Chapter 136

ADAN

Adan pressed his palm flat against the brightly lit jewelry case, making the glass fog up with his body heat.

In all the photos of Yena in the news and tabloids, she was dressed to kill. Wearing her original eveningwear with sophisticated jewelry no doubt given to her by Nolan. In Adan’s own personal experience with Yena at the school campus, she’d always been wearing more casual clothes, but still she always looked stylish and undeniably beautiful.

“See anything you like?” A woman with honey-blonde hair wrapped into a tight bun approached from behind the counter.

“Well, maybe you can help me. The woman I’m shopping for… she’s very classy. But I don’t want anything too over-the-top. It’s a gift to congratulate her on an accomplishment. Nothing too romantic, you know?”

The woman nodded her head just once. Adan offered her a charming smile, making her blush. He smelled a change in her scent that told him she was becoming eager to serve him, and his smile turned darker and more sincere.

“I think I have just the thing for you. You’ll love this.” The woman bent over and pressed a tiny key into the lock on the back of the case. Slid it open and pulled out a black tray lined with red velvet, atop which was a gold and diamond necklace.

Adan frowned and shook his head. “Too much. Maybe earrings would be better. Or a bracelet? Something smaller. And… her style, I guess I could describe it to you as… well, let’s say the same sort of aesthetic as Princess Yena.”

The woman’s eyes lit up. “Oh, I love Princess Yena.”

Adan chuckled. “Who doesn’t?”

“Yes, she’s so iconic, mm-hmm. She has a very distinct personal style, indeed…” The woman pursed her red lips and tapped them with her index finger. “Let me see, I may have something on the other side, if you would meet me just over there…” She pointed at another glass case across the room.

The saleswoman beat him there and had the box waiting with a lid closed over it when Adan walked up. She was grinning from ear to ear. “This one, you are for sure going to love.”

Adan tilted his head, letting her know he was ready for the reveal. He was a little annoyed with her theatrics.

But when she lifted the lid off the box, he smiled. It actually was perfect for Yena.

“Would you like it gift-wrapped?”

“Hmm. Maybe just a ribbon around the box. Nothing too romantic, remember?”

“Mmm. Of course.” The woman smiled shyly and replaced the lid over the box, then slipped away to a countertop inset with spools of tape and ribbon.

Adan leaned against the glass case and pulled his phone out of his pocket.

You said no to dinner. But what about coffee? I have a going-away gift for you. Just five minutes for a quick goodbye. Please?

He hit send. It was beneath him to sound so cloying. But Adan was at the point of trying just about any angle to get at Yena. Maybe her sweet little heart would feel guilty saying no to something so pathetic.

YENA

My eyebrow went up as I read Adan’s text. It didn’t really sound like him. Kind of needy and desperate, asking me out again.

I sort of felt bad. It wasn’t fun rejecting someone over and over again.

Still, I did wonder what kind of gift he had gotten me. That’s probably what he wanted, though. He was always trying to tempt me to keep talking to him by lying out little mysteries…

But I was smarter than to fall for it.

Sighing, I put my phone back on my nightstand, locking the screen without responding.

I was digging through all my design supplies, searching for something I wasn’t really sure was there…

I had saved the pattern for Nolan’s suit somewhere in one of my binders, after I’d finished cutting all the fabric for it. And though I didn’t intentionally bring it to Tina’s with me, I was pretty sure it was still buried in all my stuff somewhere…

Evan knocked on my open bedroom door softly.

“Come in,” I told him, not looking up as I crouched in the corner of the room near my closet, flipping through a five-inch deep three-ring binder bursting full of drawings and folders.

“Hey,” he said. “Whatcha doin?”

“Uh, looking for something,” I said absent-mindedly.

“Well, I can see that…”

I looked up at Evan. He was squinting at me questioningly.

“I’m sorry.” I flipped the binder closed and stood up. “What’s up, Evan?”

“I was just wondering what you were doin tonight.” He gazed around my room, taking in all the clutter that had suddenly appeared in the past hour. “You workin on a new project or something?”

I opened my mouth but hesitated before speaking.

Now that everything was out in the open with me and Evan, I was nervous to tell him about Nolan. It occurred to me in the moment that I sort of had a date planned with my estranged husband… and I knew Evan would not enjoy hearing about it.

“Nolan’s coming over tomorrow,” I spat out before I could stop myself. “He asked me if I could tailor something for him, for a big… event he’s leading.”

It seemed like it would be awkward to flaunt Nolan’s importance in front of Evan. Talking about the prince leading a parliamentary session. It would just make my brother feel even more intimidated by Nolan than he already was.

“You need all this stuff just to tailor something for him?”

“Well, actually, I decided that I might just make a new jacket for him altogether. Surprise him with it.”

“Yena…” Evan was shaking his head at me. “You really need to go through all this trouble for that guy?”

“Look, I know you don’t like Nolan. But, even if we’re not together, our lives are still connected. I want to help him with this. Please don’t be like that.”

“I just don’t like seeing you doing all this for him, after what he’s put you through.” He looked at me with big, pleading eyes, and I could tell he was holding back something else he wanted to say.

“The mess is deceiving. It’s really not that much work. I’m just looking for a pattern, but once I find it, I’ll be able to sew the thing together in just a couple hours. Okay?”

Evan tried to smile, but it half looked like a frown. “Alright. Sorry Yena, you know I’m just protective of you. You said he’s coming here tomorrow?”

“Mm-hmm.”

Evan nodded stiffly, taking a step backward. “Alright. Okay. Well, uh, I guess just let me know if you need anything.” And he walked out the door, pulling it closed behind him.

I shook my head, looking into the mirror on the back of the door. I didn’t know what to do about Evan anymore.

Suddenly a vision of our lives together in the human world flashed before my eyes. What if being together all the time actually turned out to be awkward, considering his feelings for me?

Or worse… what if I gave in to temptation one night, and then regretted it later?

What would happen to us then?

I shook my head. There was no need for thoughts like that. No time, either, if I wanted to get this project done tonight.

I’d lied to Evan so that he’d leave me alone. I could sew together a simple garment in a couple hours. But making a custom suit jacket for a giant, muscular man to wear on the floor of Parliament was a different story.

I would not be sleeping tonight. But this was something my husband needed, and so it was what I was going to do.