The Enemy Within (Daughters of the People Series Book 3) (16 page)

Bobby pushed
down the hatred and horror. “And she had nightmares after that?”

“Every night for
a while. They gradually tapered off. I can’t think what would have triggered
her recent nightmare. Are you certain nothing else has happened?”

“We’re hunting
down India and she’s helping.” He shrugged. “We’ve gone furniture shopping.”

“Well, that’s a
nightmare on its own,” she said with a laugh. “Indigo hates shopping.”

“Hmm.” She’d
seemed to enjoy their trips together. “We went shopping a lot the first week or
so after she came back. Other than that, I can’t think of anything except her
meeting with Mom.”

Elizabeth’s eyes
narrowed. “Your mother imposed a heavy fine on her for your mistake.”

“I don’t
consider it a mistake,” he said evenly. “And whatever that fine was, my
personal wealth is enough to make up for it.”

“Like your
mother would allow that,” she scoffed.

“My mother has
no say in how I spend my own money.” He drew himself back before the argument
escalated. “I told Mom to go easy on her.”

“And you really
think she listened? You don’t know Rebecca very well.”

“Well enough.
She wants me to be happy. Surely she wouldn’t have done anything to hurt
Indigo.”

“Maybe not,”
Elizabeth conceded, “but she might threaten it, if she needed leverage.”

Bobby rocked his
foot, considering that. “I told Mom flat out that I would protect Indigo if she
came after her.”

“You would defy
the Blade for Indigo?” Elizabeth’s lips, so like Indigo’s, twisted into a
disdainful sneer. “I have a hard time believing that.”

He leaned
forward and pinned her with a cold stare. “Believe it. Anyone who harms Indigo
will learn exactly how vicious I can be.”

She sat back,
her expression nonplussed. “You’re serious.”

“I am. Mom knows
that, too.”

Elizabeth’s face
blossomed with a smile. “Well, well, well. I do believe that old biddy’s met
her match.”

She slid off the
couch and he rose to face her. She reached up, cupping his face with both of
her elegant hands. “Robert Lake Upton, the second of that name, I accept you as
my daughter’s mate. Love her always. Harm her never.”

“I shall protect
her with my life,” he murmured.

She pulled him
down, pressed a kiss to his mouth and then his forehead. “Welcome to the
family, Bobby.”

He grinned and
let her take his arm and lead him back to the kitchen where their two hearts
waited.

Two days passed
before Indigo had time to take a breath. News of her and Bobby’s engagement
seeped out, and before she knew it, her phone rang nearly constantly with
people calling to congratulate her on making such a spectacular match.

She was polite,
really she was, when what she wanted to do was say,
What am I, chopped
liver?

Ok, so Bobby was
the only son of a powerful Daughter, allied closely with a member of the
Council of Seven, and Indigo was a wallflower, but that didn’t mean she was a
nobody. Her grandmother had served on the Council of Seven representing their
line through the Sister Lilleni before the current councilwoman, Gwendolyn, had
taken the position. Elizabeth was relatively young, but she’d earned a certain
notoriety as well and might have gone much farther if she hadn’t become mortal.

Which was in
itself a notable feat. Not every Daughter was born with a trusting heart. If
they were, it was usually beaten out of them by the sheer difficulty of their
lives. To submit one’s will to a man and become mortal was an honorable action,
marking such women as the wisest among the People.

Indigo had
accomplished things in her time, too, so why did everyone treat her as if she
were Cinderella to Bobby’s Prince Charming?

She wrinkled her
brow at the comparison and sighed. Bobby’s stature as a Son, particularly when
combined with his maternal lineage, very nearly made him a prince of sorts. The
way people fawned over the match still rankled, as if snagging him was her
biggest accomplishment to date.

In truth, he’d
done all the snagging. She’d just stopped running.

Margaret poked
her head into Bobby’s office, startling Indigo out of her reverie.

“Hey,” Indigo
said. “Bobby’s out running errands.”

Margaret closed
the door. “I can talk to you.”

“Ok.” Indigo
scooped up her work and dropped it onto the coffee table in front of the couch,
her favorite work station. “Want to sit?”

“I’ll take a
chair,” Margaret said, and did just that, turning one of the chairs in front of
Bobby’s desk around before dropping into it. “I’ve been trying to run Bobby
down for about a week now.”

Indigo plucked
at the seam in her khakis. Not everyone approved of her match with Bobby. She
had a feeling Margaret would fall into that category. “It’s been a busy time.”

“So I hear.
Congratulations on the engagement.”

“Thank you.”

“I’m sure Mom’s
making your life hell.”

Indigo allowed a
small smile to curve her lips upward. “Only a little.”

Margaret
snorted. “She must be getting soft in her old age.”

“I dare you to
say that to her face,” Indigo said with a laugh.

“What am I,
stupid?” Margaret shook her head. “She can still kick my ass around the block
and back.”

“Mmm.” That was
probably true. It was one reason Rebecca had retained her power long after
becoming a mortal. She was a Daughter with whom one did not tangle. “We’re
thinking of having a party this weekend, maybe at The Omega.”

“That’s the
other reason I came by. Jerusha’s coming into town this weekend. She heard
about the engagement all the way in London.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. We want
to take you out, have a little girl time.”

“By
we
you mean…?”

“Me and Moira,
Jerusha, Dani and Charlotte, maybe Mom and a couple of other gals.” Margaret
shrugged. “You know. Girls’ night out.”

“Um.” Indigo
tried to imagine spending an entire night with the women in Bobby’s family and
making it through in one piece. Nope. That wasn’t going to happen, but what
could she say and still keep the peace? “Sure.”

Margaret’s smile
seemed a tad too knowing, as if she’d seen right into Indigo’s head and witnessed
every single doubt. “It’ll be fun. We can hire some strippers.”

“I’ll pass on
the strippers, but maybe we could do pizza and pool.”

“Ok. I’ll
arrange everything.”

Indigo sighed
her relief. One less thing for her to worry over. “What was the other thing you
wanted to talk about?”

“Right, almost forgot.”
Margaret dug a folded sheet of paper out of the back pocket of her jeans. “I’ve
been doing a little digging on my own and came up with a few ideas on solving
the problem with traitors among the People. I was supposed to talk to Bobby
about it last week, but…”

“He’s been
busy.”

Indigo took the
paper and unfolded it, and tried to push down the guilt that nagged at her. She’d
had to let her own forays into Margaret’s past go to concentrate on everything
else, though a little niggle in her gut insisted the other Daughter knew more
than she was letting on.

Indigo smoothed
the paper across one thigh, pushing out the creases, and studied it, surprised
that it contained not raw information but a chart showing relationships between
people and events. She sat straight up and grasped the paper in tense fingers. “By
the Goddess, Margaret. Why didn’t you come forward with this sooner?”

“It’s been
busy.”

“Yes, I know,
but this is…” With one finger, Indigo traced the intricate connections outlined
on the paper, studying them. “It’s enough to break the whole thing wide open in
a week, maybe less if we move hard and fast. How did you put this together? I
mean, who could possibly know all of this?”

She clamped her
jaws together and met Margaret’s hard stare evenly. Hadn’t she wondered if
Margaret was a member of the High Guard, that mythical branch of Daughters bent
solely on countering the Eternal Order? And if she was…

No. The more
important question was,
What would Margaret do to protect her secret?

“Never mind,”
Indigo said. “I don’t need to know, and that’s what I’ll tell Bobby when he
asks.”

Margaret rose
and bowed. “Use this information wisely. It cannot be traced back to me.”

“I understand.”
Indigo stood and returned the bow. “Zenalisa and Laura are clever women.”

“Yes,” Margaret
said with a careful nod.

“Hiro and Drew
love intrigue. In fact, they’re quite good at figuring out who did what and
when.”

“They are.”

“Bobby’s built
up quite a business here, you know.” Indigo folded the paper and placed it with
her work. “I’ve been very impressed with the efficient way they operate.”

Margaret’s grin
held an unholy mischief. “I think I’m going to like having you around.”

Indigo returned
her smile, sure for the first time that she had an ally in Bobby’s family
outside of Dani. “The feeling’s mutual.”

Margaret left,
shutting the door quietly behind her, and Indigo settled down with the list to
study and plan.

* * *

Bobby stood in
front of the bathroom mirror, hands tangled up in a tie. Why he had to wear one
to eat with his own parents escaped him. It was just a dinner, but no. Indigo
had insisted he wear real slacks instead of khakis, a button-down shirt, and a
tie.

She was wearing
a dress, a loose flowy thing that slid around her body when she walked,
clinging to the swell of her breasts and the lush curves of her ass and
stopping short enough that every time he followed her, his eyes fell to the
bare sensitive skin behind her knees and made him want to drop to the floor and
lick there, and keep going until she was naked and writhing beneath his mouth.

And she thought
her dress was demure enough for a visit with his parents.

He grunted out a
laugh. Goddess help him, he was going to have a hard time keeping his dick
under control with all that beautiful flesh shifting around under her dress
every time she moved. Dad would understand. Mom? Probably not.

The sharp clack
of heels against wood sounded in the bedroom moments before Indigo rushed into
the bathroom, her heart-shaped face flushed pink.

“You’re not
ready.” She brushed his hands aside and lifted the two ends of his tie, folding
and tucking until it was presentable. “There. Your parents will be here any
minute.”

“It’s not like
they’re royalty or something.” He dropped his hands to her hips and drew her
in, stroking her through the silky fabric of the dress. “You didn’t have to go
to so much trouble.”

She breathed out
a faint laugh. “It’s the final step before we can get married.”

“As far as I’m
concerned, it’s a done deal.” He pressed a chaste kiss to her lipsticked mouth
and let her fuss over the smudge that transferred to his lower lip. “And it’s
just my folks. We’ll be doing this a lot over the next few decades.”

“Yes,” she
agreed as she stepped back. “But there’s only one first dinner.”

He rolled his
eyes skyward and followed her into the apartment’s main living area.

Indigo had spent
the entire weekend polishing and scrubbing and fussing over every room in the
apartment. If a cobweb or speck of dust had survived her laser gaze, he’d be
surprised, but he had to admit the apartment looked nice. He’d finally talked
her into taking the bookcases. They took up an entire wall in the living room
and were filled with the books she’d collected over the years along with
pictures of her family and his. Flowers decorated every surface, sprouting out
of vases in shades of orange, red, and gold. The mission-style coffee and end
tables he’d given her surrounded the leather couch and recliner she’d bought,
and the TV rested safely behind the doors of an entertainment center, facing
the couch.

She’d gone all
out with the dining area. He’d scooted the table out for her and helped her
drape it in layers of tablecloths. She’d dug out pewter candlesticks and made
him polish them, and then filled them with pale yellow candles and placed them
on either side of a low flower centerpiece.

The one thing
he’d insisted on was having the meal catered. Otherwise, she would’ve worn
herself into a frazzled wreck trying to please his mom. So he’d put his foot
down. Frankly, he wanted her to have energy to spend on him after his folks
were gone.

He was just
crazy like that.

The doorbell
rang and she jumped. He barely refrained from rolling his eyes again. It was
going to be a long night. “Would you relax?”

She slid her
hand into his and took a shaky breath. “I don’t think I can.”

“It’ll be fine.”

“Easy for you to
say. They’re your parents.”

He gave her an
exasperated look and opened the door for his parents, and suppressed an
irritated grimace at their clothing. Mom wore a dress, for cripes’ sake, and Dad
had on a tie. Bobby shared a sympathetic look with his father as the two
entered the apartment.

“Hello, dear.”
Rebecca tilted her cheek for his kiss. She slid her coat off and handed it to
him. “What a lovely little place this is.”

“Thank you,”
Indigo said. She stood solicitously at his dad’s elbow, waiting patiently while
he took his jacket off around his hand crutches. “We’re pleased you could
come.”

“We appreciate
the invitation,” Rebecca said.

Bobby had never
heard her sound so stiff and formal outside of a business meeting. The two
women circled one another awkwardly, coming in for a brief brush of lips to air
at the other’s cheek before moving apart. The silence stretched thin between
them.

He rubbed a finger
across his forehead. Yup, it was gonna be a long one. “Dinner’s warming in the
oven. Why don’t we sit down and talk before we eat?”

Indigo’s
expression held such relief, he had to bite back a smile. “Oh, yes. That would
be lovely.”

He settled Rebecca
onto the couch next to his father, who dropped down with a sigh, and perched on
the arm of the recliner to Indigo’s left.

“Thanksgiving’s
just around the corner.” Rebecca folded her hands in her lap. “Have you made
plans yet?”

Indigo shot a
glance at Bobby before answering. “We haven’t really decided on anything.”

“Jerusha will be
in,” Rebecca said. “She’s staying for a while, so I thought we’d get the whole
family together. What does your mother do?”

Rebecca touched
a hand to the locket at her throat, and it dawned on Bobby that she was as
nervous as Indigo. What a pair.

“We’re usually
never in one spot all at one time,” Indigo admitted.

“We always have
room, if she wants to join us,” Robert said. “I need to talk with Glen about
his family anyway.”

“Dad, geez. Not
the genealogy thing again.” Bobby draped a hand on Indigo’s shoulder and felt
her muscles relax under his touch. “Don’t get him started, Indi. He’ll drive
you nuts asking questions about your family tree, especially if there are
gaps.”

Indigo turned to
give him a sweet smile. “I don’t mind.”

“There, now. A
girl after my own heart.” Robert leaned forward, bracing himself against the
edge of the sofa. “Any chance you’ve got nobility in your father’s line?”