“Evelyn,” Victor says, sighing and shaking his head at her. “Seriously? Do you not remember all he did to me, to us, to our boys –“ “Of course I remember, Victor,” she says, frowning at him. “I’ll never forget that. But if he can’t touch you now, can’t hurt you, and is asking you for a favor – even
The next evening, Evelyn laughs as she sees a limousine pull into her driveway. “Wowww!” Ian says, wrapping his fingers into the fabric of her black beaded dress. “Mom, can we please come?” “Please please pleeeease,” Alvin begs, turning puppy dog eyes at her. It breaks her heart a little bit and
“Oh my god,” I say, spinning to look up at the incredible ceiling with its eight crystal chandeliers. “Victor, this is too nice.” He frowns at me, but I can tell he’s not actually displeased with me as he pulls me close. “Too nice?” He asks. “What does that even mean?” I laugh up at him, letting h
Victor’s brows knit together as he frowns at Evelyn. He’s disappointed, of course – he had hoped to surprise her with the proposal, thought he was doing a good job keeping the secret, even – but he’s also a little disturbed by what looks like anger in her eyes. “Um,” he says, “is that…a bad thing?
She moves to step around him but he gets in her way. “You’re going to tear your feet to shreds, he says, “I’ll call the car, take you home.” He looks down at her as the rain begins to paste her curls to her beautiful face. “We can figure it out from there.” Victor turns and raises his hand to the
Victor holds Evelyn the whole way home, but they don’t say a word. Instead, she leans against him, her back against his chest, his chin resting on her head as he holds her tight with an arm around her. When they arrive, Evelyn makes no move to get up until the driver comes awkwardly around the car
And Evelyn had never been mated, so she couldn’t know, but Victor knows how it feels. So he tells her. “Evelyn, every bit of this,” he says, gesturing between them, “is more intense than anything that I felt for Amelia. And it’s not just that she wasn’t a good person,” he says, shaking his head. “
The next morning, I wake up to the feeling of little fingers pressing at the skin around my eyes, prying my lids open. “Mama,” Ian whispers as I blink and flinch out of his grasp. “Wake up. We want to tell you congratulations.” “What?” I ask, still bleary with sleep, realizing suddenly that he’s s