Chapter 20
Henry
Henry would have called the run-in with Nola an unmitigated disaster if it hadn’t been for the moment he got to put his arms around Ophelia and pull her close, to kiss her and nuzzle her hair. It was a pretty good day based on that moment alone.
He didn’t have long to revel in it though, not when they had to get across town in time to meet with a banker and sign some papers. It was just as well, since he didn’t know what the hell to say to Ophelia anyway. Apologize for his older sister and his own actions? Explain about the pack he’d left behind? Beg Ophelia for her forgiveness?
He knew she wasn’t entirely comfortable around him, and though she hadn’t pulled away from his kiss, he didn’t like the possibility that he’d forced himself on her and she’d had to endure a great deal of discomfort as a favor to him. It made the wolf twitch with anxiety to think that he’d caused her distress.
The car sat in traffic, still several blocks from the bank, when Ophelia finally took a deep breath. “What kind of business is it? The meeting, I mean.”
“Some venture that Todd is pursuing,” he said. Henry scratched at the collar of his jacket, irritated with the presentable clothes when he much preferred T-shirts and sweaters. At least Todd gave up on making him wear a suit and tie. The last time he tried to put a tie on had been a dark day indeed. “We’re investing in a string of restaurants and bars across the city, and this is the last step to sign off on the next location. We purchased the property, but the bank needs...”
He glanced over at her, not surprised that her attention had drifted to the window. “Sorry. It’s not very interesting.”
Ophelia blinked and glanced over at him, her eyes wide. “It sounds interesting. What kind of bar and restaurant? Are they all the same?”
He couldn’t tell if she was just being polite or actually wanted to know, but since they were stuck in traffic and the radio was on an annoying hard rock station that Silas preferred, Henry filled her in on the plan SilverLine had to rejuvenate a market district near the warehouse. As the city center drew more and more businesses, the demand for upscale housing and walkable neighborhoods grew. SilverLine intended to capitalize on the opportunity by establishing the anchor restaurants and bars for an associated entertainment district. She made polite noises as he talked, and periodically when Henry looked over, he caught her watching him with a strange expression.
Henry couldn’t decipher what it was. Consideration? Trepidation? Was she nervous? Excited? Bored but better able to hide it? The wolf practically ran circles in his guts trying to figure it out. He waited until he’d run out of words about the business meeting before he reached over to squeeze her hand where it rested absently on the console between the seats. “I’m sorry about Nola. She didn’t use to be like that.”
Ophelia didn’t pull away. “She sounds like she’s upset about quite a few things, not just you being out here instead of at home.”
“She’s mad at the world, that’s true enough.” He sighed and parked the car on the street. At least they were only a few minutes late for the meeting. He moved fast enough that he even managed to open Ophelia’s door for her, though she frowned up at him as if surprised to see him make the effort. Henry checked the satchel to make sure he still had the proposal that he and Todd had spent weeks preparing, and led the way into the bank. “Hopefully I can turn Nola around and send her back to Montana tomorrow, so neither of us will have to worry about her again.”
“Are you sure?” Ophelia peered at him, sticking close by his side as they stepped into the marble and chrome ultra-modern interior of the bank.
“Sure about what?” Henry led the way to the back, where the vice president’s assistant waited to show them into the office, but he paused to study Ophelia.
Her cheeks reddened when she spotted the conservatively dressed assistant and the other employees, all of them wearing suits and heels, and she shoved her hands in her pockets self-consciously. The witch shrugged and looked away. “Isn’t it nice to have family, though? Can’t you do something to kind of have a relationship with her? She wouldn’t have come all this way if she didn’t care about you at least a little.”
“You don’t know Nola,” he said under his breath, then forced a smile as the vice president approached, hand outstretched. Henry nodded to the woman, shaking her hand, and introduced the witch next to him. “This is my associate, Ophelia Naughton. She’ll be joining me for the discussion today.”
Which left Ophelia with a startled expression as the bank vice president smoothly welcomed her and showed them both into the office. The bank had grown accustomed to the casual dress that SilverLine preferred, and though Todd like to keep up appearances by wearing suits for important meetings, for a quick paperwork drill, Henry didn’t care. Besides, Aria Henderson handled most of the business with the packs across the city and had seen a lot worse than a witch in jeans and a sweater. There were rumors that she was some kind of shifter herself; she didn’t smell human, but no one had ever been brave enough to ask her outright.
Aria showed them to a glass table in her office. “I would offer you coffee, but I assume you want to get right to business?”
He grinned; she knew them too well. “If you don’t mind.”
“Certainly.” Her perfectly styled blonde hair remained in place as she sat and took the documents that Henry handed over. “Your lawyer reviewed these to your satisfaction?”
“Yes.” Henry pointed out a few changes recommended by the lawyers, knowing he needed to pay attention, but the wolf kept half of his attention on Ophelia. She’d shifted into that witch demeanor that was cold to the point of completely off-putting, like when Deirdre was pissed at the world and ready for vengeance.
He was about to ask about the seller’s contingencies when Ophelia took a deep breath and rested her hands on the glass table. “There’s something wrong.”
Henry tensed, immediately on the alert. “What is it?”
Her attention remained on Aria, though. “She’s not…what she claims to be.”
The banker’s expression hardened. “I beg your pardon.”
Ophelia’s head tilted as she studied the other woman, then she nodded at the back of the office. “You’ve got a lot of very powerful magic throughout this room. What are you hiding?”
Henry braced himself for some kind of a fight and wished he’d made Todd go to the meeting instead. He made a plan for getting Ophelia out of the office as fast as possible, though he didn’t know how the hell he’d explain to Todd and Evershaw that the deal fell through because Aria Henderson wasn’t entirely human and didn’t like to be questioned about what she was.
The blonde woman raised an eyebrow, everything about her screaming that she wasn’t impressed with the intruders who sat at her table. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I could break the wards,” Ophelia said, just as calm and even. It gave Henry the shivers to watch the two women, both of them apparently fully in control but scary as shit. The witch kept her hands on the table and didn’t move. “Or you could just explain what you have in here and we can continue with our business.”
