Chapter 485

Olivia

Nathan and I swayed back and forth on the dance floor with the other couples while soft orchestral music played from the string quartet on the stage. I rested my cheek on Nathan’s shoulder, closing my eyes against the fading sun through the stained glass windows.

“You’re the most beautiful one here, you know,” Nathan whispered into my ear. His breath tickled my skin as he spoke, eliciting a giggle from me.

“You’ll be eating your words when I’m nine months pregnant and look like I’ve got a small planet inside of me,” I teased.

Nathan shook his head and carefully spun me. My hand felt small and delicate in his wide palm, and his warm fingers were soothing in the chill of the large room. “I thought you were even more beautiful, even when you were pregnant with twins,” he said.

I almost laughed out loud. I couldn’t believe that only a year prior, I had been giving birth to twins in my bathtub. And now, here I was, happily expecting another on the way.

“You know, I’ve been thinking of names,” I said softly as we continued to sway together. “Have you?”

“Only every day.” Nathan smirked down at me. “You go first.”

“Okay,” I said with a laugh. “Adam.”

“Hmm… Too basic,” Nathan said. “How about Leonard? Leo for short.”

I made a face. “No way am I naming my child Leonard. What about… Henry?”

“Oh, so Leonard isn’t good enough, but Henry is okay?” Nathan teased gently. “As if that’s any less old-fashioned.”

My cheeks tinged a slight pink blush as I realized that Nathan was right. “Okay, okay,” I said softly. “What about Alvin?”

At the mention of our dead childhood friend’s name, Nathan’s eyes widened. Neither of us had said that name in months now, but he was always on our minds. I still hadn’t gotten the image of the light fading out of his eyes away from my dreams yet, and I wasn’t sure if I ever would.

“You really mean that?” Nathan whispered.

I nodded as hot tears began to prick at the backs of my eyes. “I… I thought it might be nice to consider, at least,” I said. “Even for a middle name, you know? It would be a way to honor him.”

Nathan’s jaw clenched slightly as he thought for a moment. “He did save you and that baby,” he finally said after a beat of silence. “Hmm… Alvin… I think—”

“May I have this dance?”

Nathan and I both looked up at the sound of the all-too-familiar voice and the hand tapping on Nathan’s shoulder. Instantly, I felt my heart sink.

Dan.

“Oh, uh—” Nathan glanced at me warily, silently asking with his eyes if I was okay with that proposal. And truthfully, I wasn’t. But considering our previous conversation regarding tact and responsibilities, I knew that it wasn’t very becoming for us to refuse.

And so, I nodded. Nathan swallowed and took a step back, gesturing toward me. “Be gentle with her,” he teased, to which Dan chuckled.

If my hand felt small and fragile in Nathan’s palm, then it felt even more so in Dan’s enormous hands. They were like two wide, callused maps of flesh and sinew, his knuckles firm and knotted after a lifetime of…

Well, I hated to imagine what he had done with his fists, and who had been on the other end of them, throughout his life.

“Enjoying yourself, Olivia?” Dan asked as we swayed along to the music.

I nodded, maybe a little too quickly. “I am, thank you,” I said. “It’s a lovely luncheon.”

“We spare no expense for things like this, as you can likely tell.”

Dan gestured around at the arrangements; the tables laden with candles and soft white tablecloths, the wide array of food at the buffet table, the open bar, the waiters milling around with trays of hors d’oeuvres and drinks, and the highly skilled string quartet.

And that was only scratching the surface. The building alone, with its high cathedral-style ceilings, stone pillars and marble floors, felt like something out of a Renaissance painting.

“I can see that,” I said, mustering a ladylike chuckle. “This building is spectacular. When was it built, if I may ask?”

“Oh, several hundred years ago by now,” Dan replied casually. He waved his hand before placing it back on my waist, and as he did, I felt his fingers almost dig into the soft flesh of my back.

“I see.” There was a slight silence as I tried to steady my nerves. “Well, it’s quite lovely.”

“Indeed.” Dan regarded me down the bridge of his long nose for a moment. His cold eyes scanned over me, and they didn’t stop at my face; I saw the way they flickered down to my rounded belly. I couldn’t tell if he was trying to be subtle or not, but I certainly saw it.

“So,” he said then, “I saw that article. The one with you and my wife on the cover.”

I felt my cheeks redden beneath his stern gaze. “Oh, yes,” I said with another stiff laugh. “I saw that as well. Those reporters really are something, aren’t they?”

Dan merely grunted in agreement. “So,” he said, “are you going to handle that mess, or must I do it?”

I swallowed. “Oh, Nathan actually contacted the journal. He said that he is going to set them straight. I’m sure it will be handled soon.”

“Good. I won’t tolerate such nonsense.” Dan’s cool eyes shifted over to Nathan, who was now in the midst of a conversation with another guest at the bar. He didn’t see Dan looking. When Dan returned his attention to me, however, I felt his fingers dig a little harder into my back; so hard, in fact, that I drew in a sharp breath through my nose.

“Dan—”

His eyes flashed dangerously before I could finish. I felt my heart pound hard in my chest, but at the same time, I felt my wolf’s strength surge. Without entirely meaning to, I felt myself pulling away from Dan, stepping back and smoothing down my dress.

“I think this dance is over,” I said with more confidence than I truly felt—as though my wolf’s voice, the voice of the Ancient Wolf, was coming through at that moment.

The same voice I used to put Ryan’s men to heel all those months ago.

Dan blinked at me incredulously, as though he hadn’t expected me to pull out of his grip with such ease. He stared at me, then down at his brutish hands, then back up at me.

“If it’s any consolation,” I said calmly, “it was only a misconception made on the reporters’ parts because Clarissa and I clearly bear a… resemblance. But it will be handled, I can assure you.”

Dan nodded curtly. He turned to leave, but then stopped—I could see his broad shoulders stiffening before he turned back around to face me, puffing out his chest as he spoke.

“In that case, then perhaps you should keep your distance from my wife,” he said in a low growl. “To avoid any further misconceptions.”

Before I could answer, Dan then turned on his heel and stormed off. I let out a breath I didn’t realize I had been holding as I watched him march off, my wolf’s strength fading just as quickly as it had come.

In that moment, I saw two things: Clarissa’s blonde hair billowing behind her as Dan took her by the wrist and led her away from the luncheon.

And Nathan’s soft, blue-green eyes as he walked up to me with a look of concern on his face.

“Are you alright, Liv?” he whispered.

I hadn’t realized it, but my knees were shaking dangerously. And as I began to pitch forward into Nathan’s arms, I caught one last glimpse of Clarissa’s golden locks disappearing around a corner.