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AS HANDSOME AS CAIUS IS, I DON'T WANT TO STAND HERE ALL DAY WAITING FOR HIM TO EXPLAIN WHY HE WISHES TO SPEAK TO ME AFTER RELEASING THE OTHER EMPLOYEES.
For what it's worth, I'm not someone who's interested in fighting her boss during every meeting. Confrontation isn't my style, nor is it my specialty. Caius could run me down with words if he wanted and I'd be speechless against him.
"Sir, I have things I need to do tonight, respectfully. If this is going to take more than a few minutes, I'm asking you to bring it up with me tomorrow," I said.
Yet again, he caught me by surprise.
"I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry for my foul attitude," Caius apologized. "You didn't deserve it. That's all. You can leave now."
His words were giving me whiplash. Yeah, I deserved better. An apology had been in order. But actually getting one from him? It feels unnatural, like I'm missing something so obvious. That genuine look in his eyes makes me want to cave, to push past it, but how do I know it's all real? Guilt only gets you so far...
"As long as it doesn't happen again, apology accepted," I breathed out with an awkward smile.
Then, turning tail, I left the room, not daring to look back at Caius.
---
"YOU LOOK DEVASTATED, MY LOVE," ATHENODORA SAID AS SHE WRAPPED AN ARM AROUND HER HUSBAND.
The king wasn't ready to spill the secret. Not today, maybe not tomorrow. But it was becoming irrationally obvious how upset he was about whatever was happening to him. Bags formed under his eyes, a rarity for a vampire of his age, and his hair is askew in a few places. The worst of it all, his eyes were glazed with stressed tears that wouldn't fall.
No caresses that acted as reassurance followed her remark, just silence. Caius could not bring himself to move from the couch where he was reading an ancient tale of twin flames, the original understanding of the mating bond between souls. Athenodora's presence made it worse for the elder vampire. He wanted River here. To watch her read, those small hands flipping the pages. Seeing the smile lines form as she giggled to the scene was playing out in her head.
It was agony for him to know she didn't trust him. Apologies aren't something Caius gives often, either, and only to those he loves deeply. Caius gripped the edge of his leather bound book in anguish as he waved a dismissive hand to his wife.
"I'm fine," the king lied as he turned another page. "They lost the chart again, that's all."
Placated by this answer as she often was, Athenodora left the topic of his disheveled nature alone, choosing to sprawl out across the bed. Her husband didn't turn his cheek as he normally would, near-dissociating into the storybook laid out in his lap.
