Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 69472 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69472 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
Evie watches, surprise twinkling in her eyes. “You really are all close, aren’t you?”
“We are, well, at least until Sin and Lucius get into a tussle, throw themselves out a window, and continue fighting on the lawn.” Teddy points his fork at me. “I still think you should get imaging of your ribs.”
“No thanks, Doc McStuffins.” I serve the twins who discuss the food options among themselves in cute baby babble.
Teddy sighs. “Never change, Lucius, you miserable jerk.” He can’t hide his smile at the end. He really is the nicest Vinemont. Freak.
Evie looks around for a while, then pushes back her chair and stands. “I’m sorry. Excuse me for a moment.” She walks out, and little Teddy stands to follow her.
“This one’s all mine. Sorry, buddy.” I tousle his hair and follow Evie down the hall to the powder room.
Sin and Stella pass me with questioning glances, but I just wave them to the dining room.
Standing right at the powder room door, I knock softly. “Evie, you okay?”
“I’m fine. Please go be with your family.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“I can tell it’s something. Can I come in?” I can hear her sniffle, and a few moments later she opens the door a crack.
I push it all the way open and shut it behind me. “What’s wrong?” I cup her face with my hands and wipe her tears away with my thumbs.
“Nothing. Everything. I don’t know.” She sniffles again, and I pull her into my arms.
“Are you worried about Stella?” I kiss her hair. “She hasn’t thrown a knife at you yet. That’s a win as far as I’m concerned. I think it’ll just take some time for her to really warm up.”
“No. She’s actually been fine.” She takes a deep, shuddering breath and lets it out. “It’s just, I never had that. A family. Not really. My mom raised me to marry me off to someone in the society. My dad—I barely even saw him. He was always at the office, or playing golf, or doing anything other than being around his children. Most of the time, I was alone. The only one I ever had was …”
“Red.” I sigh. “I’m sorry, Evie.”
“You said you’d never apologize.” She looks up at me, her eyes wet with tears.
“I’ll do whatever you want as long as you stop crying.” I wipe her cheeks again.
“I don’t know. It just sort of hit me when I saw how tightknit all of you are. No wonder Sin was so angry at you for being with me. He’s scared for his family.” She laughs a little. “I never expected Sinclair Vinemont to be afraid of anything. But he is, because he loves everyone in this house, including you.”
“Oh, darlin’.” I kiss her forehead. “How many times do I have to tell you that I am extremely lovable?”
She laughs again, and I realize I love the sound of it. I’m a complete sap for this woman. Sin was right.
“Now, can we get back to dinner? If we don’t eat, Stella might demonstrate her crossbow mastery on us.”
“One more thing.” She gestures toward the door.
“What’s that?” I follow her out, down the hall, and out to the car.
She reaches behind her seat and pulls out the damaged iPad. “Here.”
I try not to crow about winning her trust. “I didn’t realize it was so bad off. I don’t even know if my computer guys can save it.” I take it from her. “You were planning this all along?”
“I decided I want your family to trust me more than I want an insurance policy, and I want to find the people who are trying to destroy all of us.”
“If we can get that list, we’ll take their legs out from under them.” I walk her up the steps. The front curtains twitch, and I’m certain Sin and Stella just saw what happened.
“I’m scared.” She shakes out her hands. “What if they all still hate me?”
“Sin’s hated me for years, but he still keeps me around.” I lean close to her ear. “It’s because he’s jealous of my good looks and big—”
She smacks my chest and laughs. “You aren’t fooling me at all. Even though you two fight hard, you love harder.”
“It’s a good thing I love you, then.” I kiss her forehead.
She looks up at me. “I’m not alone anymore, am I?” she whispers.
“Never again.” I kiss her, sealing that promise with all my heart.
29
Evie
Linton rubs his eyes. “Two weeks ago, we were going to pare Magnolia down to its basic building blocks with a hostile takeover, one that would make the Vinemonts our enemies for life. But, let me get this straight, now we’re going to work with the Vinemonts?”
“Yes.”
“Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to reconvene the board?”
“Yes.” I flip through the prospectus I’ve been working on for days and nights on end. It’s an even more comprehensive vision for Magnolia than my original sales pitch.