Eve of Chaos

“Hey, you.” Alec leaned over and gave her a quick peck on the forehead. “You feeling medium, or medium-well today?”

She was about to reply when the distant rumble of a Harley gave her pause. Pulling tendrils of windblown hair out of her lip gloss, she watched through her sunglasses as a platinum blonde on a hog maneuvered into the parking lot. Dressed in a black leather halter vest and chaps, the rider drew every eye except for Alec’s.

The bike rolled to a halt beside the trailer as Alec turned his head. The pretty blonde winked at Eve. then blew a kiss at Alec.

The spatula in his hand clattered onto the cement.

Eve looked at Reed. “Who’s that?”

“Awan.” He grinned like the Cheshire Cat. “Cain’s wife.”

“Ex-wife,” Alec correctly swiftly.

Awan licked her lips and purred, “Hi, honey. I’m home.”

She was a lili. The demonic green eyes gave her away. They were laser-bright and filled with mischief.

Eve stood. This was the mother of Alec’s children; the only progeny he would ever have. She had a piece of him that no one else ever would.

Eve’s turmoil must have reached Alec, because his fists clenched. Awan laughed. With a saucy wave, the lili roared off as quickly as she’d appeared.

For a long moment, no one said a word.

Then, Sydney broke the tense silence. “Uh. . . I thought your wife was your sister.”

Alec snatched the spatula off the ground and threw it into the back of the trailer. “My father kicked Lilith to the curb long before I was born. There’s no relation between me and her kids.”

Eve cleared her throat. “Your c-children were half demon?”

His shoved his hands through his thick hair. “One quarter demon.”

What could she say to that?

Her mom walked up with an empty tray and a bright smile. “What a great party!”

Reed tapped his steepled fingertips together and kept on grinning.

***

Tossing her bath towel over the hamper, Eve left her bathroom. A quick glance at the clock told her it was nearing eight o’clock in the evening. She pulled on her favorite pajamas and shook out her damp hair, contemplating how best to spend her evening. A feel- good movie while curled up on the couch sounded like heaven to her. She usually preferred blow’em up action flicks, but she’d had enough explosions for a while. Maybe Becoming Jane would do the trick or something stupidly funny like Blades of Glory.

She moved down the hallway toward the kitchen, seeking comfort food. Hot coffee, maybe. And something sweet. She deserved it after today.

Straight ahead, the balcony door was closed. It was starting to get cold at night. Summer slowly turning into autumn. What a year it had been so far. Last Christmas she’d grumbled at RSVPing to the Weisenberg Group’s company party without a date. Now, she had her dream job at Gadara Enterprises and two determined men she couldn’t resist.

Admittedly, the dream job was more of a nightmare and the two men were both in the off stage of the on-and-off relationships she had with each of them, but she wasn’t going to think about that now.

Eve was turning into the kitchen when Stevie Nicks’s beautiful “Crystal” replaced the silence. She stopped midstride. Then cautiously started forward again, continuing to where the hall emptied into the living room.

On the coffee table, a silver champagne bucket held a napkin-wrapped bottle next to two half-full flutes. The man at her entertainment center felt her gaze and turned to face her. Although he appeared casual and relaxed, his dark gaze was avid.

“Hi.”

“Hi, yourself.”

He approached, picking up the glasses along the way. “I hope you don’t mind that I popped in.”

“You’re always welcome. Nothing is going to change that.”

A cool flute was pressed into her hand. She looked down, catching sight of something circular glittering at the bottom. Her breath caught.

“I’m glad to hear that.” he murmured with his warm fingers wrapped around hers. “Because I have a question to ask you…”