They went through the dining room to the great room. Instantly, Temnyy went crazy. He recognized the visitors were leopard, and that meant four males were there when his female was in heat. Tenmyy didn’t like many people, so adding these four to the mix at such a bad time wasn’t the best of ideas.
Evangeline looked up when they entered and relief immediately came over her face. “Timur. Ashe. I’m so glad you could make it.” She waved them over to be introduced.
Ambroise Tregre was tall and sinewy. He might have the roped muscles of a shifter, but if he did, they were well hidden. He wore a sports jacket over an emerald tee, tucked into dark jeans. He looked classy. His clothes screamed of money, just the opposite of his brother.
Christophe Tregre had just returned from a seven-month stay in Borneo with Drake’s friends. He was fit, his muscles moving not so subtly beneath the thin, stretched dark-colored tee he wore with his fitted jeans. He could be considered a good-looking man, although next to his brother’s handsome face, some might call him too rough-looking. His hands showed hard work, where Ambroise’s were soft with perfectly manicured nails.
In contrast to the two younger men, Evangeline’s father, Beau Tregre, had lines in his face and showed his age. Few leopards could tolerate much alcohol, but the man looked like he had, at some time in his past, drunk a great deal. His hair was grey and he hadn’t bothered to clean up the way his sons had. He wore bibbed overalls that were stained with oils. At least they were clean and didn’t reek of the swamp.
Her uncle, Gilbert Tregre, was a little shorter than Beau and his face was a road map. His lips were thin, and he avoided Timur’s eyes when they were introduced. Like his brother, he had the signs of an obvious drinker. He looked like a man beaten down by life, or one looking for revenge. Timur couldn’t quite make up his mind.
They made small talk until they were called into the dining room. Timur was seated straight across from Evangeline’s father and Christophe. Ambroise sat beside his brother with his uncle on his other side. That put Evangeline’s two brothers between their father and uncle. The two older men barely looked at each other.
Timur was certain they were at odds, so why would both come? Why pretend they weren’t? What had caused the rift between them? When everyone was served and eating, his woman kept up her part, chatting away, laughing softly at Christophe’s replies until Timur wanted to shake her, but she was the one keeping the conversation going.
He hadn’t expected to feel pure, black jealousy. Tenmyy raged, scraping cruelly at him, wanting the strangers gone. The cat wasn’t alone. Christophe had concentrated completely on Ashe, as if no one else existed. Evangeline’s father mumbled a few replies to his daughter’s questions, but for the most part, neither of the two older men had much to say. Both of them seemed focused on Ashe as well. Timur couldn’t blame them. She was in heat, and they couldn’t fail to scent the pheromones or see the glow on her skin. Their leopards had to be raging.
“Ambroise? That’s true? You draw?” Ashe asked.
Timur immediately tuned in on the conversation.
“He doesn’t just draw,” Christophe declared. “He’s a master at it. Anything he sees he can make beautiful. He sketched this room for me, in fact the entire house. I couldn’t get here when he came to visit you, and he told me he’d make certain I saw every detail. He drew every room and I don’t think there was one detail missing right down to the ornate hat rack in the hall.”
Timur didn’t look at his brother. He didn’t speak. Evangeline would know immediately if he did. He mentally nudged Ashe, hoping she would say something to continue the conversation.
“I make mistakes,” Ambroise said, color flushing his skin.
“What does that drawing get you? I told you to get rid of those pencils of yours and get a real job,” his uncle sneered. “Always prancing around thinking you’re better than us. Next thing you know, you’ll get yourself a sugar mama so you can feed off the money tit just like your sister did.”
“You’ve had enough to drink, Gilbert,” Beau said. “If you can’t be polite to my children, you’ll have to leave.”
“Didn’t want to come in the first place,” Gilbert muttered and stood up, his chair crashing over backward. He didn’t bother to right it. “Don’t have a way back home so I’ll wait in the car.”
Timur glanced at Gorya, who stood in the shadows. Gorya’s nod was imperceptible. He slipped out of the room, tailing after Evangeline’s uncle, who staggered a little. As he stumbled out, he pulled a little flask from his pocket and took a drink.