I turned and whipped the door open again, meaning to head straight for the venue to start on the decorations but instead finding myself in the middle of a standoff at the meat market as both Maxy boy and dear Justin stood glaring at each other beyond my door.
“Oh, what fresh hell is this?” I demanded, placing my hands on my hips as I waited for an answer to my question.
“I came to offer you my assistance today, my sweet Grussy,” Justin said, straightening out the tweed jacket he was wearing and offering his cheek to the obnoxious Heir to his left.
“Well I was here first and I’m pretty sure she wants someone with the kind of magical skills that are actually useful for putting on a wedding - you’re only good for burning things. Unless you were planning on helping out in the kitchens?”
“Marvellous, it would seem you have found a solution without any need for my intervention,” I said, clapping my hands together firmly. “Justin, you may assist Angelica in the kitchens, and I shall take the bothersome barracuda up to assist me with the decorations.”
I pushed my way between them, damn near choking on the testosterone which filled the corridor while Max smirked provocatively, and Justin pouted like the little sea slug he could so often be. Honestly, that fellow needed a jolly good slap with a sardine from time to time.
“Have you thought any more about allowing me to be your date for the wedding?” Justin asked as he hurried to fall into step at my side and I huffed in frustration.
“I have told you; this is an exclusive event. We don’t want every Tom, Dick and Justin in attendance. Only the personally invited guests of both my papa and his sweet love, Lady Catalina are going to be in attendance and as neither of them have requested your presence, it will not be required.”
“Wait.” Justin grasped my arm and jerked me to a halt just as we reached the dining cavern and I whipped around to look at him with a sigh of frustration. Honestly, sometimes he had the temper of a toddler with a toothache. “Surely as your fiancé, my invitation is guaranteed. Hamish will be my father-in-law soon so-”
A snarl like a beast from a cavern of sin filled the air and a rush of wind wiffled through my hair a moment before Justin was hurled back and pinned to the closest wall with a crack which said something had likely broken. Probably his ego, but it was hard to be certain.
Max strode between us like a peacock with his tail in full bloom and bared his teeth at Justin as he came to stand before him, wielding the air to hold him against the wall.
“Don’t put your hands on her,” he warned, going all Alpha and feral and I could admit that it got my waters flowing to see him releasing the kraken on the man who was destined to whisk me away from his arms. “She told you you’re not invited so get the fucking hint or I’ll put you in your place.”
“My place is by her side,” Justin snarled, his quaffed blonde hair a flip and a flop of mess which spilled into his eyes. “You’re the one who is forgetting your position in all of this. Why are you even here anyway? You’re not loyal to the Vegas.”
“I’m loyal to Solaria,” Max replied, releasing Justin from the air magic which had him pinned to the wall as I bit my lip and gave myself a moment to watch the shenanigans unfold. “But if you have a problem with me then I’m always down for a fight with you.”
Fire flared to life in Justin’s palms and Max gave a cocky little smirk not unlike the one he’d gifted me on an occasion or two when he was plundering my sea cave.
My heart pitter pattered like a herd of stampeding Minotaurs, and I fanned myself a little as the fight broke out in earnest, a fireball smashing into a blast of water which caused a huge cloud of steam to engulf all three of us as the two of them leapt at each other.
Fists and magic flew, and I indulged in the little thrill of being fought over like I was a slab of meat laid out for them to chew on before turning and striding away, emerging from the cloud of steam like a gorilla from the mist.
A loyal A.S.S. member awaited me by the exit with my buttery bagels in hand and I thanked him kindly, reminding him of the importance of making sure that my ladies had a breakfast fit for queens this morning as always before heading along the tunnel which led to the farmhouse.
Cries and the sounds of the continued fight followed me, and a smug little smile tugged at my lips which had Lady Petunia all of a flutter. It wasn’t very ladylike of me to enjoy the ruffians fighting for my attention the way they were, but I couldn’t help but appreciate the mental picture of Maxy boy pounding sweet Justin’s adoring little woodlouse face into the floor.