Chapter 68

Beatrice

“Do you think Evie’s mad at me?” Jezebel asked near the end of her session. She’d been complaining about Evie as she scratched up the new sofa for the last forty-five minutes. This was the first time she’d shown any concern about Evie’s reaction to her outburst.

“I don’t think she’s mad,” I assured her. “You did the right thing. You need to let her know what’s bothering you. How else can you find a solution? Maybe now she’ll consider letting you visit Rainer more often.”

“I shouldn’t have to see him without Evie,” she complained. “They belong together. The only way I can make them see that is if they spend time together. We all need to be together.”

“You can’t force that on someone,” I told her.

“Why not?” she demanded. “If she didn’t love Rainer, I might agree with your argument, but she does love him. They bonded, and they belong together.”

“Maybe you should give them time to work it out on their own,” I suggested.

“I’ve given them plenty of time,” Jezebel argued. “They’re both too stubborn to do the right thing. I need to take charge of this situation and make them work things out.”

“They may not work things out,” I pointed out. “I’m not saying you shouldn’t continue to work on this, but you also need to make sure your needs are being met. Think about what you need from Evie and Rainer separately rather than what you need from them as a couple.”

She tapped her claws on the sofa as she considered what I’d said. “You may have a point. Besides, if I spend more time around Rainer, I can tell Evie all the wonderful things he does, and I can tell Rainer about all the men Evie is seeing. He’s sure to come after her if I make him jealous enough.”

“You told me Evie isn’t dating,” I reminded her.

“She’s not, but she sees men all the time,” Jezebel replied. “I can’t help it if Rainer mistakes my meaning.”

I shook my head and laughed. “You are something else, Jezi.”

“I know,” she replied as she leapt off my sofa and headed toward the door.

“I guess it’s a good thing Rainer can’t understand you unless Evie is around,” I added, almost laughing when she turned to hiss at me.

“That stubborn witch had better do a witch bonding ceremony with our warlock soon,” she muttered. “I’m tired of this stupid limitation.”

When I opened the door to the waiting room, I stopped and blinked twice. Even Jezebel seemed too stunned to move. Evie and Rainer were sitting at opposite ends of the room, not speaking.

Jezebel recovered first and raced across the room to leap onto Rainer’s lap.

“You came for me,” she said around a purr.

Rainer smiled, looking more relaxed than I’d ever seen him. “Of course, I did. How have you been, Jezebel?”

“I’ve been fine,” she replied. Her ears flattened against her head. “You think I’m here because I’m crazy, don’t you?”

“Not at all,” Rainer assured her. “I assume you’re helping Beatrice get a start in this business.”

“Liar,” Jezebel accused, purring louder when he scratched behind her ears. “Oh! You do that so well. I love it when you touch me.”

I could have sworn I heard Evie whimper.

Rainer must have heard it, too, because he asked, “Are you okay, Evangalina?”

“Fine,” she squeaked before clearing her throat and trying again. “I’m fine.”

She looked at Jezebel and smiled.

“Why are you smiling?” Rainer asked, eyeing her warily. “You aren’t fantasizing about causing me bodily injury, are you?”

“Not this time,” she assured him. “I like seeing you with Jezi. It would be nice if you got to see her more.”

“I’d like that,” he replied softly. “It’s great that you’ve been letting me see her lately.”

“It would be good for him to have me around more often,” Jezebel agreed. “Of course, you’ll have to come with me for my extra visits, Evie. It will make our time together even better.”

“Why?” Evie practically shouted.

“Rainer can’t understand what she says when you aren’t around,” I reminded Evie.

“Of course,” Evie said softly. “I’ll think about it. For now, maybe we can find a way to make weekly visits work.”

“Tonight, when you slide into your bed, I want you to think about all the reasons you should come along for visits,” Rainer began with a wicked grin. “If you have trouble remembering all the reasons you enjoy spending time around me, you can always call me. I’ll be happy to remind you.”

“I should go,” Evie said quickly before pressing the elevator call button, snatching Jezebel from Rainer’s lap, and racing into the elevator to make her escape.

“You scared her off,” I remarked.

“I think she likes me,” Rainer added with a grin.

I snorted. “Don’t pretend you didn’t already know that.”

“I was beginning to think I was wrong about her feelings,” he admitted. “She likes me, and she wants me. That’s a start.”

“Do I need to smack Lucifer for telling you Evie was here?” I asked.

“No,” he replied with a laugh. “Xavier was busy, so he asked me to check the entrance logs for this part of the demon realm.”

I nodded. “All right. Get out of my office before my next patient gets here. I don’t want you scaring them off.”

He nodded and headed out the door with a determined stride.

Something told me Evie would be living in the demon realm soon.