12. Eva

12

EVA

T he note on Eva's dress dummy had been brief. "You are required to attend a private dinner. Formal attire." An address finished the note.

It was Harriet's handwriting, and there were no clues as to the occasion, or why Eva herself was being pressed into attending. Harriet didn't often bring her to events and Eva was glad of it. The baker-thief was making noises about Eva setting up her own clothing design company, but Eva balked at the idea of having to be even a token front for such a business. Cameras flashing in her face? Interviews? No, she wanted no part of that kind of fame.

But she was intrigued by the note, and she owed Harriet a great deal, so she picked the most formal attire she had, a slight black velvet dress embroidered all over in silky black thread so that it looked rather plain until the light hit it and brought out all of the designs.

It reminded her of Margo, and Margo's kiss as she smoothed it down over her slim figure.

Why had Margo kissed her? Why did she pretend she hadn't ?

Eva was jealously glad that Margo seemed disinclined to follow up on Bruno's declaration that he was her mate. Maybe the blow to his head had just addled him. It was easier to think of that, than of losing Margo to that gorgeous man.

But in some ways, it seemed like she had already lost Margo. They barely spoke now, and Margo never smiled, more stone-faced than ever. Eva could only guess why things seemed to have gone so wrong.

It was Eva's fault. Her heart was flawed. She was poison.

Eva hadn't meant to fall in love with Margo. But Margo was so kind and smart behind her gruff exterior that Eva had liked and trusted her at once, barely noticing when trust melted into affection, and at some point attraction. And then Margo had kissed her and unleashed all the tender feelings that Eva was most afraid of. Eva gritted her teeth and pulled on a coat.

The address took her to the arboretum. She pulled into the empty parking lot and gazed in confusion at the entrance. Were those rose petals scattered in the snow?

For a moment, Eva had a stab of hope and fear. Was this some form of troll courtship? Had the kiss meant something after all?

But Margo had a mate , and this didn't look at all like Margo's style. Eva followed the trail through the double doors, down a candle-lit hallway into the romantically lit arboretum with its arched glass ceilings.

It wasn't Margo waiting for her.

The light wasn't much more flattering, but the big man that Margo had knocked out was much less terrifying sitting at a white-clothed table holding a delicate crystal goblet in one meaty hand.

Bruno Bigliotti. The factory manager of Wilson Kinetics .

Bruno put his glass down at her approach and gingerly stood, clutching at the napkin in his lap before it could fall to the floor.

"Don't go!" he cried, and Eva realized that she was poised to flee back the way that she'd come. "I won't hurt you!"

Eva was sure that if he could arrange something like this, she would not be able to get away with something so simple as running away anyway, so she walked bravely forward.

He gazed down at her as she came close, and he was so tall—and she was so short—that she had to crane up and up to see into his face.

Eva had been enspelled before, forced to love and adore, and she was puzzled now, because this was so like this…and so completely different.

Bruno was fascinatingly manly. He was broad-shouldered and beautiful, and he smelled like musk and metal. He had shaved clean for this meeting, but it didn't make him look young or na?ve. Eva somehow knew that he was safe and reliable, and he was undeniably attractive.

She was drawn to him, but it was not like the insidious love spell that had threatened to destroy her soul. This was not control, it was certainty. She knew beyond any shadow of doubt that this man could make her happier than she'd ever been in her life…but only if she let him.

How did she resolve this with him being Margo's mate? Was it only because she loved Margo that she could sense the goodness of this man? Was it some lingering magic that had been dormant in her heart?

"I'm Bruno," he said, offering her one of his hands.

"Eva," she breathed, when she remembered her name. His handshake was one of the gentlest things Eva had ever felt, and he let go before she could feel trapped .

He held her chair for her and a waiter melted out of the surrounding greenery to put a fresh salad at her place.

"So, I guess we sort of met, a few weekends ago," Eva finally said, when Bruno offered no conversation, looking for all the world as if he felt as awkward about this as she did. There was no use trying to pretend, and the salad didn't last long.

"You were tossing Frank's office at Wilson Kinetics."

"To be fair, Mar—my friend did most of the tossing," Eva corrected him. "But I was the one who broke in." If this was some elaborate attempt to get Margo in trouble, she wasn't going to fall for it.

Bruno gave a laugh. "She has an amazing arm," he said, reaching up to rub the back of his head.

He had amazing arms.

"Wha-What's all this about?" Eva had to ask. If he wasn't trying to trap Margo, maybe he wanted information about her for other reasons. Did he think that she could give him tips for courting her or catching her? Eva was hopelessly lost.

"Tobias set this up," Bruno said. "I never pictured him as such a matchmaker, but I had no idea who either of you were, or how to find you."

"I'm sorry. For breaking in. And wrecking the place up. And assaulting you."

"It meant I met the two of you," Bruno said without regret.

Eva's salad bowl was replaced by a steaming plate of gourmet pasta while she was staring at her lap. "Oh, thank you?" The waiter vanished before she could make shy eye contact.

A steak was placed before Bruno, so thick and juicy that it was on its own platter.

Dinner was a traditional framework for dates. Eating was supposed to give her something to do, and inane comments about how delicious her meal was ought to flow effortlessly into intimate conversation about favorite foods. Instead, Eva dropped her fork, nearly fell off her chair picking it up, and then tried to eat with it before a scandalized waiter could come and bring her a new one.

Bruno seemed to be faring no better, sawing at his meat with a knife too delicate or dull for his fare, muttering under his breath. Eva thought she heard him say, "Not hugging," but it might have been "Snort muggings."

She ought to say something witty. "Noodles are funny," she blurted. "Even the name is funny. Nooo-dles." She winced. That was not even close to witty.

"Your friend, what was her name?"

There it was. He was on a fact-finding date for Margo. Because Margo was his mate.

The sauce that had a bite ago been as good as any meal Eva had ever eaten went tasteless in her mouth. "Margo," she said faintly.

"Margo." Bruno said it with approval, like he was tasting it in his mouth. "She kissed like a Margo."

"Wait, you kissed her?" Eva didn't understand anything that was happening. Margo had kissed her, she thought jealously.

"Kissed her, nearly molested her. Got knocked out by her with a popcorn machine. I spent maybe five total minutes in her company, and we've already done a lot."

"She didn't tell me that part," Eva said, trying to force herself to be happy for Margo. Everything he said only made things more complicated.

"Do you know about mates?" Bruno asked, his growly voice more growly than ever.

Eva wasn't sure how to identify what was happening in her heart. Was it hope? Heartbreak? Longing? "Margo is your mate," she said faintly.

Even though it wasn't a question, the answer was exactly what she had dreaded, so gruff that it was barely a word: "Yes."

Eva closed her eyes and told herself that she could be happy for them. She wouldn't get either of them for herself, but she was a big enough person, emotionally if not physically, to be satisfied with the fact that they'd found each other. She just had to let go of them both.

But Bruno wasn't finished. "And you are, too."

Eva's eyes flew open. "That's a thing ?" Her irrational attraction had a reason ? She felt dismayed and excited and dangerously hopeful, all at once.

"Apparently," Bruno said with a shrug and a crooked smile. "I'm as surprised as you are."

It explained so much. She hadn't once been afraid of Bruno, not even when he was looming in the dark of Frank Wilson's office. She had known even then that he was no threat to her, that he could never hurt or betray her. Because he was her mate, and mates recognized each other at a level that defied logic and transcended magic.

And Margo was his mate as well.

And that meant…

Eva felt like she was bubbling, and she could only guess that her smile in return was foolish and fizzy. The reservations she had were washing away like bad dreams. This fascinating man, and Margo, and her. All three of them, together. It was all so right. "Does Margo know?"

"I don't think so? She hit me over the head with a popcorn machine and the whole night is kind of a blur."

Eva wanted to shake him by the shoulders, but she could barely reach his shoulders, let alone would she be able to budge him with the action. "You have to tell her! We have to find her and tell her! What does it mean ?" Could she have them both ?

Never in her life had she imagined anything so beautiful.

Bruno was smiling at her, like she was the beautiful thing. "Can I kiss you first?"

She had a choice, Eva realized with joy and relief. She wanted to, but she didn't have to. She put her napkin carefully to the side and stood. Bruno shoved back his chair, forgetting about his own napkin, and stood to scoop her up into his arms and kiss her.

His kiss was nothing like Margo's. Margo's kiss was careful and cautious. Bruno's was purely to claim her.