A perfectly pretty and evil smile turned her lips and she raised her eyebrows at him. “Don’t leave a lady waiting, Felix; if she’s allowed to feed you, I believe I am too.”
Felix found himself getting annoyed and pointed his fork at her.
“Oh? You want to feed me? Certainly, certainly.” Lily laid her fork down and then opened her mouth wide at him. Her tongue slowly moved up and touched her incisors and glided across.
Felix looked to his right, his cheeks heating up. Kit was watching him from that side as well. Her own smile was less predatory, though full of mirth.
“You do realize she gets a rise out of it. She, and I know this, gets off on the fact that you refuse her. That whenever you even get close to flirting or hitting on her, you run,” Kit explained as if talking to a child. She ate a bite of her own lunch and then pointed back to Lily with the empty fork.
Felix slowly turned his eyes back to the soul-eating lawyer. She’d returned to her meal, her cheeks a faint red.
She’s not wrong, is she? Lily was always the one being chased by suitors, police, and supers alike.
Didn’t mean he wanted to mess with Lily right now. She’d give him twice as bad later any he gave her now.
Kit, though, Kit he could harass.
Looking to Kit, he swallowed and then gave her a grin. “As if you’re any better. You prod at me to figure out my reactions so you can try and predict what I’m thinking. Since you can’t read me.
“Should I share those thoughts with you? Should I tell you about what went through my head when I was putting you back together? Piece by piece? When I saw you for everything you were?”
Ha, two can play that game.
Kit immediately turned a bright, fuming red and turned her face forward. Her left hand came up to shield herself from his sight.
“Was that when she was all broken and meat and stuff? Ioana told me about that. That you were like corpses and you brought them back from death.”
As soon as Felix turned his head to answer Andrea’s question, she shoved her fork into his mouth again.
Grunting, he started chewing the mouthful and glared at Andrea.
Who only smiled at him, tilting her head slowly forward to peek up at him from below. Her mismatched eyes peered at him through her blonde bangs.
“You could take me apart and put me back together in whatever way you see fit. Or a few of me, if you like,” she whispered in a promising voice.
Felix stopped chewing entirely and stared at the young woman.
She still made it a point to sleep in his bed every night. Sometimes at his feet, sometimes on him, beside him, or even on the floor. That arrangement took on a whole new meaning with that one statement.
Andrea was definitely attractive. Especially when she got coy or energetic. That girl-next-door charm of hers changed in a heartbeat when she tried.
“How was that? It was embarrassing, but I did it. Did it work?” Andrea asked, turning her head to Lily. “Did I melt his boxers? Will he want to sleep closer tonight?”
Lily choked on her food and pressed a napkin to her mouth.
Felix turned a wide-eyed glare on Lily, who was hiding behind her napkin.
“Felix, the indentured servant program is going well,” Kit interrupted. “We’ve had a number of people ask for their families to be put into the program.”
Kit fingered a paper out of her messenger bag at her side and laid it down in front of him.
Felix slowly turned his glare from Lily to the paper.
It was a balance sheet on costs and return on investment based on pay and job title.
They were well in the black.
Beyond in the black. The pawn shops were making money, but the estimated costs of the work everyone else was doing was all in savings. And it was a lot.
“All the children are being enrolled immediately, after an evaluation and tutors if they need it.
“The school seems to be enjoying the influx of children; the empty desks are filling up, and their tuition is filling their account.
“It doesn’t hurt that we converted all that debt into ownership and controlling shares.”
That little bit of business had soothed Felix’s ire. The debt was wiped out, and instead they now owned a majority of the school. An eighty percent controlling share, no less.
Felix nodded his head, following along.
“We never did find out what auction Mr. White’s son went to, but I’m happy to report they both turned up this morning.
“Mr. White is already in his lab at work. His son is training with Ioana.”
“Pity. We could use more people. I think the auctions will become more and more scarce as time goes on,” Felix said. He moved the sheet of paper back to Kit.
Andrea shoved another forkful of food into his mouth. He felt the Beastkin’s tail swish back and forth against his back.
Sighing through his nose, he gave up. Picking up his plate of lasagna, he set it into Andrea’s tray and then pointed at her own mouth.
“For me? Goodie! I’ll feed you mine and eat yours. Being your personal secretary is great.
“It’s kinda like when people date in movies.
“That reminds me!”
Before he could figure out what the wolf girl was doing, she handed her personal tablet to Lily and then grabbed Felix’s face.
With quick, agile fingers, she rearranged his hair, brushed something off his cheek, and then forced him to look forward.
“Smile!” Andrea said, pressing into his side.
Felix did as instructed and smiled at Lily, not quite following along.
“Great! Get ready, Lily!” Andrea commanded. Andrea’s fingers snatched his chin and turned his face towards her own.
Then she kissed him wetly on the corner of his mouth, pressing herself right up into his shoulder.
Pulling back from him and giggling insanely, she made grabby hands at Lily.
With a smirk, Lily handed the tablet over to her. “I expect you to return the favor.”
“Of course, of course. Just let me know when and I’ll get the Others involved,” Andrea promised as she began flipping through what looked like photos of him and her that were just taken.
“What in the actual fuck did—” Felix started.
“Oh, Felix? Dimitry left a message for you about thirty minutes ago. He’d like to arrange a call to discuss his first favor with you,” Kit interrupted him. Again.
His thoughts derailed at that, his anger instantly cooling. Turning his head to Kit, he lifted his right hand in a questioning gesture.
“He did? Alright. Let’s set up a call or a meet for an hour or two from now. After this, I’m supposed to let Ioana and Miu kick my ass for a while.”
Then another forkful of lasagna was jammed into his mouth.
“Mmmm!” Felix turned his head towards Andrea. Halfway there, he found Lily smiling at him with an empty fork, still in front of him.
“Eat up, dar-ling,” said the demoness in her best impression of Andrea’s voice from earlier. Her eyes were teasing and warm, her smile hungry.
“Oh, you have a little something there, dear,” Andrea said, getting in front of him. She grabbed his face, licked her fingers, and began wiping at his face with them.
All around him, his people watched.
They were watching.
Felix began shuddering in absolute rage as Andrea patted his cheek.
Flopping into the chair, Felix watched Miu cross the room and take up residence in a corner.
Two Others took the door, while Andrea Prime was practically in his pocket. She was working on something on her tablet but stayed glued to him.
Tapping the screen on his desk, he pulled up Dimitry’s number and hit the send button.
The phone connected on the first ring.
“Felix. Glad you could get back to me so fast. I need to call in one of those favors.”
“Good to hear from you, Dimitry.
“And yeah, that’d be part of the agreement. What can I do for you?”