It was a good question. Ivan couldn’t help but smile. At least the incubus was no fool. “It was the truth. She was going to take my brothers and run.”
Again, Nix heard what was unspoken. “Not you?” he asked immediately.
“Not me.”
“Mommy issues,” Nix murmured, tapping his finger against his lips.
Ivan almost laughed. “My father murdered my mother in cold blood and you’re calling it ‘mommy issues’?”
“Yeah,” Nix said with a shrug. “Your walls are miiiiiles high, and now I know why.”
“The walls were there before she was killed,” Ivan found himself saying.
Nix nodded knowingly. “Mommyanddaddy issues. Called it.”
Who the fuck was this creature? Was it a demon thing, that Ivan could tell Nix one of the worst things in his past and Nix could take it in stride?Teasehim about it?
Ivan refused to be charmed by it. “I regret summoning you,” he said.
Nix gave a bright, high laugh. “No, you don’t. You’re just in a foul mood.”
“I’m always in a foul mood.”
Nix cocked his hip, giving Ivan a once-over. “Even when you fuck?”
“Especially then,” Ivan snapped.
His words didn’t even make sense, but Nix grinned and gave an exaggerated shiver, as if Ivan had said something delightful. “Then, Vanya, baby, you’ve been fucking the wrong people.”
Silence was the only acceptable answer. Ivan kept his mouth shut.
Nix’s inspection of him grew appraising. “You’re drooping like a wilted flower. When did you last eat? Don’t humans need food to survive?”
Ivan grabbed his phone off his desk, losing interest in the conversation. He’d been distracted for days now, and there was real work to do. Calls to make, at the very least. “We can have Tara order something,” he said absently.
“Mm, no.”
Ivan looked up from his phone. “No?” he repeated.
“You have a home, yes?” Nix asked. “Somewhere that isn’t this depressingly bare office?”
Ivan almost gave him another smile for the audacity.Almost.“This office cost quite a bit of money to renovate, you know.”
Nix waved a hand at the walls. “And you couldn’t have sprung for a painting or two? A vase of flowers, perhaps? Either way, I don’t want to be here anymore.” He clasped his hands to his chest, fluttering his lashes. “Take me home, big boy?”
Ivan should refuse, if only to show Nix he couldn’t be pushed around. But he was…tired. Still foggy. And he should make an appearance at the apartment every now and again, if only to remind the building staff who paid their bills. “I’ll need to work still.”
Why was he even telling Nix that? It made it sound like he was asking permission.
“Perfect.” Nix clapped once and then began walking out of the office, clearly expecting Ivan to follow. “You can show me the ropes.”
Ivan had a feeling he’d lost his way somewhere. That their roles had been switched somehow. Nix certainly wasn’t acting subservient, not in the least. Ivan should put a stop to this, yes? Remind Nix who was in charge?
He really should.
Ivan stood from his desk and followed the demon.
4
