Gargoyle's Mate by Nia K. Foxx Page A

six, I couldn’t imagine.”
    “I liken us to a dysfunctional Brady Bunch minus the step-parents and Alice.” Obviously her brother Mike wasn’t the only of Pierre’s children to spend some time state side. She led, Fatima down another corridor on the lower level where they passed a formal dining room.
    “You’ll be eating outside,” Sara answered her unasked question. “It has the best view of the garden. Here we are,” she announced after a few more turns.
    Fatima stepped through the double doors onto the granite tiles.
    “I trust you slept well?” Lorn asked, seeming to appear from the shadows.
    “Yes, thank you” Fatima turned, plastering a smile on her face yet silently cursing her pulse’s erratic beats.
    “I’m glad to hear it.” He took another step forward, leaving little room between them.
    She gasped at the sight of him; again his dark hair was secured by his signature band. He wore a gray shirt with the first few buttons undone and white linen pants which hung perfectly off narrow hips.
    “Have the food brought out please,” he gently directed at the young woman although his gaze never wavered from Fatima.
    “You have a lovely home,” Fatima complimented, resisting the urge to put distance between them.
    “Perhaps after dinner I can give you the full tour?”
    “Yes, I’m particularly eager to see your vaults.”
    “Of course. Shall we sit?” He finally stepped aside to reveal an intimate circular table. Two candles glowed from round crystal containers.
    Fatima could feel his eyes on her as she preceded him to the table.
    He stopped to pull her chair out and leaned to whisper in her ear. “You are more beautiful than I remembered.”
    “Thank you,” she managed. “But I’m not here because of my looks,” she reminded him.
    “Of course not,” he agreed, taking his own seat.
    “And while we’re on the subject, I feel I should remind you of our agreement.”
    “I am well aware of our previous conversation.”
    “Good.” She took a deep breath if only her body could remember to not respond like a hormone crazed teen merely at the sight of him all would well.
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Four
    Thirty minutes into her tour, Fatima felt thoroughly lost. They’d briefly met the small army it took to run the place. She seriously entertained the thought of making up nametags for everyone until she got them straight. As she noted earlier with Pierre and Luc, all of Lorn’s employees, with the exception of a couple of women, wore the same knit caps. Her earlier suspicion of some medieval caste system came back to mind. Would he insist she wear one of the drab hats as a member of his staff? Better to wait until he broached the topic before lodging her formal complaint.
    “Do you hand out maps to visitors?” she half joked as he showed her a library any university would applaud.
    “I don’t get many visitors and lately I’ve been doing more traveling. This is the first time I’ve been here in over a year.”
    “Well may I be the first to request a personal tour guide for the first couple of weeks at least.”
    “I’d be more than happy to accompany you until you get you get the lay of the land,” he offered.
    No, thank you . The lease amount of time she spent in his presence the better she would feel.
    “Where exactly are your vaults,” she continued, ignoring his suggestion.
    “Everything you’ll need is in the east wing.”
    East wing. How many people could use the term in reference to their homes?
    “ How long have you had this place?”
     
    “It’s been in my family for generations,” he answered easily. No need telling her he personally picked the location and laid the first stones for its foundation. “I have made several modernizing upgrades but for the most part she is as she was over six hundred years ago.”
    “Unbelievable. If only these walls could talk.”
    Lorn blanched at her comment. He didn’t need a recanting of its history; it was all