#*marcus thread*

"How much longer are you going to keep pouting?" Marcus sighed, grabbing himself a beer from the fridge before turning back to the blonde. He'd only just come home and she'd started on her usual bullshit. He pulled his gun out and put it on the table beside him before he took a sip of the cold liquid; no use hiding shit from her, considering she'd already seen plenty of what he did. "It's been weeks, Juliette and it's getting fucking boring."

Marcus had spent a few days getting settled, reacquainting himself with the family while stubbornly fighting the ever present magic that pulled at him, urging him to seek her out. After all, she'd walked away from him, and even if she'd told him to seek her out later, the Dominant in him bristled at the notion that she was in charge; that she had the right to dictate the terms of whatever this was.

But wedding plans were underway. In fact, his mother and grandmother had set that ordeal into motion almost before they'd had a chance to welcome home the prodigal son. He wasn't surprised, really. After all, he'd made all of them wait years longer than they'd expected, and they wanted to capitalize now that he was home... before he had a chance to leave again. So he'd been sent to get her for a dress fitting, and given an appropriately ridiculous reason to seek her out, he finally did...

******

He found her in the library, materialising directly behind her in silence - at a perfect angle to see exactly what she was looking at. "Huh..." was all he said to alert her to his presence - besides the spark of his magic as it finally connected with hers once more.

Marcus knew his brother. In fact, he probably knew his brother better than he knew himself, which is exactly the reason he'd dropped that little nugget at dinner the other night. Declan was never going to let Cora in if she didn't start making those demands, and she wouldn't start making those demands until it dawned on her that she'd have to. That Declan wouldn't open up his life to her of his own accord. So Marcus - against all common sense and usual instincts - had meddled. Taken a calculated risk. But Cora had ended up leaving and Declan was being a stubborn bastard about the whole thing, which meant his mood had been an ugly fucking thing for days now. Most people wouldn't notice, but Marcus sure as hell did, and he was sick of it.

So Marcus had considered calling Cora to sort a few things out. Declan had told him enough for him to put the pieces together, which also meant he knew Cora probably hadn't gotten what she needed out of that whole interaction. He wasn't going there though; Declan could work out his own shit or be a miserable prick about it. But then Lily'd asked about Cora, where she was, why she'd left, when she was coming back, and given that he - for once in his life - hadn't had an answer for her, he'd decided to take care of that problem by getting on a damned plane to fucking Kentucky.

With only one way in - not Marcus' favourite thing in the world, but whatever - he drove his rented SUV down the gravel road to Cora's childhood home, and pulled up far enough down the road to avoid immediate notice. Habit, probably, but Marcus never went in blind, so he got out and took his time getting the lay of the land, so to speak.

Marcus and Declan been behind closed doors for hours, shuttered in the office since Marcus had shown up. Lily was on a playdate, which meant, aiming to take advantage of her absence, that Declan had promised Cora some time for them this afternoon, something he didn't often set aside time for during the week - especially the past couple of months. So Cora was off elsewhere - reading in the library, if Declan had to guess, but he hadn't checked up on her. Whenever she was home, safe and sound within the walls of their home, he never really felt a need for that.

Marcus liked this bar. It was always the perfect blend of dark and crowded without being too crowded. He could blend in, disappear among the masses and be the ghost he'd been trained to be. Tonight he was there just by himself. He'd been on assignment most of the night, had done his job, and now he was drinking a large beer, settling the tiny bit of adrenaline that still remained, causing a tiny buzzing in the tips of his fingers.

He was at the very end of the bar, where the shadows lay heaviest, leaning against the wall with his beer pressed to her lips when he spotted her walking inside. His head tipped just a little to the side as he watched, eyes following her movements while he placed his beer back onto bar. What was Declan's newest interest doing on her own in a place like this?

“I’d get my hands off of those if I were you.” Marcus leaned against the door frame to the large bedroom, effectively blocking her exit. The bedroom was on the second floor, and there were guards prowling the gardens just as he kept an eye on the inside of the party, so crawling out the window wouldn’t be the smartest plan either. His eyes travelled her slowly before making their way to her face, a brow arching slightly in challenge. “The lady of the house is somewhat fond of her jewellery, you see,” he pointed out, nodding towards the box the greedy little thief had already dug her hand into. Now, Marcus could commend a job well done, but she’d literally gotten caught with her hand in the cookie jar, so he had very little in the way of sympathies. Not that he ever did, but at least if she hadn’t gotten caught, she wouldn’t have had to deal with it.

"Hey princess." The greeting was uttered the moment he opened the door for her, a wry smile on his lips, a knowing look in his eyes, as he looked her over top to bottom, and pushed the door open wide to let her into his apartment. "Miss me?"

He'd promised her a surprise for their next little playdate but had yet to tell her what. A treat because she'd been a very patient girl for him throughout the past two weeks; two weeks during which they'd been unable to see each other because Marcus had been out of town. Or, rather, she'd been as patient as a somewhat needy little could be, really. They'd texted, of course, usually him giving her naughty little tasks to perform for him, making sure she knew he hadn't abandoned her. They'd even had a phone call or two when his work had allowed for it.

Not that Marcus considered separation a huge issue in their dynamic. They didn't live together, weren't even strictly speaking monogamous, and they both had lives to live, so playtime was always when it fit both their schedules. Her rules reflected that too, as well as the fact that she was still fairly new to this, so the only ones he'd really set in place on a day-to-day basis for her was to always text him "Good morning, Daddy" when she woke up and "Goodnight, Daddy" when she went to bed. Simple, easy to remember, and they served as daily reminders when they weren't together - without disrupting her life.

"Shouldn't you be busy with your boyfriend?" His words were mocking the slightly inebriated woman before him as he handed her another cocktail from the bartender at his back. He leaned back against the bar, one eyebrow quirked in expectation, cocky smile on his lips. Truth be told, Marcus figured Declan had probably more or less ignored her all night, much like he'd neglected her for the last couple of weeks in general. It was his M.O. After all, he'd been busy attending to business and to that - like a lot of other things in his brother's life - she'd always come second. Even if that fact was only just now starting to dawn on her.