"And what he wants, he gets?" she guessed.
"I'm afraid so," Etienne said apologetically. His arm went protectively around her.
Rachel smiled reassuringly. "It will be fine, Etienne. I'm very good with people."
"Uncle Lucian isn't people," he said in grim tones. But, removing his arm, he took her by the elbow instead and led her across the dance floor. Lucern immediately fell into step on her other side.
Rachel smiled at the show of loyalty. She felt very protected as she was led to the head of their clan. Yet she was sure she didn't really need it. Rachel hadn't been kidding when she said she was good with people. She was quite confident that she could handle this nasty old cur just fine... and she continued thinking it right up until she was led to a table where a good-looking blond sat next to Etienne's mother.
It was the tense and anxious expression on Marguerite's face that finally shook Rachel's confidence. She had never seen it, and it didn't seem a good thing. Straightening her shoulders, Rachel forced a polite smile for the man she presumed was Etienne's uncle.
Lucian Argeneau was a very handsome man. He was easily the handsomest man in attendance at the wedding. With his ice-blond hair and chiseled features, he would have fulfilled anyone's image of a Greek God. But, as he surveyed her, his expression was arctic, without a hint of any of the softer human emotions. If this man had ever felt anything like caring or love, those feelings had died or been killed off ages ago. The eyes he turned on Rachel were as empty as black pits.
She met his gaze and waited for him to offer a polite greeting, but there was none forthcoming. It didn't take but a moment to understand why. The man was reading her mind. That was a polite way to phrase it. In truth, he was raking her mind, searching every thought and feeling with a ruthlessness and lack of concern for her feelings that left her breathless. She could actually feel him in there, poking about and sifting through her thoughts. And he didn't care.
"You haven't spoken to her yet." Lucian Argeneau's first words were addressed to Etienne, though he didn't take his gaze off Rachel.
"No." Etienne made the confession just as coldly.
"You didn't want to anger her," the man went on. "You've been trying to woo her to your side in the hope that she would concede to your wishes."
Rachel gave a start, her gaze shooting to Etienne only to see his expression closed. He wasn't denying the accusation, however, and she felt all her enjoyment in the evening leak out of her like air from a balloon. Had all their laughter and passion been nothing more than a means to an end?
"You're one of us now."
Rachel jerked her eyes back to Lucian. That comment was meant for her, and she acknowledged it with a grim nod. "Yes, I am."
"If you want to stay one of us, you'll do what's best for the clan," she was informed.
"Really?" Rachel asked archly. "Is this reversible, then?"
"Death is the only release."
"Is that a threat?" she asked.
"It's a statement of fact," he said simply. "You've been given a gift. If you appreciate that, you'll act accordingly."
"Or?" she queried, her eyes narrowed.
"Or you'll be treated like a threat."
"Removed?"
"If necessary." There was no shame or apology in that statement. It was a simple fact, stated the same way he might say the sun would rise in the morning. The words were all the scarier because of that.
"I see," Rachel said slowly, then asked, "And what is it I'm to do?"
Marguerite suddenly put a hand on Lucian's arm, and though Rachel couldn't hear it, she knew that a silent conversation took place. Whatever Etienne's mother said must have been persuasive. Lucian Argeneau nodded once, then announced, "Etienne will tell you. And if you know what's good for you, you'll listen."
"There you are!"
Rachel gave a start when that cheerful cry intruded. It was followed by the arrival of a slender blonde who appeared at Lucian Argeneau's side and began to pet his shoulder and arm as if he were a cat. Rachel couldn't help noticing that while the woman was petting Lucian, she was the one purring.
"Lissianna," the blonde said, "you really should have told us what handsome men you have in your family. Your brothers are beautiful, and your cousin is absolutely scrumptious."
Rachel was surprised to hear Lucian Argeneau referred to as a cousin until she remembered that all the older relatives had been relegated to such connections to hide their ages from Greg's side of the family. There would have been too many questions had Marguerite been introduced as mother and Lucian as uncle. As far as the Hewitt clan was concerned, the Argeneaus were made up of the younger generation with absolutely no surviving older relatives.
Rachel wasn't terribly surprised that several of the single women in Greg's family were fawning over the Argeneau men in a way that was almost painfully embarrassing to witness.