Gray turned and strode out the door. It was all I could do not to rush after him and beg him to forgive me. I felt his physical absence keenly. It was like all the warmth had left the room. I banished the tears that threatened and turned to Dev Quinn because Gray was right. The choice had been made and I had to live with it. I’d chosen my job over Gray, though at the time I’d really thought I was saving the situation. “Do you mind if I sit?”
He indicated the chair in front of his desk and turned to the wall behind him. He pushed the panel and revealed a small refrigerator. He pulled out a frosty bottle, snagged two glasses, and sat down behind his desk.
“Dev?” Zack asked.
The faery shook his head. “Talk to your master, Zack.”
“Come on,” Zack said, exasperated.
Green eyes gave away nothing. “You have to talk to him. I can’t give you anything. Please, go make sure the lieutenant doesn’t cause any more trouble tonight. She’s perfectly safe here. Your nose knows the truth so you know damn well I won’t harm her.”
The werewolf turned and he seemed as irritated as Gray had been as he walked out of the room.
Quinn poured the cold liquid into the shot glasses with practiced skill. “Please, join me, Ms. Atwood. I’ll be perfectly pleasant, I promise. I’m afraid the lieutenant brings out the worst in me. I have issues with authority. My wife thinks I should go into therapy to deal with the problem, but I’m perfectly comfortable with it.”
I sank down into the chair and tried to banish the horrible feeling that I’d lost something important. Had I been wrong to not blindly follow him? “Sure.”
“It’s for the best,” Quinn said, holding out a glass to me. “I can see plainly you have feelings for him, but…he is what he is. He can’t change his fate and he’ll drag you down with him.”
“He’s only half demon.” I took the glass in my hand and shot it back. It was vodka and it was so smooth, it was practically water. Maybe if I had another ten shots or so I could forget that look in Gray’s eyes.
Quinn poured two more shots. He seemed familiar with the process. “Do you know what I am?”
“You’re a fertility god.”
His eyes bled to a startlingly deep green. It filled his entire eye and left no white. It was…beautiful. A person could get seriously lost in those eyes. His voice was deeper and held a hint of an Irish accent when he spoke again. “I am, indeed, Ms. Atwood. It’s one of my talents to be able to see what a person needs and wants sexually. It’s something of a portal into a person’s soul. You seek comfort, love, caring. You haven’t found them yet. I can see that you and the lieutenant are well matched on that front. Sex with him will be exciting and it will feel like heaven, but he needs more than you can give him, more than any woman can give him. You will love him and he will break your heart. What would you say if I told you I could offer you a viable alternative? I know a man who could give you the things you crave while taking only what you are willing to give. The relationship won’t be as intense as the one with Grayson Sloane, but neither will it be as painful. It would be a loving friendship between kindred spirits.”
“Mr. Quinn, I didn’t come here for your advice on my love life.” I didn’t want to hear what he had to say. As far as I could tell, it didn’t matter anymore. Gray seemed to be done with me the moment I caused him trouble. I was a whole shit ton of trouble so it was better to know at the beginning. “If I only have ten minutes of your time, I would prefer to use it on work.”
His eyes were back to normal and so was his voice as he took another shot. The boy could drink. “Again, I apologize. I certainly have no intentions to kick you out when the ten minutes are up. Trust me, this is the most interesting thing I’ll be doing for the rest of the evening.”
I matched him drink for drink. It was starting to loosen me up. “I got the distinct impression we’d interrupted something interesting when Gray got hauled up here.”
He smiled and it lit up the room. It might be easy to see where Gray could dislike this man when he was shouting obscenities, but when he poured on the charm, it was impossible to not smile with him.
“It was getting somewhere,” he said with an intimate laugh. “Unfortunately, I’m certain that’s over. My goddess was yawning even as I walked out the door. She’s asleep by now and I won’t wake her up. Our daughter is teething and getting over an ear infection. The last few days have been rough. While Evangeline might be feeling better today, my wife is still recovering. Daniel took the baby with him. How he manages to play games with her, I don’t know. I hope she doesn’t chew up the boards. Those games are surprisingly expensive.”