Chapter Thirty-Three

Dillan

Functionally Dysfunctional

Selena talked. And talked. She kept on talking for the whole drive up to the townhouse. Dillan chuckled. If he’d known she’d be this nervous, he’d have told her what to expect. She wouldn’t let him get a word in. So, lips tight, he let her talk and talk. When the townhouse came into view, she described its brick and glass as if this was the first time he was seeing it, too. He nodded dutifully and just listened. It still bothered him to have her in his arms shaking the way she did when he’d picked her up. It made him feel helpless. Maybe the danger of the situation was finally catching up with her. He tightened his grip on the steering wheel as she mentioned the black mailbox and the happy gnome standing at the foot of it. He wouldn’t let anything happen to her. He’d do whatever it took to keep her safe.

When he pulled into the two-car garage, right beside the scarlet ‘66 Mustang, Selena paused in her monologue. He found her adorable as she stared at his uncle’s car like she was about to say something then sighed instead. He waited, watching her fiddle with a loose thread on her sweater sleeve. He wanted to reach out and tangled his fingers with hers. Touching her had become his newest addiction. The soft skin on her face, her un-callused hands…he could go on and on.

“Mr. Sloan’s here?” she finally asked.

Rolling his eyes, he got out of the car and hurried to her side. “You look disappointed,” he teased, opening her door.

She stepped out. “I just thought…”

“As much as I like that you’re actually disappointed Rainer’s here, I didn’t bring you here to ravish me.”

“Shut it!” She slapped his chest. The shocks didn’t even bother him anymore, and from the calm expression on her face, she hardly felt it either. The need to have her touch him outweighed his want to do the touching.

“Dillan?” Rainer’s voice came from somewhere inside the house.

Ignoring the call, he wrapped his arms around Selena’s waist. He figured they had a couple of minutes before Rainer showed himself. Keeping his gaze locked with hers, he eased her closer until they stood hip to hip. It scared him how much he liked having her standing so close to him.

“You’ve got to stop blushing,” he whispered, his lips touching her ear. He delighted in the shiver that ran through her, took pride in being the one to cause it.

She kept her hands on his chest and leaned back. “It’s not like they’re intentional. Stop seducing me and I’ll try not to blush.”

“Like you really want me to stop.”

“Dillan, what’s taking you so long?” Rainer stood by the door that led into the house from the garage.

“Don’t get your panties in a bunch.” He glared at the mood killer. “Just about to bring her in.”

A hard glint entered Rainer’s eyes before he blinked it away. “You have a phone call.”

“Who?”

“Your grandfather.”

His arms tightened around Selena. He didn’t want to leave the bubble of comfort being around her created. For the first time, he had something beautiful in his life and he’d be damned if he let anything happen to her. Whatever she was didn’t matter anymore. Human or not, all he knew was he was quickly falling for this girl with her smattering of freckles and crazy copper curls. Lips in a grim line, he held Rainer’s intense gaze. A call from his grandfather could mean many things, and he didn’t like any of them.

“You shouldn’t keep him waiting,” Rainer said. “We’ll wait for you in my study.”

Reluctantly, he released Selena. If he had to face his grandfather, now was as good a time as any. And Rainer was right about not keeping him waiting. He may joke about it, but pissing off the head of the Illumenari Council wasn’t in his best interest. After placing a quick kiss on Selena’s lips to give himself courage, he padded past his uncle. He muttered every step of the way. Before he reached the limits of his hearing range, he heard Selena ask, “Italian?” He hadn’t even realized he’d slipped into a completely different language.

“Greek,” Rainer said. “I’m sorry about that. He never likes talking to his grandfather. Come in.”

The truth of it was he never liked talking to anyone in the Council. His grandfather just happened to be his least favorite of the bunch. He winced at his uncle’s amused tone. If he didn’t know any better, he’d say Rainer lived to torture him. What an honor. Shaking his head, he took the stairs to the second floor two at a time. When Rainer said phone call, he’d meant video chat. He booted up the laptop, punched in the password, and then logged on to the secure server reserved for the Illumenari. The handle G_Sloan topped the list of those online. One click and three rings later, an older version of his father and uncle came into view.

Not wanting to prolong the ordeal, he didn’t sit down. Instead, he leaned down so the webcam caught his face.

“Not like you to give me a call,” he said.

The old man sighed. He looked tired. “I’m not here as head of the Council, Dillan. I just wanted to check in on you.”

His eyebrow lifted. The man who didn’t think twice about banishing him wanted to “check on him”? Bullshit! “As you can see, I’m still breathing with all fingers and toes attached. Rainer’s doing a bang up job taking care of me.”

His grandfather frowned. He knew the expression all too well, had been on the receiving end of it numerous times. “Respect, Dillan. Learn it.”

He breathed out slowly, keeping his temper in check. “Granddad, I have other things I need to do.” Like keep Rainer from biting Selena’s head off. Who knew what they could be talking about right now?

His grandfather’s eyes closed. He reached up and pressed two fingers against his temple. When he opened his eyes again, hard steel replaced the softness. “You know what you’ve done despite your responsibilities to our family. You have a legacy to uphold, yet you seemed to have forgotten all that at the most important moment in your life. This,” he gestured behind Dillan, “is your doing. If you did your job, you wouldn’t have been banished.”

Pushing away the hurt the reminder of his failure caused, he said, “I’m sorry I’m not the favorite anymore, Granddad. You can put all your focus on Devin now. If you’re done telling me how much of a disappointment I am, I have to go. Tell Mom and Dad ‘hi’ for me.”

He logged off before his grandfather could say anything else.