The goddess gets bored sometimes

ROMAN

How much longer is this going to fucking take?

I palmed my face for the hundredth time, then glanced again at the projected statistics on the board. Raphael had ordered this fuckass meeting and forced me to be a part of it.

The look of absolute shock on the executives’ faces greeted me when I stepped in with Raphael. I couldn’t blame them. Most of the new employees had no idea that Raphael even had a sibling, let alone an identical twin.

“I told you guys to work on this before now,” Raphael was saying, frowning in irritation at the spreadsheet. “Wagner fucking Industries wouldn’t let us have this.” He sighed loudly, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Sorry for my language, but I am stressed.”

“Maybe we should just end the meeting,” I suggested, shrugging. All heads whipped to me. “I mean, we haven’t come to any conclusion for the past thirty minutes, and honestly, I am tired of sitting here.”

Murmurs rose immediately, but Raphael was already on his feet. “I am tired too. This meeting is over.”

Kane grabbed a large file and walked out with him, while I took my sweet time getting out of my seat and following closely behind them.

“How is Wagner Industries still your rival?” I mused when he walked into Raphael’s office. “I thought they should have packed up by now.”

“I wish,” my pissed brother scoffed, then leaned into his seat with a frown. “I am so irritated.”

Kane sat in the opposite chair. “You are not irritated because we haven’t made progress on the proposal yet. You are this way because of that Alina lady.”

The mention of that name sent bitterness straight into my bloodstream, and it was targeted toward Raphael.

“And who is to blame for that?” I frowned at Kane, then at my brother. “Why should he be edgy when he  fucked it up?”

Raphael’s head snapped to me with a quickness that showed that he was about to lash out. “And what is that supposed to mean?” he fumed. “I did everything we discussed. You brought up the plan to offer her that fuckass contract and—“

“Because that was the best shot we had!” I yelled at the top of my voice, shooting out of the chair like it had nails on it. “Don’t you understand? You weren’t thinking long-term, but I was. You were only thinking about how we could meet her whenever we could, and not thinking about tying her to us. Maybe—just fucking maybe—she would also feel whatever it is that we’re feeling!”

The office went pin-drop silent. I could almost hear Raphael’s heart pounding furiously from where I stood. Why would he even make this feel like it was my fault?

I was the only one trying to make sure we had her to ourselves as long as we needed, to determine whether what we were feeling was strong enough to be considered attraction.

“You brought that goddamn idea, Roman. Don’t pin this on me.”

“And I am sure as hell that if I proposed it to her, she would have accepted it that same second.”

His brows furrowed at me in irritation. “And what the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe you didn’t present it well. Or—“

“Roman, you’re pissing me off. You know damn well that I did everything I was supposed to do. Should I have forced her to agree? Maybe vaporise into her mind and twist the fucking engine to our favour? Listen to yourself.”

I sucked air in through my nose to calm myself down. “When she rejected it, you could have bargained higher. Maybe a hundred million. That amount is nothing to you—to us.”

That did shut him up, but not for long. I could almost see the wheels turning in his head as he built up a retort. This was the first time we had ever argued like this over something—or someone, as in this case. 

“Oh, yeah, like I’m pricing a commodity,” he spat. “Just listen to yourself. She could be a mate to either of us, and I am supposed to—“

“Whoa, Mate?” Kane blinked, drawing our gazes. He’d been silent throughout the argument, because, well, he had done his best for us. “I thought this was some we-like-her-too-much stuff. Nobody mentioned anything about her being a mate.”

I sighed. “There are no clear signs yet. Just this overwhelming feeling in my chest.”

“Do both of you have that exact feeling?”

"Yes," we answered Kane at the same time.

“Then that could be a mate pull,” he said, then raised a finger. “…or not. It could just be an attraction that could fade away, and considering that both of you feel this thing, I think it should mean something significant.”

Raphael was a little calmer now. “That is what confuses me, you know,” he said quietly. “She can’t possibly be a mate to both of us, right?”

Kane shrugged. “It wouldn’t be the first time, if it turns out to be the reality. Over the years, we’ve had wolves mate with two or more partners. The goddess gets bored sometimes and tries to spice things up.”

Which wouldn’t be a problem for either of us. If only Raphael would dig his heels in and take this seriously like I am. He was too focused on finding that one niece our brother never spoke about until he passed. It was infuriating just thinking about it.

“Now that we are done arguing…” Kane paused and looked at both of us. “Can we now talk about the way forward with Alina? Now that it seems she is of utmost importance.”

“I dropped my number with her,” Raphael murmured.

“You could have taken hers instead,” I scoffed, already turning to Kane for validation. “Do you now understand why I feel like he isn’t doing enough? Exactly. He doesn’t take this as seriously as I do. He’s more worried about looking for a niece we were never aware of until our brother passed.”

Kane sighed and relaxed in his seat because he could already smell another argument coming.

“Which means that we had a family member out there that we needed to find. And, for your information, the lawyer already located her.” Raphael drew up from his chair, his gaze hurling daggers at me. “And trying to obey our late brother’s will—to look for a lost family—doesn’t distract me from the fact that we have to get Alina one way or another.”

He didn’t give Kane or me the chance to say anything else before brushing past and slamming the door shut behind him.