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
“Delia, I’m not engaged,” I hiss into the phone. “WHAT??” I wince as she shouts into my ear. “Evelyn, it’s on every network – there are pictures –“ “Pictures of what?” I ask, glancing in towards the living room. “Of you and Victor at what is clearly an engagement dinner – there’s none of him on o
“I already told you, kid,” Victor says to Alvin as he moves towards the couch. “The news people got bad information.” Victor sits down as Alvin glares at him, his arms crossed against his chest. I join Victor on the couch and the boys climb up on either side of us. “But why aren’t you engaged,” Ia
“Not such a pleasure for me,” John replies, his voice laced with frustration. “I’ve been calling all morning and have been told for hours that you’re too busy to take my call.” “Not too busy,” Victor says, tired of this already. “I just have no real desire to speak to you.” “Don’t you take that to