Marcus doesn't know it (well, yet), but I'll always be grateful to him for helping me find a way to attend Charis's funeral. I wouldn't have been able to find an excuse to go if we weren't dating, because I'd have no reason to push my way into the funeral of a woman I'm not supposed to know.But, of course, Marcus and the rest of the Alpha family will be there, because they're family to Charles. And since I'm dating Marcus, more or less officially, it doesn't look weird for me to accompany him for support.
"Will I ever run out of reasons for revenge?" I rail in the car on the way to the luncheon. "Your father, you, me, Charis's murder, and now this? Where does it end, Marcus?"I remember just in time not to mention Brady. I need to rein it in a little bit; I'm losing the thread, here. Marcus isn't supposed to know about the gang, or that I have a revenge list as long as my arm.In truth, it's been easy to lose sight of the fact that this all started because I set out to t
"How, exactly, are you planning to accomplish this?" Liam asks with visible amusement, leaning across Marcus's desk as he shuffles some papers away. "I mean, you just dashed all of her hopes of getting her daughter in the Luna position, and now you want to set her up with an adulterer who is happy his wife is dead?""She deserves it, if anybody does," Marcus mutters under his breath, sliding the last of his paperwork into the out box for his admin assistant to deal with later. "That woman is a complete pain in the ass, Liam.""Be that as it may, I'm still not sure how you exp
"I can't believe it was that easy," Liam gasps, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes. He, Marcus, and Evelyn are sitting at a back table in a quiet bar, where Marcus is relaying the details of his set up to the others over mugs of beer."I can," Evelyn says, also wiping her face. "Honestly, they deserve each other.""They do," Liam says. "I'm just in awe that Marcus was able to be so smooth and sneaky about it. With instant results! My man, you truly are a genius." He raises his glass
I make my coffee stronger than usual the morning after my outing with Marcus and Liam, not because I drank too much the night before, but because I waited up half the night for Marcus to call and tell me that he was safely home.I knew I'd seen that man shadowing him all day, and I'm so glad that I decided to speak up. I'd almost convinced myself that I had half-imagined it, but Marcus's call confirmed that I was right."You might've saved my life, Evelyn," he told me seriously.
Charles is about to pack up his briefcase and head from his office back up to his living quarters. He's not looking forward to it, to be frank - Daisy has become more of a nightmare than usual to deal with lately.Her pregnancy is now in its third trimester, and Charles isn't looking forward to the end result of that, either. She's as big as a house, for one thing, no longer the slender, beautiful woman he married when her bump was barely showing.And she nags him all t
"I'm telling you, Elsa, I've had just about enough," Daisy says to her maid, who is really more like her best friend at this point. Elsa started working for Daisy when they were both only 14, and their relationship has grown into some strange but amicable melding of friendship and business.Elsa, who has finished putting away all of Daisy's dry cleaning, has joined her on the couch in Daisy's luxurious private living room. Even Charles isn't allowed in here, and thank god for that. Daisy can't stand how the man has to snoop around and stick his nose into everything.
I'm sitting at my desk in the Alpha's mansion, looking over some of the notes that I made during my last check up appointment with Emmett. Thankfully, his recovery has gone very well, though he still needs even more rest than he did before.Everyone "in the know" is even more protective over him than we used to be. He's also given up his afternoon tea completely, which is sad but understandable. I wonder if the poor man will ever be able to drink tea again.Honestly, it just makes me so
"Marcus!" I shout, tripping over the last step at the bottom of the staircase. "Ouch! Damn it, we need to get that fixed. Marcus, where are you?""I'm in here, carina," Marcus calls back. He comes out of the kitchen with a raised eyebrow. "Just making your coffee. I think I've almost got this machine figured out, I swear."I burst out laughing. "It's been five years, honey. I think if you were going to get along with that machine, it would've happened by now."
"I'm so glad you chose a December wedding, darling girl," Jeanette says to me, looking a bit misty-eyed. She steps back from the mirror we're both looking in after adjusting my veil and clasps her hands in front of her."Me, too," I breathe, lifting a hand to touch my face. Jeanette slaps it away, playfully."What are you doing?" she exclaims. "You're going to ruin all of Maya's hard work. You look stunning, my dearest. Don't smudge your foundation, I beg of you. Are you nervous? A mimos
The biggest problem with waitressing is that Becki really freaking hates it, okay?It's miserable. People are so rude to you, all the time, and your arms ache after each shift from carrying around everybody's hot plates and their stupid trays of cocktails and wine and soda and god knows what else.And nobody is ever happy, either. They ordered a Cabernet Sauvignon, but all your restaurant sells is Merlot. Well. You'd think the entire sky was falling down, the way some people car
The dinner is sumptuous, one of the most elegant dinners I've ever had, even by Alpha-family standards. It's an old-school seven course dinner, with hors d'oeuvres circulating on silver trays along with trays of champagne while the servers set up for dinner.Then comes the soup, which is a crab bisque that I could eat all night long, even if there were no other courses. I make a mental note to tell Marcus that I definitely want it served at our wedding.Next are the appetizers - a sort o
A few weeks later, I'm at the villa, poring over paint samples. Jeanette has been very generous in helping me with ideas for a massive makeover for the villa, and I'm excited to make the place really my own.Well, mine and Marcus's, of course. He comes home in the evenings from his business duties at the hotel to have a glass of wine with me and talk over options. We've discussed decorators, but for now, I think I'd like to handle most of the decisions myself."You surely don't expect to
The next morning, Marcus and I are having coffee in the villa kitchen when my phone rings again. I tense up and check the caller ID to make sure it's not my father again, and I heave a sigh of relief when I see that it's Jack Darlington."Hey, Jack," I say when I answer the phone. Marcus raises his eyebrows at me in question, and I shrug. "What's up?""What's up is that I have some fantastic news for you," Jack says at the other end of the line. There's a rush of traffic and voices in th
A week later, I'm starting to feel like I've really settled into my new life full of possibility and hope. Things are so much easier now, and not just because I don't have to hide who I am anymore.As soon as Charles was taken away by police and chucked into jail where he belongs, awaiting his trial in the human court system, it was like a black cloud of despair and tension finally lifted from over my head.It's time for me to move on, into my new life, with my new family and friends.
"Do I look all right?" I ask Marcus in our bedroom at the villa. I'm staring at myself in the mirror, smoothing my navy blue dress over my hips. "I've never been to a Werewolf Council before; I'm not exactly sure what I'm supposed to wear.""You look fantastic," Marcus says, coming up behind me to tug my zipper all the way to the top of my dress. "Very professional. A real Alpha's Heir wife.""Fiancee," I say with a smile. I tuck a curl - now back to its original brown - behind my ear. M
"It's terribly convenient for you, Marcus, that your paramour owns an entire villa for you to move into at the drop of a hat," Liam grumbles the next day as he helps us wheel our suitcases to the elevators. "Some of us are going to be in this bloody hotel for the next decade, if the fire department has anything to say about it.""It's not the fire department's fault that Nicole's ex-boyfriend is a psychotic arsonist," Marcus responds, shooting me a wicked little grin. I whack his arm playfully.