Hazel eyes hard, Belinda spoke with a tone sharp enough to cut glass. “Really, Harper, you need to follow my schedule if this event is to go as it should.”
Harper frowned. “What exactly have I missed?”
“Your appointment with the designer, of course. You were supposed to be there an hour ago.”
“Oh, you mean the appointment I told you to cancel?”
Tapping one foot, Belinda sighed. “If you have an issue with the designer, there are others you can work with.”
“There’s no need. I’ll pick up a dress from the mall.”
Her face went slack. “You cannot be serious.” She sounded utterly horrified.
“Why?”
“That would risk another person wearing the same dress as you at the event!”
Compared to the shit with Crow, it was such a petty thing to be concerned about. “If that happens, it happens.”
Belinda’s mouth tightened. “I emailed Knox a portfolio of the designer’s work a few days ago. He approved of it.”
“You were the kid in school that snitched on everyone to the principal, weren’t you?” She really had that whiny, ass-kissing ‘I’m telling Miss!’ vibe about her.
One over-tweezed brow slid up. “Excuse me?”
“This might shock you, Belinda, but I make my own decisions. Knox might approve of something, but he would never tell me what or what not to wear.” Especially since, thanks to his fucked-up past, he knew how that felt. Oh, he’d give his opinion, but he would never make the choice for her.
Belinda’s smile dripped with condescension. “Knox Thorne is the type of demon who likes to have his own way. He makes no apologies for it. If you expect to keep him, you should learn that quickly and go along with his wishes.”
Harper slowly pushed out of the chair and cocked her head. “Is that what you would have done? Given him whatever he wanted? Become whatever he wanted? Hmm. It’s no wonder he never touched you.” Belinda gasped, which made Harper’s demon smile. “He’d have sensed that about you. His demon would have sensed it. Easy prey is no fun for a predator as powerful as Knox.”
Cheeks almost as red as her lip gloss, Belinda jutted out her chin. “If you’ll excuse me, I have things to do.”
“Oh, you’re excused,” said Harper, sweeping an arm toward the door. Predictably, the she-demon marched out.
“She really doesn’t think you’re right for Knox, does she?” said Raini.
“She thinks she knows him. Probably also thinks she could be better for him.” That was her mistake, Harper thought. “She’s not alone in thinking either of those things.” Many did.
Devon snorted. “You’re totally right for Knox. She might not see that, but he does and you do. That’s all that matters and —”
The door opened once more. This time, Harper smiled at the she-demon who strolled inside. “Grams, hi.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about Carla?” Jolene demanded, crossing the room with her anchor, Beck, and daughter, Martina, in tow. As always, Jolene was wearing a blouse and sleek skirt, emanating a natural veneer of elegance that didn’t manage to hide the well-known fact that she was totally bat-shit. She was also a master manipulator who knew and insisted on pushing every hot button that Lucifer possessed, but that was off-topic.
“How did you find out?” Harper asked her. It was lair business.
“I have my ways,” replied Jolene, patting her perfectly styled hair.
“Ways or spies?”
“You should have told me.”
“I was going to, but I didn’t want you to go and blow shit up.” Her grandmother protected her family with a predatory fierceness. She also liked to destroy buildings when she was pissed off, referring to herself as a demolition expert.
“I’m tempted to,” said Jolene. “Her eldest son is spreading rumors. Little bastard is claiming that you probably took advantage of Crow’s fragile state of mind and talked him into kidnapping Carla.”
Khloë gaped. “You’re not serious.”
“What did you do?” Harper asked Jolene, because her grandmother would never let something like that go.
The image of innocence, Jolene said, “I didn’t do anything.”
Harper looked at Martina. “What did you do?”
Martina smiled. “What brings me joy in life.” Which meant Roan’s car was on fire. Great.
“Does the lair believe he’s right?” Khloë asked, arms folded.
It was Beck who answered. “That we don’t know.”
“It wouldn’t surprise me if they did,” said Harper, rubbing the back of her neck. “They know Carla abandoned me as a baby and has no part in my life.” There was a lot more to the story than that, but only a handful of people knew the whole of it. “Demons always get even, right?”
“Yeah,” began Raini, “but you never felt the need to get revenge because you figured you were better off without someone like her in your life.”
“But they don’t know me like you guys do, so they could believe him.”
Mouth tight, Khloë shook her head. “Knox is gonna be pissed when he finds out about Roan.”
“He’ll know about it by now,” said Jolene.
Devon turned to Harper. “What do you think he’ll do?”
“That all depends on just how pissed he is.” In any case, it would be bad.