Chapter 15

I wake up the next morning feeling more rested than I have in a long time. It was probably the best sleep of my life. It’s a little strange after the events of the previous day. I should have tossed and turned all night.

I dress and head to Grace’s room to get her ready for the day.

“What is that noise?” I ask, tying Grace’s curls into a braid. “Sounds like there’s a bunch of people downstairs.”

“Yeah, today is a busy day. Lots of other families come sometimes to meet with daddy.” Grace answers and I find myself a little annoyed to have to learn about this from her and not from Adrian yesterday. He and I were going to have to have a serious conversation about communication.

“It was on the schedule.” Grace says, looking at my confused frown.

“It was?” I ask and open the file on the counter to find the piece of paper. “Well, I’ll be. There it is.” I murmur.

Okay, so maybe I just needed to be better about looking ahead. I glance at the instructions under the day’s schedule. Grace is to go the kitchen for breakfast and then she can play with the other children that are there. I would just need to keep an eye on her.

We take the back way into the kitchen and have a quick breakfast of eggs and toast. Then, after a moment of self-preparation, we walk out onto the veranda facing the back lawn. Adrian is there, along with several people I don’t recognize.

“Grace!” I hear a little girl call out and see her wave for Grace to come and play on the lawn. Grace looks up at me, silently asking if she can be excused with hopeful pleading eyes. I nod and she takes off running toward her friends.

I find a spot in the corner of the veranda where I am out of the way and I can keep an eye on Grace as she plays, holding my unfinished coffee in my hand.

I take a moment to look around. Between the lawn, the veranda, and those going in and out of the house, there have to be over a dozen people here. Adrian talks with all of them, shaking hands and spending several minutes with each one.

Then someone I do recognize comes through the crowd. Vanessa, along with an older man and woman, and a slightly older man, approach Adrian. I can’t hear what they say, but by their body language, the older man is laying it on thick.

Adrian is stiff and tense, his jaw hardens, and his eyes are cold. The man, I assume is Vanessa’s father, seems to laugh at his own joke and reach a hand out to shake Adrian’s.

Adrian looks down at the man’s hand, then back at his face. Then, without saying a word, turns his back on the family and warmly greets a couple behind him with a smile.

Vanessa’s father drops his hand, then turns on his daughter. He grabs her by the arm, ushering her a few steps away. I can’t make out what he says, but by the tone he’s chastising her. Vanessa looks embarrassed. She looks around, searching for people staring, but it looks like the entire party is actively avoiding the family.

“…Outrageous behavior! …of all people to anger! …bringing shame and…cleaning up this mess for an age!”

I pick out pieces of what her father says. Vanessa bows her head a little, keeping her eyes to the floor. “Is that all you have to say to me child?” Her father demands, before scoffing at her silence and marching away.

Vanessa looks around again, trying to gage just how much of a scene was made at her humiliation. Her eyes land on me. She seems to know that I saw everything, and her face turns a few shades of red. Her eyes are hard, and she raises in chin as though she would love nothing more than walk over here and slap me.

Except she can’t. Not here. Not after that.

I shouldn’t find it funny, but I do. The woman tried to kill me yesterday. Now she can’t do anything. I shouldn’t goad her, but it’s early and I’m feeling cheeky. So, I send her wink and raise my coffee cup in a mock toast.

She huffs so loud I can hear it from where I stand in the corner as she storms away. I chuckle, looking back to find Grace still at her game of tag when I feel my phone vibrating in my pocket.

Julian. I think about declining the call. Give him a taste of his own medicine. I don’t really want to talk to him right now but later won’t be any better, so I answer it. Maybe he’ll have a good excuse.

“I’m working.” I say by way of greeting.

“Lily, what happened?” He asks sounding concerned.

“It mattered yesterday, Julian. It’s done now.” I keep my eyes trained on Grace. Focusing my energy on not reacting so I don’t fight with him in front of all these people.

“I’m so sorry I missed your call.” He says.

“You didn’t miss it, you declined it.” I say, still keeping my voice steady.

“I know. I was working with the drummer on a song. We were in the middle of something, and I didn’t know it was an emergency. I’m sorry. Forgive me?” He pleads with me.

So much for having a good excuse. I want to ask him why he didn’t call last night, but I don’t want to hear it. He’ll just have something to say about that too.

“I’ll make it up to you.” He says.

“How? How can you make up ignoring me when I needed you?” I ask, still angry but tired too. I take a breath, and then another. I watch Grace laugh and play with her friends and my temper calms.

“Let’s go on a trip. Just the two of us. I’ll take you to Jeneau Castle.” He says the name of the castle like a song and my breath catches. I remember mentioning the castle, with its gardens and the swing, once. When we first started dating ages ago. I didn’t think he had been paying that close attention.

That nagging voice in the back of mind considered the coincidence that I had just been talking about this last night with Grace. Had Adrian heard me? Was this his idea?

“I have two tickets, and you have a day off coming up, right?” Julian asked.

“Yeah, on Sunday.” I answer, still a little suspicious. He already had the tickets? I have to know. “Where did you get the tickets? They’re usually sold-out weeks in advance.”

“I’m resourceful.” He says playfully. “Come on, it’ll be fun.”

“Where did you even get this idea?” I ask, taking a drink of my coffee.

“It just kind of came to me.” He says in an odd tone. “Will you come?”

I look around at the people around me. I need to end this call and keep my attention on Grace. I’m sure she’s fine, but I’m responsible for her and if I say no, he’ll keep arguing with me. Besides, he’s my boyfriend and I haven’t seen him since I started this job. I should probably spend the day with him. “Okay, let’s go.”

“Great! Hey, I have a lot to tell you about what’s been going on since you’ve been gone. And I have a surprise waiting for you too.” He says as though I hadn’t been ready to come through the phone and strangle him a moment ago.

“What kind of surprise?” I ask nervously.

“You’ll see. I’ll talk to you later.” He says and hangs up.

I shove the phone back into my pocket. What surprise? And where did he get those tickets? Two weeks ago, we couldn’t afford to go out for a decent dinner, now he was surprising me with my dream date.

This surprise better not be anything too extravagant.

That apology wasn’t even close to good enough. He said he was sorry, but I knew he would do it again. I would need him, and he wouldn’t be there. Then, he would say I was overreacting for being upset about it, and what I was going through was no big deal.

The gifts and dates were new though. It was as if now that I knew about the money, he felt like he could use it to bribe me into forgiving him.

In any other situation, I would break up with him. But I worked for his father and Julian’s family was obviously influential, if what I was seeing this morning was any indication. If I broke up with him, what would happen to me?

I look over to see Adrian making his way around the room. He stops to address each person, taking the time to speak with each one with an ease and charm any politician would be envious of. He’s still in a suit, but there’s no tie and it gives him a relaxed sophistication I haven’t seen from him before.

I’m staring. I blush with that realization.

I take a drink of my coffee to break my gaze and grimace. It’s cold.

Before anyone can see me ogling my boss, I head inside for fresh coffee.

I stop short when I hear Vanessa’s snide voice in the entryway. “…think she is hooking up with the Alpha’s heir? She’s a nobody. She hasn’t a penny to her name and brings absolutely no value to the table. I have no idea what Julian sees in her. She’s lucky she’s with him now, but he’ll figure it out one of these days and kick her to the curb. Once he does, I swear I’ll kill the bitch.”

Alpha’s heir? What is she talking about? And more importantly, did she just threaten me?

Did I need to punch her again? There’s no horse around for her to run me over with this time. I could probably win that fight, if I wouldn’t get myself fired or thrown in jail in the process.

“She really is just a money-grabbing whore, and I can’t wait to rip out her throat.” Vanessa announces, venom in her voice.

That did it. I’m stepping forward, ready to end this little tirade right here and now, when a voice, smooth and rich as bourbon says from behind me, “That’s quite enough of that.”