“Do you need water?” Nix asked him. “Or maybe some smelling salts?” It had been a while since Nix had catered to a human, and he’d never had the pleasure of one of these newer, modern models. He was a bit embarrassed to realize he was out of practice. “A massage, perhaps?” he asked hopefully.
Ivan ran a hand through his hair, mussing those perfectly coiffed strands. “How am I going to fix anything with this? Withyou?” A muscle in his jaw clenched. “We’ll break the contract. I’ll send you back and try again.”
Nix’s tail flicked with irritation, even as he tried his best not to be offended. His new bargain didn’tmeanto be hurtful. But still. “No can do, handsome,” he said, clicking his tongue. “A contract is binding.”
“Then I’ll summon another.”
Nix narrowed his eyes.Rude. “Only one at a time, sugar pie. Only one, full stop, actually. One summoning per lifetime.”
“Goddamn it.”
Goodness. Poor Ivan was a real high-strung piece of work, wasn’t he?
“Hey,” Nix soothed, choosing to be the bigger and better person, despite Ivan trying to throw him out like yesterday’s trash. “So I’m not a warrior. I can still help you. I’m stronger and faster than any human you’d find. And I’m impervious to human weapons. And I can dothis.” Nix shifted forms, choosing Ivan’s secretary, plucking her image perfectly from Ivan’s memories.
Nix couldn’t read minds, exactly, but he could take certain images. Glimpses. It helped him when it came to giving a contract exactly what they desired. Exactlywhothey desired.
“Oh.” Nix had expected a bit of shock, but Ivan’s stunned gaze grew immediately calculating as it roamed over Nix’s new, familiar form. “That’s a very neat trick.”
Nix preened, trying to flip his hair before he realized the secretary kept it in a high and tight bun. “Isn’t it, though?”
He switched back to himself, not missing the flash of appreciation before Ivan caught himself.
Not interested in male demons?Tell me another one, Vanya baby.
“Now, Ivanushka.” Nix settled his chin more firmly in his hands, batting his lashes up at Ivan. “Tell Nixie here all your troubles.”
“That would take an eternity.”
“Even better.” Nix was in no rush. The more time in the human realm, the better. If he was lucky, he could milk this contract until the end of Ivan’s (hopefully) very long life.
Ivan stared off at a point somewhere above Nix’s head. “My father was a Mafia man.”
Starting right off with the father. Nixknewit. He could smell daddy issues a mile away.
“He came from Russia. Built his business in New York from the ground up. Raised me to take over. My younger brother Alexei was supposed to be my second.” Ooh, those were some real bitter emotions coming up with the brother. Nix jotted that down in his imaginary Ivan notebook. “My youngest brother, Sascha, was meant to…stay out of it. Stay safe. Protected.”
Sascha. That was the brother who’d summoned Kai. Well, he was certainly protected now, with a warrior demon at his side.
“My father died five years ago,” Ivan continued, his voice not giving away how he felt about that at all. “And I took over. Two years ago Alexei botched a deal on purpose. He ran off, leaving me out of millions of dollars and on bad terms with another family. Ilost my temper. I was…harsher with our business associates than maybe I should have been.”
Ivan’s fingers reached out absentmindedly, and for a moment, it seemed he was going to toy with the ends of Nix’s ponytail. But after a pregnant moment, he seemed to realize what he was doing and drew his hand back like he’d touched fire.
He cleared his throat. “One particular family, the Carusos, sent someone after Sascha. They stabbed him. He recovered, but…they had to have inside help—the attacker confirmed it.” A twinge of real hurt and despair resonated in Ivan’s soul piece, there and gone. “The Carusos will be dealt with. I expect my brother and his demon at any moment. It’s the rest…” Ivan hesitated. “I don’t know who to trust. How to hold on to my men.”
“And letting it all go?” Nix asked because honestly, all this Mafia mess sounded like more trouble than it was worth.
“Isn’t an option,” Ivan answered quickly.
His voice was firm, but there was something there. Some deep pain. Nix was tempted to poke at it, but he let it go.
At least for the moment.
“Then we’ll fix it,” Nix said brightly. “I’m yours to use, Ivan.”
Lust pulsed through the air, sharp and heady, even as Ivan’s face remained completely impassive. Well, wasn’t that interesting? But just as quickly, it was gone. Ivan’s eyes began to droop.
He really had been staying awake out of sheer force of will, hadn’t he?
