every time he opens his mouth.”

“Rhys!” Quinn shouted.

Rhys looked around, wondering what he’d said to offend his father. “Well, she doesn’t look like she has a hot poker.”

“Rhys said a bad word,” Lee pointed out. “I get in trouble when I say bad words.”

“No, I didn’t. Uncle Dec said a bad word. He said ass.” Rhys realized what had come out of his mouth and his small hands quickly covered his mouth like he could push the words back in.

Quinn frowned down at Rhys, his head shaking. “What is wrong with you? Haven’t I taught you any manners? What am I saying? Hasn’t Daddy taught you any manners?” The elevator door opened and Quinn hustled his sons into it. “You go upstairs where Albert is waiting to put you to bed.”

The doors were almost closed when Lee poked his little head out. “Rhys was right. You are pretty.” He ducked back in as the doors closed and they were gone.

Quinn stood staring at the elevator doors. After a second, he looked back at me. “You’ll have to forgive them. They’re…precocious, to say the very least.”

I smiled because the boys were really fun. “They seem sweet.”

“They seem that way, yes. That’s usually when something falls on my head.” Quinn’s eyes narrowed cautiously as he took in the scene. “You’re happy with Marcus as an escort?”

Marcus frowned, but I nodded. I was happy with him. Talking to Marcus was easy and I felt comfortable with him. He wasn’t at all what I had expected a vampire to be like. He was funny and polite. He put me at ease because I sensed he would accept me as I was.

“Yes. Thank you. He’s been very helpful.”

Quinn’s face turned faintly cruel as he looked from me to the vampire. “And you, Marcus? Are you willing to show Ms. Atwood around or do you prefer to sit about and sulk over things you can never have?”

The way he said it pissed me off. Before thinking about the fact that I didn’t really know these people, I got up in Quinn’s face. I didn’t care how hot he was or how much cash he could offer me. He had a bad habit of insulting men I liked. I got up and faced the fertility god, making damn sure my shoes were planted firmly. I didn’t want to wobble.

“Look, Mr. Quinn, if you’re using me in some way to hurt him, then you can take your cash and go to hell. I’ll find another way into the club. Maybe you think I’m some fluffy idiot you can point in whatever direction you choose, but I assure you I’ll figure out what your little plot is and I’ll turn it around on you. You gave me Marcus and I consider him my partner. Back off.”

Quinn watched me quietly. Every word I said forced his lips into a wider smile. I was beginning to think I just kept falling further into whatever trap the fertility god had planted. “I’m sorry, Ms. Atwood. Marcus and I have some issues, but I won’t bring you into them and I certainly believe he’s the best partner you could have in this endeavor. I hope we can have a good relationship. I could use an investigator on call. Things seem to go awry around here a lot.”

Marcus stood and offered me his arm. It was an old-world gesture. Gathering my things quickly, I slipped my hand through his arm.

“Come, Kelsey, I will show you around the club,” the vampire said shortly.